Marine renewable energies: the sector estimates to represent 7,500 jobs in 2022

Offshore renewables, led by offshore wind, provided more than 7,500 jobs (full-time equivalent) in France in 2022, linked in particular to the construction of farms, according to an industry report published on Monday. These are more than a thousand net jobs more than last year’s results, indicates the Marine Energy Observatory, which processes data from the sector.

In general, employment remains quite geographically concentrated, with 60% in Normandy and Pays de la Loire. Five companies employ half of the total, the rest are SMEs. The global turnover of the sector was close to 2,000 million euros last year, with 1,950 million, of which a quarter was generated by exports (for example, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, specialized in the manufacture of electrical substations for parks ).

Some 3,200 million were invested, 87% by promoters-operators for the construction of parks and their connection. France saw the commissioning of its first wind farm, Saint-Nazaire, in 2022, ahead of schedule at Fécamp and Saint-Brieuc in 2023. The year was also marked by the start-up in April of a wind turbine factory in Siemens Gamesa in Le Havre.

At least 20,000 jobs by 2035

The observatory scores in 2022 “the flight of floating wind energy”, an activity still pilot but with a tripled turnover, to 241 million euros, underlined the balance coordinator, Etienne Pourcher, during the Assises des Renewable Marine Energy. “With three commercial wind farms installed and three pilot floating wind farms under construction, France has never experienced such activity for offshore wind,” says Frédéric Moncany de Saint-Aignan, president of the Maritime Cluster. association of actors of the maritime economy.

In a “pact with the State”, the offshore wind industry has committed to providing at least 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in France by 2035. In addition to wind energy, the Observatory lists more than 500 jobs in “technologies oceanic”, in particular tidal turbines, “a new and powerful engine” for the next few years, estimates Etienne Pourcher.