Named OFFWIND, the MSc floating wind power project presented by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris has won the Compétences et Métiers d’Avenir (CMA – Skills and jobs of the future) call for expressions of interest initiated by France 2030. The program, supported by ENSTA Paris, one of the member schools of IP Paris, ENSTA Bretagne and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, has been awarded a contribution of XX million euros. It should have its first intake of students at the start of the 2025 academic year.
In the face of global warming and energy tensions, the development of offshore wind power has become a global strategic challenge. To meet this challenge, France is committed to ramping-up its offshore wind power, which involves training a workforce highly skilled in R&D and designing highperformance floating systems.
This is exactly what the OFFWIND project, initiated under the auspices of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, is designed to address. It was selected as part of the France 2030 investment plan, and has been allocated an investment of XX million euros.
The OFFWIND project draws on the complementary expertise of three prestigious engineering schools – ENSTA Paris, one of the founding schools of IP Paris, ENSTA Bretagne and ENPC (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées) – as well as industrial partners.
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Aim : 250 students in five years
This two-year MSc course was designed by Jean-Yves Pradillon, a lecturer at ENSTA Bretagne and head of the Naval Architecture, Offshore and Renewable Marine Energies courses, Luc Pastur, the head of the Offshore Energies course in the 3rd year of the engineering cycle at ENSTA Paris, and Louis-François Durret, the executive director of the energy project management MSc course at ENPC.
This new program, which is open to Europe and the rest of the world, should have an intake of around fifty students at the start of the 2025 academic year. It is aiming to train 250 graduates in five years.
We opted for a highly scientific M1-M2 MSc degree with a strong R&D, innovation and research focus, which could lead on to a PhD, and would meet the technical challenges of the industry. It will complement the Specialized Advanced Master of Science degree in Brest, which trains MRE project managers.
explained Jean-Yves Pradillon.
Designed with manufacturers in mind
This MSc course is designed in close cooperation with OFFWIND's industrial partners, to solve the very real technical problems of offshore wind power, in terms of anchors, floating platforms, masts, turbines, blades and so on. The challenges ahead are considerable
added Luc Pastur.
The aim is to generate 40 GW of offshore wind power by 2050. This kind of development calls for considerable effort in terms of upgrading of skills 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
added Louis-François Durret.
The program also includes on-going education through skills and trades certification in offshore wind power. It will be supported by France Energies Marines, the Brest-based Institute for Energy Transition dedicated to marine renewable energies.
We plan to forge closer links with academic partners (Lycée Pro or CMQ) and universities (IUT) to raise awareness of offshore wind power professions, but also to send OFFWIND MSc students there to discover aspects taught in certain institutions (maintenance, working at height, for example) and to encourage vocations in engineering professions among students doing professional bachelor's degrees.
The first year of this MSc course will take place at ENSTA Paris, on the IP Paris campus in Palaiseau and at ENPC in Marne-la-Vallée. It will encompass all the disciplines required for R&D and design programs in offshore wind power, in particular in mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics.
The second year 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 and so on).
The OFFWIND project also involves a number of industrial groups, including EDF R&D, EDF Renouvelable, SIEMENS Gamesa Renewable Energy, SAIPEM, Technip, Energies France, Principle Power France, Navantia, Valeco, Setec, etc.
This project is also in line with the merger of the two ENSTAs, the first stage of which will be the administrative merger on January 1, 2025, and the planned integration of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées into IP Paris.
