Renewable marine energies

Accueil » Renewable marine energies

The renewable marine energies face special legal challenges.

Numerous innovative projects are awarded by the Environment and Energy Demand Side Management (“Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie”) (the so-called “ADEME”) – in particular tidal, wave power, floating wind – while the Energy Regulatory Commission launchings competitive dialogues for fixed foundation wind and more recently floating wind projects.

The environmental authorisation includes a “water act” authorisation, maritime planning plays a critical role and the involvement of various State authorities for the authorisation and the operation stages – Minister for Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Prefect and the Maritime Prefect – requires a precise understanding of the powers of each authority. The litigations are numerous and benefit from a derogatory regime.

Finally, a special attention shall be brought to the industrial contracts negotiated as part of marine renewable energies projects. The international standards prevail – in particular FIDIC. A strong drafting and negotiation experience of these contracts is therefore required to fully understand the risks resulting from the involvement of numerous actors (i.e. the principal, the main contractors, the subcontractors and the suppliers). The need for such expertise will be increased with the development of hybrid hydrogen and wind projects which adds another link to the industrial chain.

In light of its strong experience gained in the marine energy sector, the firm assists clients in relation to all the aforementioned issues.