Jérôme Chauvet Development Manager at the Ports of Normandy (PNA,) talks to PES about current expansion plans and offshore wind in Cherbourg and Caen…..
PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by explaining a little about the background of your organization and how you currently serve the wind industry?
Jérôme Chauvet: Thank you to PES magazine for your interest in French ports and especially in us.
Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA) has owned and managed the Caen-Ouistréham and Cherbourg ports since 2007, PNA is a joint association encompassing the Normandy region and the Manche and Calvados departments. Our Chairman is
the Chairman of Nomandy regional council Mr Hervé MORIN.
Cross-channel freight and passengers to England and Ireland is our main activity. In 2015, 1.6 million passengers and 160,000 trucks used our ports. But we are also developing a lot of other sectors such as conventional freight, cruise, ship building and repairs, fishing, leisure…
As a public body, our remit is to be an active component for regional economic development. The Normandy is the no. 1 Region in France for Marine Renewable Energies. It has the strongest sea currents in Europe, namely the Alderney Race or le Raz Blanchard in French, the greatest wind power potential in France. So Normandy is the ideal location for developing the Marine Renewable Energies sector.
Ports of Normandy Authority is the contracting authority for the major transformation work in both ports as well as an essential partner to the MRE businesses in enabling the major projects of offshore tidal energy and wind farms to become a reality. In this capacity, PNA manages thearea and ensures planned developments
to meet the specific needs of Industry and logistics workers.
As well as being in charge of port strategy and economic development the Ports of Normandy Authority ensures the development of new additional land and infrastructure as well as marketing and commercializing Cherbourg and Caen-Ouistréham ports, that’s why, we are particularly involved in the logistics and industrial operation of the off shore wind and tidal sectors.
