TotalEnergies’ wholly owned project company, Centre Manche Energies, has filed for Single Authorization of its 1.5 GW Centre Manche 2 offshore wind farm, to be sited more than 40 kilometres off the coast of Normandy, France in the Bay of Seine. The authorization application, submitted to the French government on 28 May 2026, arrives eight months after the project was awarded to TotalEnergies under the AO8 offshore wind competitive tender run by the French Ministry of Industry and Energy. The submission package includes an environmental impact assessment, technical and environmental survey results, a preliminary wind farm design, and installation plans — the full documentation package required before a government review and public consultation process can formally begin. Once built, the project will generate approximately 6 TWh of electricity per year, enough to supply renewable power to more than one million French households. At a projected investment of €4.5 billion, it is the largest renewable energy project ever developed in France and the single largest investment TotalEnergies has committed to in the country over the past 30 years. A final investment decision is targeted for early 2029, with first power generation scheduled for 2033 in line with the grid connection programme managed by transmission system operator RTE. Construction is expected to last three years and employ up to 2,500 workers, with TotalEnergies committing 500,000 hours of work to apprentices and individuals in professional integration.

Normandy and the Arc of French Offshore Wind

The Centre Manche 2 filing signals a meaningful acceleration in France’s offshore wind pipeline, a sector that has moved far more slowly than neighbouring Germany, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in converting policy ambition into operating capacity. France’s first commercial offshore wind farm, the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire Offshore Wind Farm, only reached full operation in 2023 — underscoring how deep the permitting and litigation challenges have run in the French regulatory system. Centre Manche 2 dwarfs that precedent by a factor of three in installed capacity and nearly ten in projected output value. The project sits adjacent to the earlier Centre Manche 1 zone, and together the two developments point toward a combined offshore wind capacity of around 2.5 GW in the Channel off Normandy alone by the early 2030s. The wider competitive context has intensified following TotalEnergies’ victory in Germany’s 1GW offshore wind tender, reinforcing the company’s ambition to become a dominant pan-European offshore developer rather than a market-specific player. The region carries genuine industrial advantages: the Normandy workforce has accumulated offshore skills through earlier project phases, and TotalEnergies has committed to sourcing key equipment — wind turbines and electrical cables — from European suppliers with a preference for French industry. RWE, which originally co-won the AO8 tender as part of a joint consortium, announced its intention to exit as part of a strategic portfolio review; TotalEnergies has assumed all consortium commitments and is seeking a new equity partner. The power price locked in at tender — €66 per MWh — reflects the competitive tension in the AO8 round and positions the project as a commercially disciplined bet rather than a subsidy-dependent one, a distinction that matters as European energy policy continues to shift toward merchant and hybrid revenue models.

Project Fact Sheet

• Project Name: Centre Manche Energies (Centre Manche 2)
• Location: Bay of Seine, English Channel, 40+ km off the Normandy coast, France
• Project Value: €4.5 billion
• Installed Capacity: 1,500 MW (1.5 GW)
• Annual Electricity Output: Approximately 6 TWh
• Households Supplied: Over 1 million French homes
• Tender Award: September 2025 under AO8 offshore wind call for tenders
• Authorization Filing: 28 May 2026 (Single Authorization to French government)
• Final Investment Decision Target: Early 2029
• Expected Commissioning: 2033
• Construction Duration: Approximately 3 years
• Jobs Created: Up to 2,500 during construction; 500,000 apprenticeship and integration hours committed
• Power Price: €66 per MWh (as set by AO8 tender)

Project Team

• Developer/Operator: TotalEnergies SE (through Centre Manche Energies, a wholly owned project company)
• Project Director: Thierry Muller, TotalEnergies
• Original Co-Awardee (Exiting): RWE (signalled withdrawal pending French regulatory approval)
• Awarding Authority: French Ministry of Industry and Energy
• Grid Connection Operator: RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Électricité) — responsible for grid connection programme and 2033 commissioning schedule
• Turbine Supplier: Not yet contracted (European preference policy committed; major candidates include Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, and GE Vernova)
• Regulatory Process: French Single Authorization regime (environmental review and public consultation to follow filing)