Public inquiry for tidal turbines off Cherbourg
AFP the 18 August 2016
Two "pilot" tidal turbine farm projects off the northwestern tip of Cotentin have been the subject of public inquiries since Thursday and for a month, we learned from the Manche prefecture. Tidal turbines are underwater turbines that produce electricity with the energy of currents. The two projects are planned in the very strong currents of the Raz Blanchard.
Led by EDF, with DCNS, "Normandie Hydro" provides for 7 tidal turbines of 16 meters in diameter, 3,5 km from Goury (Manche), about thirty meters deep, on a surface of 28 hectares, indicated to the 'AFP one of the investigating commissioners at the town hall of Jobourg, one of the six municipalities concerned by the public inquiry. The other, called "Nepthyd" led by Engie with Alstom, provides for 4 tidal turbines 18 meters in diameter over 17 ha, not far from "Normandie Hydro".
EDF hopes to start work in 2017 and Engie in 2018, according to the commissioner. Industrialists estimate at approximately two years the duration of the works. The tidal turbines of Nepthyd display a power of 1,4 MW each (their production could power 15 000 people in electricity), those of Normandie Hydro 2 MW.
The Robin des Bois association for the defense of marine environments is "absolutely against these projects" in the Natura 2000 zone, its president Jacky Bonnemains told AFP on Thursday. "The Raz Blanchand is an underwater torrent with major ecological functionality. Attacking it is like attacking Mont Blanc," he added.
Currently, only two tidal turbines are submerged off the French coast, near the island of Bréhat (Côtes d'Armor). They must be connected to the network "during the summer", indicated in June DCNS which designed them. They should then form the first park, in France and in the world, of tidal turbines connected via a single cable to the national electricity distribution network, according to DCNS, which has a similar project off the coast of Canada.
According to DCNS, the Bréhat project aims to show the technological feasibility of tidal turbines, while that of the Raz Blanchard aims to "demonstrate the tidal turbine economic model". The third step would be the opening of "commercial farms" of 50 to 150 units (or 300 MW) by 2023, according to DCNS. Until then, the manufacturer announces "costs divided by three".
This energy is subject to subsidies. For the Nepthyd project for example, France plans to pay 51,23 million euros, by means of a direct subsidy and advances which will be reimbursed "if the technology had to keep its promises", according to a source familiar with the matter. .
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