Spatial Preferences for the Location of Offshore Wind Farms[Quelles préférences spatiales pour la localisation des parcs éoliens en mer ?]

To achieve its renewable energy production targets, France is aiming to create 50 new offshore wind farms by 2050. In line with the debate on maritime planning organised by the Commission nationale du débat public, (CNDP – French National Commission for Public Debate), a mixed survey combining economics and geography was conducted to study the spatial preferences of French households in terms of the location of these future offshore wind farms. The results of this discrete choice experiment show that respondents prefer the offshore wind farms to be located far from the coasts without overlapping with marine protected areas or fishing grounds, and are opposed to wind farms that have an insufficiently local link to the land. Support for the project, consisting of 50 offshore wind farms, however, remains mixed, with almost 30% of respondents opposed. Nevertheless, the level of support for the project does not change people's preferences in terms of the location of the offshore wind farms.