The European Commission has approved a €63 billion French state aid scheme to support offshore wind energy over the next 25 years.
The funding is intended to support the construction and operation of 11 offshore wind farms in the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the Commission reported in a release on Monday.
The projects are expected to have a combined capacity of up to 11.1 gigawatts (GW) and generate up to 47.8 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity a year — about 10.6% of France’s annual electricity consumption.
Support will be awarded through a “transparent and non-discriminatory” bidding process organised by France.
The aid will take the form of a two-way contract for difference (CfD) — a mechanism that tops up revenues when wholesale electricity prices fall below an agreed “reference price”, and requires operators to pay money back to the state when prices rise above it.
The Commission said the scheme includes safeguards to avoid compensating producers for electricity generated when market prices are negative.
Replacement for earlier support for three wind farms
For three of the wind farms, the scheme replaces support that the Commission had approved in August 2025.
The approval was granted under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, known as CISAF, which was adopted on 25 June 2025.
“Today’s decision clears the way for France’s offshore wind support scheme,” said Teresa Ribera, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition.
