Review assessment on wind farm locations in the West of France since COP 21

Abstract: The development of wind power in France is a very sensitive subject. Indeed, most of the electricity produced in France comes from nuclear energy, and therefore changing the French energy mix to not only depend on production is a very ambitious challenge. Similarly, the COP 21 organized in Paris is one of the illustrations of the work done since the Grenelle Environment Forum to integrate renewable energies into the electricity grid. This thesis attempts to understand the legislative and technical issues to be taken into account for the implementation of a wind farm in France, particularly in the western regions of France (Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire). Many factors are to be considered when prospecting for a wind project. Local, aeronautical, environmental and heritage constraints are among the most restrictive easements that can restrict or even cancel the potential of a wind farm. This report first attempts to show how best to integrate all the data to be considered on a concrete project, that of Séglien in Morbihan in Brittany. In a second step, a business plan will be evaluated to determine the feasibility of implementing this project on site. By studying the choice of topology, the choice of machines and the connection point of the project to the French electrical network, a theoretical LCOE can be estimated. This LCOE will allow Valeco, a renewable energy producer in France, to position itself on the French electricity market. According to the results obtained by this business plan, the choice to select one turbine rather than another can be influenced not only by the power curves of the machine as one might think, but also by important factors such as the noise made by the machine. Indeed, noise is a factor that can force the developer to clamp the machine and thus produce less electricity. In the same way, the optimization of the electrical topology can drastically reduce the CAPEX of a project. Indeed the electrical connection is one of the most expensive data of the project. A reduction of the connection distance by a factor of three allows to save about 2.5 million euros and thus to reduce the LCOE by 4.5 €/MWh. This also allows to position the project on lower tenders. An intelligent use of Aluminum instead of copper when possible also allows to reduce the CAPEX of the project. However, this thesis does not estimate the cost of social acceptance, because the perception of the French people of the multiplication of industrial wind farms is different according to their social, demographic, cultural and economic characteristics and therefore difficult to quantify.