Oléron 1 offshore wind tender: "Reviving the project will not be straightforward" (L. Bordereaux)

"Relaunch the wind farm off Oléron? That is the topic of the day after the President’s comments at the Assises de la mer in La Rochelle on 04/11/2025. After the first tender for the Oléron offshore wind farm (Oléron 1) fell through, the government now seems ready to try again. The question is what this new attempt could look like. The project is not straightforward, as the tender result shows", writes Laurent Bordereaux, lawyer and professor at the University of La Rochelle, in an article sent to News Tank on 04/11/2025.

The tender for the offshore wind farm in the South Atlantic, near Oléron Island (AO7), closed without any bids, the government announced on 24/09/2025. Laurent Bordereaux points to the numerous concerns and issues raised by this project and its failure.

The idea for a wind farm dates back to 2015

• The idea for a wind farm off the Ile d’Oléron in a “fixed-bottom” version first appeared ten years ago. It was planned inside the Gironde Estuary and Charente Pertuis Marine Park and in two Natura 2000 areas under the Birds and Habitats Directives. The proposal…