The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a funding of a 350 million Euros for developing the Courseulles-sur-Mer, or Calvados, offshore wind project in the English Channel. This offshore wind project has a capacity of 448 MW and will require a total of 2 billion Euros to be built. According to EIB, the financing will be guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
The construction for the project has already begun. The project is expected to be completed in 2024. The Calvados project is being developed by the French company EDF Renouvelables, Canadian company Enbridge Inc and the German firm Wpd AG of Germany. The offshore farm will consist of 64 wind turbines off the coast of Calvados department in the Normandy region. The power would be procured under a long term power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years.
When operational, the project is expected to generate enough electricity to meet the power demand of about 630,000 people. This amounts to about 90 per cent or more of Calvados’ total poulation.
Recently, in February 2021, EIB had also announced EUR 38.5 million of new financial and technical support to Burkina Faso for promoting solar power development. The funding will also be used to protect its capital city Ouagadougou from future flooding. Through this financing, EIB aims to improve energy access in the country and address the risks caused by extreme weather.