Canada's Enbridge to develop French wind farm off Normandy

March 27 (UPI) -- Canadian energy company Enbridge said Monday it was now a member of a consortium planning what will become the largest offshore wind farm in French territory.

The French government selected EDF Renewables and Maple Power, a joint venture between Enbridge and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, to build a wind farm off Normandy that has a planned capacity of 1 gigawatt of power.

The facility is slated for a site about 20 miles offshore and commissioning is expected by the start of the next decade. It should be able to meet the energy demands of 1.5 million people each year.

"This decision further strengthens Enbridge's visible growth in offshore wind and role as a leader in the energy transition," said Matthew Akman, an executive vice president at Enbridge. "It also comes at a crucial time as global energy challenges demonstrate that continued investment in reliable, secure, clean and affordable energy is needed."

Economies of scale are pursuing cleaner energies as part of a shift away from fossil fuels. To that end, Enbridge last year signed a letter of intent with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, to develop a sequestration hub for carbon dioxide in the Corpus Christi area of the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The U.S. Energy Department estimates the entire Gulf Coast region could store as much as 500 billion metric tons of CO2 using CCS, the equivalent of 130 years of industrial- and power-based emissions.

EDF, for its part, said it would keep two nuclear power stations in Britain running for another two years, as part of a shift in positions on nuclear power.

The company said the new lifespan for the nuclear facilities means less natural gas is needed in the regional economy. It also avoids emissions equivalent to removing 5 million cars from service for a year.