The Institute

The institute for energy transition dedicated to offshore wind energy

An institute well-equipped to support the OFFSHORE WIND sector

A multidisciplinary team of 100 employees, four R&D themes, a model of public-private collaboration shared with seven other institutes for energy transition and eight technological research institutes: this is France Energies Marines summarised in a few figures. These figures outline the contours of an institute that is particularly well-equipped to support R&D in the offshore wind sector, a key component of France’s future energy mix and of Europe’s action to build a low-carbon world.

Institute’s brochure

A mission: RESOLVING BOTTLENECKS WITH RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Our mission at France Energies Marines is to resolve bottlenecks to the development of offshore wind energy through research and innovation. To do so, the Institute draws on cutting-edge R&D led by an 100-strong multidisciplinary team and one-of-a-kind infrastructures to propel innovation forward. It also brings together a broad network of academic experts and partners who work in close collaboration with its researchers. Through its actions, France Energies Marines is helping France to become the leader in green hydrogen and renewable energies by 2030, one of the ten objectives set out by the French government as part of the France 2030 investment plan.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION are in the heart of the Institute’s activities

The Institute’s activities are built on two cornerstones: a multidisciplinary team with invaluable expertise and high-level collaboration, and infrastructures, whether belonging to the Institute or to partner organisations, to carry out high added-value experimentation. The R&D carried out by France Energies Marines takes the form of projects lasting between 18 and 42 months and long-term sector-focused programmes. The outputs are intended to be transferred to offshore wind sector stakeholders. This transfer currently takes the form of research and expertise services, operating licences, know-how transfer and participation in expert committees and networks.

2023 Activity report

2021 S&T Roadmap

A public-private collaboration bringing together the main players in the sector

Faced with an intrinsically dynamic sector, France Energies Marines has always been able to bring together some thirty entities from the public and private sectors, with a constant desire to open up to new members. Since its creation, it has been anchored in the ecosystem by the French sea competitiveness clusters. The national dimension, which is original for an institute for energy transition, is measured by the presence of regional authorities on the metropolitan and overseas coasts. Academic structures, research establishments or institutions provide excellence and high standards in marine research. As for the complementary links in the offshore wind value chain, they include energy specialists, developers, industrial assemblers, equipment manufacturers, engineering consultancy firms.

centrale mediterranee logo
febus optics logo 2024
iberdrola logo
oceanide logo
Région Bretagne logo 2022
Shell logo
skyborn logo 2023
Total Energies logo
Nantes Université logo
sorbonne universite logo

A growth since 2012

Since the beginning of 2020, the activities of the Institute for energy transition have been carried out by a simplified joint-stock company, but the team has been gradually built up from the labelling granted in 2012 to the France Energies Marines prefiguration Association. Created following a national reflection on the interest of building a national technological platform for offshore renewable energies, this first structure brought together a broad partnership with the main players in the sector. The first projects were co-financed by the founding members. In 2015, a framework agreement signed with the French National Research Agency within the framework of the Investments for the Future Programme enabled the doubling of French State funding. This new impetus marked the start of France Energies Marines’ continuous growth. Over the 2012-2018 period, which precedes the Institute agreement, more than 35 projects have been completed and €10 million have been operated by the Institute. Thanks to the collaborative scheme representing a significant leverage effect, a total of €27 million has been dedicated to R&D for ORE.

All our R&D projects

Our research and expertise services offer

Locations as close as possible to the French coastlines

Because of its national vocation, France Energies Marines has always been concerned with the specificities of the different French maritime façades and the actors in the territories. This proximity, which is a considerable asset, is reflected in the strategic locations, each of which is growing in importance as the Institute expands. France Energies Marines is particularly keen to support the development of bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind energy, as close as possible to pilot and commercial projects.

  • Headquarters: Since its creation in 2012, France Energies Marines has set up its headquarters near Brest in Brittany. It soon joined the Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, the Technopôle Brest-Iroise and the Campus Mondial de la mer. These different entities and initiatives are at the heart of the animation between marine and maritime research and industry, thus reinforcing the synergies with the local ecosystem.
  • Atlantic Office: Since 2017, France Energies Marines has had an Atlantic Office located in Nantes, on the Atlanpole site, with the Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique. This configuration encourages collaboration between research players and companies through complementary mechanisms. Several PhD students and post-doctoral research fellows are also housed in the Institute’s local partner laboratories.
  • Mediterranean Office: Created in 2019, the Mediterranean Office is developing with a multidisciplinary team based in Marseille, on the site of the Ecole Centrale de Marseille. The hosting and co-supervision of PhD students and post-doctoral research fellows are also provided by partner laboratories in the SUD Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Occitanie regions. The partnership with the Pôle Mer Méditerranée also strengthens the collaboration between research and business actors in the two regions.
  • East Channel – North Sea Office: Opened at the end of 2022, this branch is located on the premises of the University of Le Havre Normandy. Its objective is to support the development of wind energy off the Normandy coast. The local anchoring that its creation allows also serves the launch in 2023 of a structuring research programme aiming to study the interactions between offshore wind energy and the marine environment, which is based on the instrumentation of a measuring mast located off Fécamp.

2009

Holding of the Grenelle de l’Environnement

After the initial work carried out by the French partnership initiative for the emergence of offshore energies called IPANEMA, this Grenelle is continuing the collective construction of a national ORE strategy. Among the recommendations made is the urgent need to create a national offshore renewable energy technology platform to catalyse partnership research and coordinate the setting up of sea test sites, which are essential for validating the technologies.

Creation of France Energies Marines

Submitted in March 2011, the France Energies Marines project obtained official certification one year later. Set up in response to the call for projects for the Institutes of excellence in decarbonated energy, it is based on a broad public-private partnership, reflecting a strong national ambition in terms of R&D dedicated to offshore renewable energy.
0.6 million euros annual budget
12 employees

2012
2015

Signature of a framework agreement with the French Research Agency

This signature is materialised by the implementation of an original process of calls for projects, supported by the Investments for the Future Programme and coordinated by the French Research Agency (ANR). It enables the co-financing of projects based on themes from the European roadmap for the strategic development of offshore renewable energies, adapted by France Energies Marines to the expectations of French industrialists. Within this framework, the Institute sets up and manages all the projects proposed by its members.
11 R&D projects
1.5 million euros annual budget
15 employees

Agreement as Institute for Energy Transition

This French State decision enables the Institute to continue to develop its activities and to increase the shared R&D efforts of the French industry. The strategic priorities are to reduce the cost of ORE and their integration into the marine environment.
+ More than 55 R&D projects
2.5 million euros annual budget
40 employees

2019
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