Total adds another floating wind project to its portfolio

Total has bought a 20 per cent stake in the EolMed floating wind pilot project in France, located in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Gruissan and near Port-La-Nouvelle.

The 30 MW EolMed will feature three MHI Vestas 10 MW turbines installed on Ideol’s Damping Pool floating foundation and is scheduled to be built in 2023.

The company announced the newest addition to its growing offshore wind portfolio after it joined several projects in the sector worldwide from the beginning of this year, most of which are using floating wind technology.

Most recently, the French energy major and oil giant entered the South Korean floating wind market by teaming up with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) on the development of five floating wind farms. A few months earlier, Total announced it was buying a 51 per cent stake in the Seagreen offshore wind farm, currently being built in Scotland. Seagreen’s wind turbines will be installed on bottom-fixed foundations. 

At the beginning of this year, the company revealed its joint floating wind project with Simply Blue Energy in Wales, the 96 MW Erebus wind farm which secured seabed rights this summer.

Announcing the buy-in into the French three-turbine EolMed pilot project, owned by Qair until now, Total said it was continuing to reinforce its position in the emerging sector of floating offshore wind, in which it wants to be one of the world leaders.

“Floating offshore wind is a very promising segment in which Total notably brings its extensive experience in offshore projects”, said Julien Pouget, Director Renewables of Total. “Together with our partner Qair, we have the necessary resources to meet the technological and financial challenges that will determine our future success. I am delighted that Total can contribute to the emergence of this new sector in France”.

In addition to floating wind farms, Total is also exploring the potential of powering offshore oil and gas platforms with floating wind, and has joined the national Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (FOWCoE) in the UK.

Buying into and developing offshore wind projects is part of Total’s ambition to become a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050.

To reach that goal, the company is now building a portfolio of activities in electricity, and in particular in that produced by renewable sources, that could account for up to 40 per cent of its sales by 2050. Total said that by the end of this year its gross power generation capacity worldwide will be around 12 GW, including some 7 GW of renewable energy.

“With the objective of reaching 35 GW of production capacity from renewable sources by 2025, Total will continue to expand its business to become one of the world leaders in renewable energies”, the company states.