Principle Power awarded O&M contract for EFGL floating foundations operated by Ocean Winds in France
Image courtesy of LEFGL / Ocean Winds
Aix-en-Provence, July 14, 2026 – Principle Power has been awarded the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support contract for the 30 MW Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) project in the French Mediterranean operated by Ocean Winds (OW) in partnership with la Banque des Territoires. The agreement with EFGL covers the three WindFloat® foundations, which host three Vestas V164-10 MW turbines, the most powerful turbines operating on floating foundations to date.
The contract covers integrated O&M services for the floating foundations, including inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR), remote monitoring, data analytics, and engineering support to the project owner. Principle Power will leverage its newly developed Asset Hub application to enable remote, real-time monitoring and automated insights, to strength the client’s operational decision-making.
Day-to-day operations will be handled at the project’s O&M base located at the Port-La Nouvelle in Occitanie, Southern France. Ocean Winds employs six local workers for the maintenance of the platforms and ancillary equipment (e.g., anchor lines, inter-array cables) alongside with Vestas for the turbines inspection and maintenance. Principle Power has extended its O&M team to support the project locally, strengthening its presence in France, which represents nearly 30% of its global workforce.
This contract with Principle Power constitutes a strategic asset for EFGL and strengthens the long-standing relationship between Ocean Winds and Principle Power, which began over 15 years ago, with a 6 year long operating expertise build on Ocean Winds’ first floating windfarm 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic. Principle Power will deploy their proven expertise in floating foundation technologies to assist the Ocean Winds team in maximizing system availability, reliability, and efficiency. This close collaboration in Operations & Maintenance builds on the work Principle Power has already accomplished during the project’s design, construction, and commissioning phases.
— Project Director of EFGL - Ocean Winds
This award builds on Principle Power’s operating track record in floating wind and reinforces our role as a provider of integrated O&M support and services. Working with the client, with Vestas, and with project partners, we applied our operational experience from the earliest design stages to address day-to-day asset management requirements and support long-term reliability.
During the EFGL design phase, Principle Power’s experience across our operating WindFloat® projects informed numerical predictions, maintenance strategies, and operational methodologies. Now, the project’s operational learnings will help inform the fourth generation, fully industrialized WindFloat® technologies.
— Vice President of Operation & Maintenance - Principle Power
Principle Power has developed its operating experience across three floating wind projects: the 2 MW WindFloat 1, the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic, and the 50 MW Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm. With the 30 MW Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) project, Ocean Winds’ second operating floating wind farm, Principle Power holds 105 MW of deployed capacity using WindFloat® foundations that have shown reliable performance in demanding Atlantic and North Sea metocean conditions, withstanding waves of 20 meters and winds up to 214 km/h, while delivering more than 1 TWh of energy to the grid.
The EFGL contract marks the latest deployment of WindFloat® technology in France and supports the transition of floating wind toward commercial scale in France and other international markets like the United Kingdom, or South Korea.
About EFGL
Assigned by the French State through the ADEME call for floating wind projects as part of the Investments for the Future Programme “France 2030”, The EFGL pilot project involves the operation of three 10 MW floating wind turbines over a period of 20 years, located more than 16 km off the coast of towns Leucate (Aude, 11) and Le Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales, 66), South of France.
By capturing the regular and sustained winds of the open sea, the EFGL project alone will cover the annual electricity needs of more than 50,000 inhabitants, the equivalent size of a city like Narbonne, South of France.
EFGL brings together the complementary skills of solid and experienced players such as Ocean Winds (OW) - the international offshore wind energy company created by EDP Renewables and ENGIE, and la Banque des Territoires. As a pilot project, EFGL is paving the way for larger floating developments across the world, including the Eoliennes Flottantes d’Occitanie (EFLO), a 250 MW floating offshore wind project awarded by the French State to OW and Banque des Territoires in late 2024.
In France, Ocean Winds — consistently in partnership with Banque des Territoires — is the majority shareholder of four offshore wind farms, including EFGL and Yeu-Noirmoutier bottom fixed project (EMYN – 500MW), both in operation, and Dieppe-Le Tréport (EMDT – 500MW) currently under. Together, these projects represent 1.3 GW of installed capacity, enough to power more than 2 million French households annually.
About Principle Power
Principle Power is a global leader in floating wind technology, providing full lifecycle engineering services that deliver reliable, de-risked, and bankable solutions. Principle Power works with developers, independent power producers, utilities, and EPCs to deliver integrated designs that minimize project risk and maximize energy output. The WindFloat® portfolio consists of four modular platform technologies optimized for turbines above 15MW and suitable for any supply chain setup. With 105 MW capacity in operation (the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic in Portugal, and the 50 MW Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland and 30 MW EFGL in France), the technology has proven resilient in the challenging Atlantic and North Sea weather conditions, delivering more than 1 TWh of clean energy since WindFloat 1 was installed in 2011.
Principle Power is working with clients and partners to commercialize floating wind in different regions with a robust project industrialization plan that emphasizes compatibility with existing manufacturing capacity, while also advancing a vision for purpose-built, automated WindFloat® factories to lower costs and schedule. Principle Power offers unique, full-lifecycle services combining dedicated expert teams, validated design tools, and proven processes that have been refined based on real-world operational experience providing confidence from the earliest design phases. Principle Power has secured exclusivity to supply WindFloat® technology to commercial-scale projects in all key floating wind markets.
For more information, visit principlepower.com
