Arnaud Montebourg, Minister for Productive Recovery, Delphine Batho, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, and Frédéric Cuvillier, Minister Delegate for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries, welcome the publication of the report on the prospects for the development of marine renewable energies presented on 15 April to the national debate on energy transition.
This report, the result of a joint mission by the General Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development and the General Council for the Economy, Industry, Energy and Technologies, draws up an inventory of available technologies (tidal power, floating offshore wind power, wave and tidal energy, marine thermal energy, seawater cooling (SWAC) and osmotic energy) and examines the industrial, economic, legal and environmental issues associated with the development of this new energy production sector.
The report, available at www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr, attests to the good positioning of French industry in this field. In particular, it constitutes an essential contribution to the implementation of a support system adapted to pilot tidal turbine farms, announced by Delphine BATHO on 25 February last in order to place France in a good position in the face of booming global competition.
On this basis, marine energies will be able to participate fully in the transition of the French energy model with the best chances of industrial return for an exporting activity with high added value and qualified industrial jobs.
The quest for new sources of energy is constant, in the face of the increasingly contested nuclear option. The sea offers exceptional alternatives, especially when we know that France has serious assets: second largest maritime area in the world (11 million km2), behind the United States. On a European scale, our country has the second largest tidal turbine deposit, after Great Britain.
With offshore wind power, of course, which is currently being deployed along the English Channel, but also tidal power plants such as those of the Rance which uses the ebb and flow of the tide, or the tidal turbine, the exploitation of marine currents, the first prototypes of which are currently being tested off the Breton coast. There are other, more original forms of marine energy, such as theosmotic energyThis is based on the salinity differential between fresh and salt water, or wave power, the energy generated by the waves.
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France can count on the following industry champions such as DCNS, STX Europe, Alstom, plus energy companies such as Schneider Electric and EDF. For Delphine Batho, this means 10,000 jobs, others even speak of 40,000, that could be created by the development of MRE in France.
According to a study conducted by Indicta for GICAN, by 2030, marine renewable energies could represent 10% of the French electricity mix, assuming an installed capacity of 20,000 MW. And sccording to the International Energy Agency, we will be able to cover half of our electricity needs with these renewable energies in 2050. Among these, Marine Renewable Energies have a huge potential since they could cover the world's electricity consumption.
– Directory of the French marine renewable energy sector (SER / GICAN)
- Institut France Energies Marines
- Article Ouest France May 2, 2013 " Alain Clément, pioneer of wave energy ".
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