With global warming and energy tensions looming, the development of offshore wind power has become a strategic global challenge. To meet this challenge, France has embarked on a process of ramping up offshore wind power, which involves training a workforce highly skilled in R&D and the design of high-performance floating systems.
This is exactly what the OFFWIND project, launched under the leadership of Institut Polytechnique de Paris, aims to achieve. Selected as part of the France 2030 investment plan, it has been awarded a €5.7 million grant.
The OFFWIND project draws on the expertise and complementary strengths of three prestigious engineering schools - ENSTA Paris and École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC), two IP Paris member schools, ENSTA Bretagne - as well as industrial partners.
This two-year master's program has been designed by Jean-Yves Pradillon, lecturer at ENSTA Bretagne and head of the Naval Architecture, Offshore and Marine Renewable Energy courses, Luc Pastur, head of the Offshore Energy course in the 3rd year of the engineering cycle at ENSTA Paris, and Louis-François Durret, executive director of the energy project management master's program at ENPC.
This new program, which is open to Europe and the rest of the world, should welcome around 50 students at the start of 2025 academic year. The target is to achieve 250 graduates in five years.
“We have opted for a highly scientific M1-M2 master's degree with a strong R&D, innovation and research focus, which can lead to a PhD and meet the technical challenges of the industry. It will complement the specialized Master's program in Brest, which trains MRE project managers,” explains Jean-Yves Pradillon.
“This Master's program has been designed in close collaboration with OFFWIND's industrial partners, to resolve the technical challenges of offshore wind energy, in terms of anchors, floating platforms, masts, turbines, blades, etc. The challenges are considerable,” adds Luc Pastur.
“The goal is to have 40 GW of offshore wind power by 2050. This kind of development calls for a considerable effort in terms of skills training in all the professions involved in equipment design, installation and operation, as well as the identification of the most favorable areas for offshore wind power,” adds Louis-François Durret.
The program also includes continuing education through the Offshore Wind Skills & Professions certification. It will be supported by France Energies Marines, the Brest-based Institut pour la Transition Energétique dedicated to marine renewable energies.
Close links with academic partners (vocational high schools or CMQ - Campus des métiers et des qualifications) and universities (IUT) are planned to raise awareness of offshore wind energy professions, but also to send OFFWIND Master's students there to discover aspects taught in certain institutions (maintenance, working at height, for example) and to inspire vocations for engineering professions in students on vocational bachelor's degrees.
The first year of the Master's program will take place at ENSTA Paris, on the IP Paris campus in Palaiseau and at ENPC in Marne-la-Vallée. It will cover all the disciplines required for R&D and design programs in offshore wind energy, with a focus on mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics.
The second will take place at ENSTA Bretagne, in Brest, and will focus on a scientific program devoted to the design of all the components of a floating offshore wind farm (platforms, turbines, cables, etc.).
The OFFWIND project also involves numerous industrial groups, including EDF R&D, EDF Renouvelable, SIEMENS Gamesa Renewable Energy, SAIPEM, Technip, Energies France, Principle Power France, Navantia, Valeco, Setec...
Finally, this project is part of the process of bringing the two ENSTAs together, the first stage of which will be the administrative merger on January 1, 2025.
ENPC, a long-standing partner of IP Paris, joined IP Paris on July 16, 2024.
