PARIS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- France has launched two offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean, the country's ministers for energy transition and ecological transition, and the secretary of state for the sea announced on Friday.
The wind farms will be located off Oleron Island in the Charente-Maritime department, and construction "will take into account the results of ongoing or future environmental research" in the area, they said.
The first wind farm will be operational by 2030, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Meanwhile, the second wind farm will have a capacity of more than 1,000 MW.
Together, the two wind farms will generate a volume of electricity equivalent to the energy consumption of 1.6 million inhabitants, more than double the population of Charente-Maritime.
A public debate on the wind farm project was held with more than 15,000 residents of the department between October 2021 and February 2022.
Using information from the debate, the French government was able to identify a construction site "outside the natural park and as far as possible from the coast."
France, like many other European countries, is facing an energy shortage. As well as the wind farm project, the government has also announced its intention to reactivate coal-fired power stations. ■