‘France Relance’ and sustainable ambitions drive project logistics activity

Back in 2020, the French government launched its EUR100 billion (USD106 billion) ‘France Relance’ programme, aimed at ensuring the country’s future resilience. The EU is stumping up 40 percent of the investment, which in total represents the equivalent of about one third of the annual state budget of France.

One of the three main themes of the plan centres on France’s ambition to become Europe’s first major decarbonised economy, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Among other environmental initiatives, the country is investing in the development of green hydrogen (allocating USD4.4 billion in subsidies to help manufacturers reduce emissions, for instance); improving public transport services; and improving rail links and the supply of trains for passengers and freight alike.

In light of these sustainability-minded aspects of France Relance, it is hardly surprising that the majority of project activity in the French market right now appears to be occurring in the energy and urban mobility sectors.

With regard to the latter category, the French government announced in February 2023 that it would spend EUR100 billion (USD106 billion) by 2040 on expanding and upgrading the country’s rail network. Plans include the construction of the future line C of the Toulouse metro system, which will serve 21 stations (17 of them underground). Contracts for different parcels of work were awarded earlier this year and the new 27 km line is scheduled to open in late 2028.

Exports of railway engines and construction machinery are also looking good, for instance those departing from the ports of Rouen and Dunkirk for mining and industrial clients abroad, said Chris Grigentin, Bolloré Logistics director of freight forwarding.

On the inbound side, he said: “Many requests relate to the installation of power plants or factories.”

Reshoring industrial production bolsters French logisticians

This trend could reflect another pillar of France Relance – a focus on increasing the country’s competitiveness through steps such as reshoring industrial production or upgrading manufacturing facilities – as well as the current difficulty in accessing energy that can be adjusted according to demand.

Like many countries, France (which imports all its oil and gas) has diversified its gas supplies in recent times to avoid relying solely on disrupted Russian sources. LNG imports have risen dramatically since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

The US International Trade Administration said earlier this year: “The three LNG terminals at Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique) and Dunkerque (Pas-de-Calais) through which the imported LNG is received are operating at full capacity. Consequently, Engie which was planning to close the Fos-sur-Mer terminal, has signed contracts ensuring that this terminal will continue to be used until 2028.”

In addition, France still has two coal-fired power stations of its own. The intention had been to close the last of these in 2022 as part of the nation’s energy transition. However, given the need for reliable and flexible power provision to accommodate peaks and troughs in demand, coal is a valuable option.

Both coal-fired plants will now remain in use until the end of 2024. The one at Cordemais will then close, with the Saint-Avold plant staying active until 2026. The majority of France’s energy mix, though – around 70 percent – comes from its 56 nuclear plants, according to the International Energy Agency.

France had also set a target to reduce the share of nuclear energy in its mix to 50 percent by 2035, although it appears this goal has now been abandoned. Indeed, the government announced plans in 2022 to build six new reactors costing EUR52 billion (USD55 billion) and to consider a further eight as well, the World Nuclear Association observed.

Two new reactors will be built on the site of an existing plant at Bugey in eastern France. There will also be a pair at Gravelines in northern France and another pair at Penly in Seine-Maritime. All six are to be built by EDF, with construction set to begin in 2027.

In late September, France hosted a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the aim of accelerating investment in nuclear power and to discuss long-term international cooperation in the field – excluding Russia.

Nuclear strategy

As reported by pan-European news outlet Euractiv, French energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said nuclear power should not be treated differently from renewable energies when it comes to decarbonisation initiatives. A joint statement by participants in the OECD meeting called on financial institutions to classify nuclear energy projects alongside other energy sources with low or no emissions.

But France is investing in renewable energy, too, aiming for this to account for 40 percent of its power mix by 2030.

Right now, Bolloré Logistics is paying close attention to the steps large French industrial groups are taking in the energy transition sector. Grigentin said: “We are seeing a shift in their budget requests from the Middle East and Asia in favour of Europe – especially Belgium and France.”

A spokesperson from Haropa Port highlighted Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy’s plant at Le Havre for the production of wind turbine blades and the assembly of turbine nacelles for offshore wind farms, which began production in March 2022 and is resulting in a “meteoric rise” in shipments.

“Furthermore, heavy packages for land-based wind turbines are also destined to increase in numbers in coming years since they will need to be carried for installation on the farms, these being located to the east and the south of Paris,” the spokesperson said. “The Seine Axis and the geographical positioning of Haropa’s maritime and river terminals should generally facilitate the logistics for these loads.”

We are seeing a shift in their budget requests from the Middle East and Asia in favour of Europe – especially Belgium and France. – Chris Grigentin, Bolloré Logistics 

Haropa operates 15 maritime and 12 river terminals with access for heavy loads (seven in Le Havre, six in Rouen and eight in Paris, plus four terminals at partner ports). These terminals form a network stretching from Le Havre to the east of Paris and, equipped as they are with heavy lift gear, storage, craft and specialists, can meet the needs of industrial operators along the whole length of the Seine.

Terminal links

Haropa’s terminals have direct access to barges as well as road and rail connections. In order to further develop modal transfer for exceptional loads along the Seine – as well as raising the awareness of companies to the many advantages of river-based transport – a working group was set up in September 2022 at the initiative of Logiyonne with operators in the exceptional load transport chain.

Under this initiative, the spokesperson said: “Shared mapmaking efforts are currently under way to arrive at clear and easily usable visual presentations for customers and transport users indicating, in an initial phase, waterway routes, port facilities (potential sites and available resources) and exceptional road transport connections to the network.

“We are also doing work – on a voluntary basis – to identify companies capable of meeting requests for exceptional transport supply,” the Haropa spokesperson said, adding that in 2021, Logiyonne acquired a vessel (the 86 m-long Exelmans) for regular river trips carrying heavy loads between Gron and Le Havre.

Numerous wind energy projects are progressing at various stages, both onshore and off the coast of France, in line with the country’s policy on renewable energy.

Offshore has garnered a great deal of attention of late, with the wind farm at Saint-Nazaire having started producing electricity last year for example, while it was announced in March 2023 that EDF Renouvelables and Maple Power will build Centre Manche 1 – the country’s largest offshore wind farm to date, with a capacity of 1 GW.

The winner of a tender for a 1,000 MW wind farm off the island of Oléron in the Bay of Biscay will be chosen in 2024, and commissioning is expected in 2028.

As for projects that are starting soon, François Georges Kuhn, Maritime Kuhn ceo, said by way of example: “In 2024 we will handle the Yeu-Noirmoutiers project via our agencies in Montoir and La Rochelle.”

Preparatory work on the project to create a 496 MW fixed-support wind farm off the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier (themselves off the West coast of France) began during the summer and energy production is expected to start in 2025.

“La Rochelle will also receive the longest onshore wind blades ever handled in France, at 80 m,” Kuhn continued. “These blades will arrive at the end of the year [2023] for a project in the Charente-Maritime department of France.

“Currently the longest blades that we have received measured 74.5 m; they were imported from Türkiye for a project in the French department of Charente,” he added.

Access channel dredging

La Rochelle’s ‘Port Horizon 2025’ programme includes deepening the port’s access channel. Dredging is planned for November 2023 and excavation is scheduled to take place in the first half of December 2023, a spokesperson said.

The plan also includes the creation of basins and access to the new heavy lift quay, Anse Saint-Marc 3, with its specialised terminal that serves the needs of the EMR (énergies marines renouvelables – marine renewable energies) sector, among other project cargo customers. Works began in spring 2023.

At the end of April 2023, the 420 m onshore section of the Môle d’Escale viaduct was dismantled. The La Repentie area of the port will be connected to the Anse Saint-Marc terminal via a reinforced surface, boosting the development of heavy cargo – notably wind energy shipments for fixed offshore projects like Yeu-Noirmoutier, as well as floating wind turbine components.

La Rochelle will also receive the longest onshore wind blades ever handled in France, at 80 m. – François Georges Kuhn, Maritime Kuhn 

Other French ports, too, are investing in their renewable energy capabilities in order to serve the offshore wind sector. In April 2023, eight port projects were selected by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) as part of the call for interest entitled ‘Ports de France 2030’, which focused on floating offshore wind energy specifically.

One successful application came from a consortium of La Rochelle, Rochefort-Tonnay-Charente, Bordeaux and Bayonne. The ports’ joint application emphasised their potential to work together in supporting and developing floating offshore wind projects – for instance, masts and components for floating foundations could be manufactured at Bayonne, construction and placement in the water could occur at Anse Saint-Marc, blades and nacelles could be stored and assembled at Verdon, and anchors and mooring lines could be stored at Rochefort, according to La Rochelle.

The other ports selected by ADEME to receive financing for projects that will support the development of floating offshore wind farms were Ports de Normandie; Grand Port Fluvio-Maritime de l’Axe Seine; Nantes Saint-Nazaire; Brest and Lorient; Marseille; Région Occitanie; and Port-La-Nouvelle.

Brest and Lorient’s application focused on the production and storage of floating foundations.

Brest has also been busy with fixed-support wind turbines. The port’s EMR quay received its first offshore wind shipment in September 2022 when the Rotra Mare delivered mast sections for Iberdrola’s 496 MW Ailes Marines wind farm in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. Haizea Breizh, which had just moved into the port’s EMR terminal, handled the cargo.

Wind farm foundations

Earlier in the year, the first four foundations for the project had arrived by barge from Spain. Components were manufactured at Brest and Fene (Galicia) by joint venture Navantia-Windar and local subcontractors.

The first of the 62 wind turbines for the Ailes Marine park was installed in May 2023 by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. The turbines are manufactured in France, at the Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy industrial site at the port of Le Havre, while the masts are pre-equipped by Haizea Wind on the Brest polder. As of the end of August, 35 of the 62 turbines had been installed and the wind farm has been producing electricity since July 2023.

Also in northern France, Normandy’s 500 MW Fécamp floating offshore wind farm saw the first of 71 turbines installed in July. The project was developed by Eolien Maritime France (EMF), a joint venture between EDF Renouvelables, EIH and Skyborn, and is slated for completion in late 2023 or early 2024.

As reported by HLPFI, Sarens was involved last year in lifting and loading out 71 gravity-based structures for the turbines, weighing approximately 4,800 tonnes each, in the port of Le Havre.

Sarens also performed lifts, weighs and load-outs for three floating foundations in Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille in southern France earlier this year, as part of EDF Renouvelables’ Provence Grand Large (PGL) pilot floating offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean Sea.

In August, after the first floating foundation was assembled, it was launched into the water and towed to the Gloria Quay in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône. There, German heavy lift specialist Schmidbauer installed an 8.4 MW wind turbine onto its floating foundation.

Floating installation

Among other equipment, Schmidbauer has brought in a new Liebherr LR 11350 crawler crane with power boom to complete its work on the project, which involves the components of the three wind turbines being erected on the floating foundations – while already on the open sea – from the loading quay.

The first finished assembly was towed out and moored about 17 km off the coast in September, with all three planned to be in situ by the end of 2023 and electricity production expected to start in early 2024.

While offshore wind energy projects are gathering pace, Kuhn lamented the administrative hurdles and public opposition that have hitherto slowed their progress, and which dog onshore wind (and other renewable energy) projects still.

European energy news specialist Montel Online said in January that France is “the only EU member state to have failed to reach its target of raising its renewable energy share in final energy demand to 23 percent by 2020” and will miss its 24.1 GW 2023 target, too, owing to a slowdown in approvals of project applications.

Kuhn said: “10 years to achieve the first offshore wind farm, systematic attack on all onshore projects… and that is not to mention the exceptional transport permits that can practically be refused because of a spelling mistake.”

Onshore wind is stalling; the latest French onshore wind auction was supposed to add nearly 1 GW of capacity… But only four projects were awarded out of 60 that had bid. – WindEurope 

WindEurope pointed out in April 2023 that while France is making headway with its offshore wind power development, more needs to be done to facilitate the construction of onshore wind farms. For example, considering the Centre Manche 1 project, WindEurope said: “The wind energy supply chain already has a strong footprint in Normandy: Siemens Gamesa produces blades and nacelles for offshore wind turbines in Le Havre, and General Electric produces offshore turbine blades in its factory in Cherbourg. The government is set to pass a Green Industry Bill in the coming months to support the supply chain and facilitate its growth.

“Meanwhile onshore wind is stalling; the latest [as of April] French onshore wind auction was supposed to add nearly 1 GW of capacity – twice the capacity of France’s first operational offshore wind farm, in Saint Nazaire. But only four projects were awarded out of 60 that had bid into the auction. The successful bids have a total capacity of 56 MW. That is only around 5 percent of the auctioned volume.”

Unclear instructions

This under-subscription was caused by a “lack of conformity” of most applications due to unclear instructions by the administration, WindEurope said. “More than ever, it is key that the authorities in charge of processing the applications do it swiftly… and critically, more human resources need to be allocated to these authorities in order to avoid this type of blunder in the future.”

Lessons appear to have been learnt. In July, the French government selected 73 onshore wind energy projects, totalling 1,156 MW, for development under its PPE2 tendering round (fourth stage). There were 120 bids totalling 1.8 GW. The PPE2 multi-year energy procurement programme has a target of two renewable energy tenders per year for 925 MW each between 2022 and 2026.

France passed its Renewable Energy Acceleration Bill early this year, introducing new targets like doubling onshore wind capacity and increasing solar power tenfold. The bill also includes measures intended to speed up the permitting process from years to months, and will give renewable energy projects the status of major public interest.