French stakeholders endorse national pact to accelerate wind propulsion in shipping

June 6, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

WISAMO Michelin has embraced the law put forward by the French government and maritime stakeholders aimed at ‘advancing’ wind-assisted propulsion solutions (WAPS) as a means to decarbonize shipping.

The pact, signed in the last stretch of March 2024, was envisioned to promote and accelerate the production and application of wind propulsion. The endeavor seeks to facilitate the industrial-scale implementation of wind propulsion systems in maritime transport, with a goal set to capture 30% of the global market share with French-made WAPS technologies.

The proposal was signed on behalf of the government at Chantiers de l’Atlantique by Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy, and Hervé Berville, State Secretary for the Sea and Biodiversity.

‘Groundbreaking’ wind propulsion pact signed in France to decarbonize maritime sector

Authorities & Government

WISAMO Michelin has embraced this endeavor, citing it as a “turning point” for the maritime industry as well as for the future of sustainable shipping. As noted, the vision paves the path to:

Legal recognition of wind-powered ships as a strategic sector;
Access to vital financing tools (green over-depreciation, energy savings certificates, ETS funds);
A “clear signal” of France’s commitment to energy sovereignty, climate action and green job generation.

As informed, the main objective that France has put forward through this pact is to reduce the carbon impact of logistics flows, including the maritime sector. As an immediately available and established roadmap to net zero, wind energy (or wind propulsion) has been recognized as an ‘irreplaceable’ link in the country’s decarbonization chain, making it possible to achieve emission cuts ranging from 5% to 80%.

Due to this, maritime stakeholders have embraced with open arms the current wind energy trajectory in France, viewing the wind propulsion pact as a ‘cornerstone’ policy.

Officials behind the WISAMO Michelin project and the Association Wind Ship have highlighted, however, that to turn the law into reality, certain steps need to be taken, with the most important one being the pressing need to address government officials and MPs and urge them to push the bill forward to pass it.

Steady sails: The state of affairs in France’s wind energy momentum

In 2024 alone, France experienced a major surge in the adoption of WAPS, with its sailing fleet comprising eleven large cargo vessels and four newbuilds added to the fleet by year’s end, according to the Association Wind Ships. At the time, it was underscored that a total of 15 ships featuring wind propulsion systems were under construction.

View on Offshore-energy.

Among notable developments within this sector in that period was the christening of what was described as “the world’s largest modern cargo sailboat”. Constructed by French shipbuilder Piriou, shipping player Grain de Sail’s unit named Grain de Sail II, boasting 1,500 m² of sails, made its first foray into the world in January 2024.

Moreover, Le Havre-based sailing freight transport company TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) launched its first two units—Anemos and Artemis—at the end of last summer.

This year has so far seen the continuation of this trajectory, emphasized by the fact market sources suggest that the French wind energy market size (in terms of installed base) could grow to 34.93 gigawatt by 2030, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.43% during the forecast period of 2025-2030.

Additionally, at the very end of January, Neoliner Origin, hailed as the “world’s first” commercial sailing roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel, was launched at RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla, Türkiye. The unit was built for maritime transportation player Neoline. RMK Marine also clinched a contract to build ‘world’s first’ sail-assisted boxship for French activist shipping company Windcoop in April 2025.