Wind power companies and French citizens are waiting for an announcement later this month that the nation is finally going to capitalize on its extensive coastline and enter — in a big way — the growing offshore wind sector.

News reports and various websites are publishing stories saying that Environment and Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo is expected to announce in September initial tenders for offshore wind farms that will include up to 600 wind turbines.

Agence France Presse says the tenders will relate to 10 billion euros to build 3,000 MW of offshore capacity at five to ten sites in Normandy, Brittany and the regions of Pays de la Loire and Languedoc by 2015.

The quickly developing offshore wind power sector may soon be opening an exciting new chapter with the news that Scotland wants Norway’s largest energy corporation to use its waters to develop the world’s first floating wind farm.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond met Statoil officials last Monday to discuss a proposal by the company to commercially test its Hywind floating turbines in deep water either off the coast of Lewis or Aberdeenshire.

A government of Scotland press release noted Statoil has already constructed a full scale 2.3 MW prototype Hywind unit, anchored 10 kilometres offshore at Karmøy in Norway, in waters up to 200 metres deep.

Norbert Röttgen, German Federal Environment Minister, has thrown his backing behind developing more offshore wind farms in Germany. Röttgen announced today that offshore companies can rely on debt guarantees from the governemnt to secure the financing of “10 mega projects” in the North and Baltic seas up until the end of 2011.

The announcement signals a stronger than previously thought support for wind energy from Röttgen, German newspaper the Spiegel said.

Under the plans, 10,000 MW of offshore wind farm capacity will be built within the next 10 years, and 25,000 MW in the next 20 years.
“I believe that we can reach nearly 100% renewable energy by 2050, and wind power will provide about 50% of this,” Röttgen said in an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt.

In another positive development for the global offshore wind industry, it appears that the world’s number two economy is getting ready to harness a massive amount of additional offshore wind energy to help power its electricity-hungry population, promote jobs and spending in its coastal regions, and reduce greenhouse gasses.

Kyodo News International was reporting on the weekend that a senior Japanese government panel has drafted a plan calling for huge offshore wind farms capable of producing at least 1,000 megawatts of power to be built by 2020.

Relying on a source familiar with the proposal, the news agency said the panel — headed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama — hopes to work out financing and other issues related to the plan within a year.

The government is hoping that developing both offshore wind farms and specialty vessels required for their construction will create many jobs in a variety of industries, ranging from steel manufacturing to machinery components, the news agency quoted the source as saying.

Noting that Japan, which saw its first offshore wind farm begin operations in 2004, lags far behind Europe in promoting offshore wind energy, the source added the government will likely consider a number of support measures including subsidies or loans for research and development, as well as construction of power generation equipment.