Centre Manche 1
AO4 Round 4 project. France's first 1 GW offshore wind farm. Located off the coast of Manche and Calvados departments in Normandy, covering 183 km2.
Status
Advanced Developmentlifecycle stage
ExpectedHafrok completion outlook
Ownership
EDF Renewables — 50% ◇MSMaple Power SAS — 50% ◇
Location
FranceEnglish Channel
Technology
Capacity
1,000 MW ◆
Turbines
—
Foundation
—
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Origination
France Offshore Wind AO4 (Centre Manche 1) · 2023 ·
Water depth
41–49 m ≈
Distance from shore
32 km ◇
Wind speed
9.4 m/s @ 150 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
CfD · €44.9/MWh ◆
Grid
Applied · 2025-09 ◆
Connection
HVDC grid connection planned. RTE ordered EUR 4.5B substations … ◆
Schedule
FID
Not taken
COD · announced
2032 ◆
COD · Hafrok
2032 expected
Delivery outlook modelled by Hafrok · calibrated on delivered projects
2032
expected year of commercial operation
Chance of delivery
≈81%
estimated chance this project reaches commercial operation
Advanced Development projects complete ≈75% of the time on Hafrok's record. A secured offtake contract puts this one well above that; a market with a thinner delivery record, its size and technical complexity weigh only slightly against it.
COD outlook
If it completes, when — Hafrok’s probability by year (teal)
| Year | Probability |
|---|---|
| 2031 | 3.9% |
| 2032 (expected) | 50.2% |
| 2033 | 29.5% |
| 2034 | 10.6% |
| 2035 | 3.8% |
| 2036 | 1.4% |
| 2037 | 0.6% |
How Hafrok got this date
1
Starting point: the last dated milestone
Consent granted in
2026. From there Hafrok adds how long similar projects (in developing offshore-wind markets) took to reach commercial operation, measured on projects that have delivered.2
Typical timing
Starting point plus the typical remaining time gives a middle estimate of
2031; the faster quarter of similar projects would be done by 2029, the slower quarter not until 2031.3
Result
Expected commercial operation
2032, likely range 2029–2031 (the middle half of outcomes for similar projects). The developer's announced date falls inside that likely range, so the announced date is adopted.4
Year-by-year chart
The bars spread that estimate across years using how similar projects actually slipped against their dates — more often late than early, which is why the bars lean right.
5
Chance of delivery — separate from timing
Start from the share of Advanced Development projects that went on to complete — ≈75%, measured on Hafrok's record of delivered and abandoned projects, with an allowance held back where that record cannot yet speak (projects still unresolved, changed market conditions). Consented projects have historically completed at very high rates, but the 2023–25 downturn showed consented-but-unfinanced projects can still fail — the estimate holds back for the offtake and financing gates still ahead. Then adjust for this project's own evidence — offtake, market, size, technical complexity — to ≈81%, which rates it
Expected on Hafrok's four-step delivery scale (Delivering · Expected · Prospective · Fragile).Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Origination · 2023-03
France Offshore Wind AO4 (Centre Manche 1)
- Awarded to
- Éoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie (EDF Renouvelables + Maple Power)
- Basis
- integrated tender
Founding JV · 2023-03
EDF Renewables · Maple Power — The French Ministry of Energy Transition awarded the AO4 tender for the 1 GW Centre Manche 1 offshore wind farm in March 2023 to the consortium Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie, owned by EDF Renewables and Maple Power (a 50-50 JV between Enbridge Inc. and CPP Investments). The 20-year guaranteed tariff was not publicly disclosed. This was a tender award (consortium formed to bid), not a secondary market transaction; no consideration was exchanged between parties. The project is the first 1 GW offshore wind farm to be awarded in France and will be located more than 32 km off the Normandy coast. Ownership structure and exact stakes are not publicly confirmed but Maple Power is the JV partner to EDF Renewables. EDF Renewables has committed approximately EUR 100 million in development costs to date. The project faces profitability challenges at the awarded tariff level; as of late 2025, EDF was in talks with the government for improved terms.
Evidence
- edf.fr — EDF Renewables and Maple Power awarded the fourth offshore wind tender launched by the French State, securing a one-gigawatt project off the coast of Normandy, France - 2023/03/27 | Groupe EDF ↗ 2023-03 ◆ held
- offshoreWIND.biz — France Selects EDF and Maple Power to Build 1 GW Offshore Wind Farm ↗ 2023-03 ◆ held
From the auction results — the round that created the project; founding JV from Hafrok’s transactions record.
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). The ▲ below the spine is the developer-announced COD. The teal diamond on the spine is origination — the seabed award or round that created the project. Every other ownership event lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Revenue & offtake contract duration and price levels · money of the day
1,000 MW contracted — tender award
● Tender award · France Offshore Wind AO4 (Centre Manche 1)
Price€44.9/MWh ·Capacity1,000 MWAwardedMar 2023Term20 yrs
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Installation not started
nothing to count yet: the satellite tracker begins when offshore construction does
Installation · on record
StageAdvanced Development
Offshore constructionnot started
Expected start of operation2032
Grid connection
from Hafrok’s substation, converter and cable registers
Offshore platforms · 1
HVDC systemCentre Manche 1 HVDC (Offshore)·1250 MW · ±320 kV · ordered, expected 2031
HVDC systemCentre Manche 1 HVDC (Onshore — Menuel)·1250 MW · ±320 kV · ordered, expected 2031
Export & onshore
Export cableCentre Manche 1 Export Cable·HVDC subsea · Nexans · planned · to Menuel (onshore converter)
Onshore connectionMenuel Converter Station (Centre Manche 1)·320 DC / 400 AC kV · planning
Converter supplierHitachi Energy·Centre Manche 1 HVDC (Offshore) · Chantiers de l'Atlantique (Saint-Nazaire) · for RTE
Converter supplierHitachi Energy·Centre Manche 1 HVDC (Onshore — Menuel) · Chantiers de l'Atlantique (Saint-Nazaire) · for RTE
Grid connection · ready in time?
when each part of the grid connection is due, against the start date the developer states (black line) and the year Hafrok expects (teal band) · a bar spans the whole year, quarter or month the source gives
installed or in serviceexpected deliveryearlier date that was later moved
Sources & verification
4/12 fields verified · rests on 15 sources (9 primary) · ◆ 6 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator1
[7]
Prefecture de la Manche (France)2025-11-26
“Enquete publique unique — Raccordement parc eolien en mer Centre-Manche 1. Periode: du mardi 2 septembre 2025 au mardi 14 octobre 2025. Conclusions et Avis sur la demande de Declaration d'Utilite Publ…”
supportsStatusConnection point
Operator7
[3]
Ministere de la Transition Ecologique (France)2023-03-27◆ Eolien en mer : Agnès Pannier-Runacher p…
“Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie, laureat de l'appel d'offres Centre Manche 1 (AO4), pour une capacite de 1 000 MW. Le tarif propose est tres competitif et demontre une fois de plus la maturite de la…”
supportsTotal capacity
[5]
Energy Connects2025-10
“Guaranteed power price: 44.90 euros per megawatt-hour (with inflation adjustments). Capacity: 1 gigawatt. Construction scheduled to start in 2028. EDF has already committed nearly 100 million euros to…”
supportsMechanismStrike / priceDetail
[6]
Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie (EMMN) — project developer2026-06◆ Découvrir le projet - Parc éolien en mer…
“Horizon 2032 — date de mise en service prevue.”
supportsConsentCommercial operationConsent applied
[8]
Offshore Wind Biz2023-03-27
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsTotal capacity
[9]
Maple Power2026-06
“Centre Manche 1 — 1GW project, scheduled completion 2032. Owned by EDF Renewables and Maple Power SAS. Maple Power is a joint venture between Enbridge Inc. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CP…”
supportsCommercial operation
[15]
Nexans2025-03-25◆ Nexans wins major frame agreement with r…
“Nexans has secured a major framework agreement with RTE for the design, manufacturing, and supply of HVDC cables, which will be used to connect the Centre Manche 1 & 2 and Oléron offshore wind farms t…”
supportsStatusConnection point
[16]
DGEC — Ministère de la Transition écologique (eoliennesenmer.fr)2026-08-25◆ French Eoliennes en mer register (DGEC),…
“Register node 803 (node--type-project) at /facades-maritimes-en-france/facade-manche-mer-du-nord/projet-centre-manche/centre-manche-1 — title 'Centre Manche 1'; page text 5640 chars, hash 190184929b88…”
supportsRegister entry
Auction results1
[17]
CRE (Commission de regulation de l'energie) / DGEC2023◆ fr-ao4-deliberation
AO4 Centre Manche 1 - CRE deliberation 2023-77 instructing the offers (dialogue concurrentiel n.1/2020, ~1,050 MW off Normandy). (The standalone AO4 cahier-des-charges URL redirected to AO2; deliberat…
supportsTender award · France Offshore Wind AO4 (Centre Manche 1)
Trade press5
[10]
[11]
offshoreWIND.biz2023-03
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsTotal capacityDistance from shore
[12]
[13]
[14]
Unverified import1
[1]
unknown◆ France Selects EDF and Maple Power to Bu…
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsTotal capacityDistance from shoreCoordinates