Ocean Winds (OW) has celebrated a first in environmentally-conscious offshore wind development.
The company is an international company dedicated to offshore wind energy and created as a 50-50 joint venture by EDP Renewables and ENGIE, in partnership with Banque des Territoires, a public investment institution committed to sustainable development. OW and Banque de Territoires have completed the installation of 32 Biohuts© – artificial nursery habitats for marine life, designed and manufactured by French ecological engineering firm, ECOCEAN – on one of the three floaters of the EFGL pilot wind farm.
The installation of these Biohuts on a floater is the result of an unprecedented approach in floating offshore wind power. Never before has a floating wind farm been designed with the goal of creating a positive impact on marine biodiversity by diversifying habitats.
To bring this ambition to life, the EFGL project relied on the innovative of ECOCEAN, a Montpellier-based company leading in eco-designed solutions for ecological restoration in aquatic environments.
Gilles Lecaillon, President of ECOCEAN, explained: “The EFGL team was immediately receptive and showed great interest in what was, at first, a rather bold idea. Integrating our Biohut units – originally designed for ports and marinas – into these megastructures installed offshore seemed incongruous. However, we were able to demonstrate their compatibility and are now eager to monitor the development of these units over the coming years, which will help to confirm their ecological value at the scale of a floating wind farm.”
The Biohut is a solution that replicates natural nursery habitats using steel cages. The first cage contains a natural substrate made of oyster shells that fosters the development of the trophic chain, while a second, empty cage surrounds the first, creating a refuge space for small fish when predators approach. This setup supports the development of marine fauna and provides post-larval fish with a favourable environment, offering both diverse food sources and protection, enabling them to reach a size sufficient for survival in the natural environment.
The installation of these Biohuts is the result of a close, almost decade-long collaboration between OW, ECOCEAN, and project partners. It is grounded in early research, such as the Biodiversity Observation Buoy deployment at the EFGL, which confirmed the potential of a significant ‘reef effect’, showing that floating wind structures located offshore can attract a wide variety of coastal marine species.
The EFGL floater, combined with comparative monitoring, will contribute to the scientific understanding between offshore and coastal ecosystems. This shapes more environmentally integrated practices for future offshore wind projects, both locally with the upcoming Eoliennes Flottanes d’Occitanie (EFLO) project, in which Ocean Winds and the Banque des Territoires are also shareholders, and for OW’s global portfolio of which one third is floating.
The EFGL project thus reinforces a commitment to marine ecosystems while addressing major energy transition challenges. The collaboration with ECOCEAN exemplifies the company’s commitment to the establishment of a French floating wind industry and contributes to the state’s goal of 45 GW of offshore wind by 2050 while respecting marine ecosystems.
Beginning in May 2025, the three EFGL floaters will be towed for the final wind turbine assembly. The installation of the turbines, 16 km off the French Mediterranean coast, is scheduled for summer 2025.
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