In 2012, Eolien Maritime France (EMF) was awarded the contract for the offshore wind farm in Calvados, off Courseulles-sur-Mer after a call for tenders.
The Calvados Fisheries Committee lodged a complaint with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) for suspicion of “favoritism” and of “embezzlement of public fundsin the allocation of an offshore wind farm off the coast of the department, we learned on Friday.
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In a press release, Messrs William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth announced that they had seized the PNF on April 29 of a “complaint against X for breaches of freedom of access and equality of candidates in public contracts – also known as the offense of favouritism, negligent embezzlement of public funds, and concealment of these offenses“. It was filed on behalf of the Departmental Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming (CDPMEM) of Calvados. On Friday, the PNF confirmed having received this complaint, “undergoing internal analysis“. In 2012, Eolien Maritime France (EMF) was awarded the contract for the offshore wind farm in Calvados, off Courseulles-sur-Mer after a call for tenders.
The construction of the park launched since February 2021
EMF’s shareholding was then held by EDF Renewables and the Danish Dong Energy, replaced in 2016 by the Canadian Enbridge which, according to the plaintiffs, “did not have any industrial expertise in the construction or operation of offshore wind farms at that date“. The CDPMEM considers that this “change of party should have triggered the issuance of a new call for tenders, in that it was likely to degrade the technical capacities implemented on the offshore wind farm construction project“. The plaintiffs also believe that “the absence of reopening of competition prevented any readjustment of the subsidies granted“, which should have been, according to the committee, revised downwards, for the benefit of the taxpayer. The construction of the park has been launched since February 2021.
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Composed of 64 wind turbines located more than 10 kilometers from the Normandy coast, it should be commissioned by 2024 and should produce the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of more than 90% of the population of Calvados, according to the project leaders. France has fallen behind in the field, but electricity from offshore wind turbines off Saint-Nazaire was produced for the first time in France this week, the operator and manager announced on Friday. of the network. In 2018, the Council of State dismissed the opponents of the Calvados project, namely five associations campaigning for the protection of the environment or for the registration of the Landing beaches as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.