France awards €260m to upgrade five floating wind ports

France has awarded €260m to upgrade port facilities at five locations that will serve its floating offshore wind pipeline, per Renews.biz. The selected sites (Cherbourg, Brest, Nantes-Saint Nazaire, Port-la-Nouvelle and Marseille-Fos) cover the main deep-water corridors where floating projects are expected to be deployed. Port infrastructure has been identified as a critical bottleneck for floating wind cost reduction across Atlantic Europe.

The funding is notable for its geographic spread: three ports face the Atlantic, one the English Channel, and Marseille-Fos anchors a Mediterranean supply chain. Port-la-Nouvelle and Marseille-Fos are already linked to early-stage floating pilot projects in the Gulf of Lion.

Elsewhere in French energy policy, EDF is in discussions to bring external investors into its small modular reactor project, according to Reuters. No financial terms were reported. In the Italian zone, Macquarie Capital has invested in renewable developer Chiron Energy, also per Reuters, though deal size was not disclosed.