The French government has awarded nearly €260 million under the France 2030 programme to five ports to upgrade infrastructure supporting the country's floating offshore wind industry, as part of its ambition to deploy almost 6 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2040.

The selected ports are Cherbourg, Brest, Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, Port-la-Nouvelle and Marseille-Fos. The funding will support the development of facilities for the manufacturing, assembly and integration of floating offshore wind projects.

The investments will primarily finance the construction and upgrading of quays, port yards and access roads, enabling the ports to handle the oversized components required for floating wind turbines. According to the government, the upgrades will allow French ports to competitively supply both future domestic and international floating offshore wind projects across the Atlantic-Channel and Mediterranean maritime regions.

The government said the port infrastructure programme is aligned with the objectives of France's National Port Strategy, reaffirmed in February 2025, which positions ports as key contributors to industrial decarbonisation, energy sovereignty and the development of the country's floating offshore wind supply chain.

The €260 million in public support is expected to leverage nearly €1 billion in total port infrastructure investments needed to enable the deployment of floating offshore wind projects.

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said ports are a strategic component of offshore wind development due to their proximity to maritime areas and their capacity to accommodate large-scale equipment required for assembly, installation and maintenance. He added that strengthening port infrastructure will support employment, increase value creation in France and reinforce the country's industrial and energy sovereignty.

Energy Minister Delegate Maud Bregeon described floating offshore wind as one of the pillars of France's energy strategy, saying the France 2030 programme provides the resources needed to develop competitive industrial infrastructure, create jobs and contribute to the country's decarbonisation objectives. She said the selected projects would help transform France's energy ambitions into industrial capacity on both the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.