France wants Areva to buy Alstom wind unit if GE wins bid: paper

PARIS (Reuters) - France wants state-controlled nuclear group Areva to take over Alstom's offshore wind turbine unit if General Electric's bid for Alstom succeeds, a French paper reported on Friday.

Areva and ALSTOM (ALO.PA) both produce offshore wind turbines and are part of different consortia to build 3,000 megawatts of wind power off the French coast in coming years, although their technologies are different.

General Electric made a $16.9 billion offer for Alstom's energy division last week. The U.S. firm's CEO has said in a letter to French President Francois Hollande that he would be willing to sell Alstom's wind turbine activities to French investors if GE winds the bid.

"It would make sense to have one sole French actor in this industry," Les Echos quoted a government source as saying.

Nobody was available for comment at the industry ministry. Areva declined comment on the report.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; editing by Keiron Henderson)