On 16 July, the Board of Directors of France Energies Marines approved four new research and innovation projects with a total budget of €8 million. These initiatives will deliver methodologies and tools for industry stakeholders to improve the environmental sustainability, societal integration, reliability, and profitability of offshore wind farms. The selected themes were jointly defined with the Institute’s industrial members to address the sector’s needs both in France and abroad. Soon to be launched, the new projects will focus on: the impact of climate change, the potential of shared anchors for floating wind, the reliability of bird collision risk models, and chemical risks associated with cathodic protection systems. Bringing together 37 partners in total, this new series of projects highlights the key role played by France Energies Marines in conducting long-term, high-quality R&D, fostering collaboration between private and public stakeholders.

On 16 July, the Board of Directors of France Energies Marines approved four new research and innovation projects bringing together 37 private and public partners. The four projects represent an €8 million investment, nearly €5 million of which will be directly managed by the Institute, working in close collaboration with its scientific partners. This demonstrates the continued support of France Energies Marines’ members, the French government, and regional authorities for a shared approach to research, innovation, and risk-sharing in support of offshore wind development.

The selected themes, defined in collaboration with the Institute’s industrial members, are fully aligned with the sector’s needs in France and internationally:

• 2C MORE, following on from the 2C NOW project (2023–2025), will enable a more refined assessment of the impact of climate change on offshore wind energy production and turbine sizing by reducing uncertainties in climate projection models. An online visualisation platform and recommendations will be developed for industry stakeholders.

• AVOCET aims to improve the accuracy of models used to estimate the collision risk of terrestrial migratory birds with offshore wind turbines by providing more precise data on bird flows and flight altitudes in offshore wind farm areas. A guide will be produced to ensure the method’s transferability across different wind farms, enabling more realistic and site-specific estimates of bird collision rates.

• MUTANC 2, building on MUTANC (2021–2024), will analyse the potential of shared anchors and mooring lines in terms of reliability and cost-effectiveness for floating wind farms. Relevant installation scenarios will be developed, along with an analysis of associated challenges and cost impacts.

• PEARL will refine the assessment of environmental risks linked to chronic emissions of chemical elements from offshore wind turbines. Continuing the work of the ANODE (2019–2020) and ECOCAP (2021–2024) projects, which showed that concentrations of compounds from galvanic anti-corrosion anodes remain below toxicity thresholds in the water column, PEARL will evaluate the risk of local accumulation in sediments and certain marine organisms. The project will also develop analytical tools to detect potential chlorination by-products generated by impressed current systems. Additionally, in the context of floating wind development, PEARL will conduct an initial experimental study on the ageing of synthetic mooring lines and analyse associated discharges to support technological advancements with improved understanding of environmental interactions.

A fifth project, UPSCALE, is currently in preparation. It will focus on evaluating the performance of XXL wind turbines (power > 20 MW), which will reach altitudes above 300 metres where wind profiles are poorly characterised. Existing design standards and modelling approaches for offshore wind turbines may need to be reconsidered.

Jean-François Filipot, Scientific Director of France Energies Marines The projects led by France Energies Marines and its partners are deeply rooted in the sector’s needs. They will help accelerate the deployment of offshore wind through significant technological and environmental advances. These efforts aim to deliver more efficient, competitive, and environmentally integrated fixed and floating offshore wind farms. They respond to the growing need for low-carbon energy production and energy sovereignty. The projects are driven by the expertise and resources of France Energies Marines and its partners, who are now among the European and international leaders in applied offshore wind research.