TotalEnergies Files Authorization for €4.5 Billion Centre Manche 1.5 GW Offshore Wind Project off Normandy

TotalEnergies has officially filed for Single Authorization of the Centre Manche Energies offshore wind farm, a 1.5 gigawatt project located approximately 40 kilometres off the Normandy coast that represents France's largest planned renewables project with an estimated investment of 4.5 billion euros or $5.2 billion. The application, filed eight months after the French government awarded the project to TotalEnergies, includes technical and environmental surveys, a preliminary design for the wind farm and a planned installation programme. Once built, the project will generate around 6 terawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to supply more than one million French homes with clean power, and will employ up to 2,500 people during its three-year construction phase.

 

Project Scope and European Supply Chain Strategy

 

The Centre Manche Energies project will be developed by a wholly-owned TotalEnergies project company and is now entering the permitting process and government review phase following the formal authorization application. TotalEnergies intends to focus sourcing on European suppliers, particularly for wind turbines and electric cables, reflecting the EU's increasing determination to protect its domestic clean energy industry from Chinese competition. This European supplier preference aligns with broader industrial policy objectives across France and the EU, where offshore wind is increasingly viewed as a vehicle for building domestic manufacturing capability alongside clean energy generation.

The next steps involve the permitting process and government review of the assessment and application, alongside simultaneous consultation with local officials, environmental organisations, seafarers and the public to ensure the project is well integrated into the Normandy region's economy and community. This parallel track of regulatory and community engagement reflects the lessons learned from offshore wind projects across Europe where insufficient early-stage stakeholder involvement has contributed to delays and opposition. The scale of the project and its proximity to the Normandy coastline make credible community engagement particularly important for maintaining the social licence needed to progress through construction.

 

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TotalEnergies' Differentiated Renewables Strategy

 

Unlike European oil majors including BP and Shell, which have materially reduced their renewables spending in recent years, TotalEnergies has maintained a consistent commitment to building a global renewable energy portfolio and targets a 12 percent profitability threshold for its Integrated Power business. The company's approach involves typically divesting up to 50 percent of its renewable assets once they reach commercial operation and are de-risked, allowing it to maximise asset value, recycle capital into new development and manage risk across a growing portfolio of clean energy investments. The Centre Manche project, once operational, would be a candidate for partial divestment under this strategy, potentially attracting infrastructure fund co-investors seeking exposure to operating offshore wind assets with contracted revenue streams.

The financial discipline embedded in TotalEnergies' renewable strategy, requiring projects to meet a defined profitability target rather than pursuing growth at any cost, has insulated the company from the strategic reversals that have affected peers who expanded into renewables without clear return requirements. The 1.5 gigawatt scale of the Centre Manche project and its position as France's largest planned renewables development demonstrates the company's continued confidence in large-scale offshore wind as a commercially viable asset class. This conviction stands in contrast to the retrenchment seen elsewhere in the oil major sector and positions TotalEnergies as the most committed major oil company in European offshore wind development.

 

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Outlook for French Offshore Wind and the Centre Manche Project

 

The Centre Manche authorization application marks the beginning of a multi-year permitting and construction process that will test France's ability to streamline offshore wind approvals at the scale needed to meet its renewable energy targets. France has historically been slower than the United Kingdom and Germany in developing offshore wind capacity, and the Centre Manche project represents an opportunity to demonstrate that large-scale offshore wind can be delivered efficiently within the French regulatory and permitting environment. Sustained momentum through the authorization process would send an important signal to other developers considering investment in French offshore wind.

Whether TotalEnergies can deliver the Centre Manche project on schedule and within its €4.5 billion budget will depend on the speed of the permitting review, the availability of European offshore wind turbines and installation vessels and the management of the complex logistics associated with a 40-kilometre offshore installation. Successful completion would establish the project as a flagship reference for French offshore wind development and reinforce TotalEnergies' position as Europe's most active oil major in the renewable energy transition. The project's combination of scale, European supplier commitment and community engagement ambition positions it as a potential model for the next generation of French offshore wind development.

 

 

Source: TotalEnergies