Construction of first offshore wind farm in France at Saint-Nazaire

Today, the Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Castex, accompanied by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Mrs. Barbara Pompili, and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Relance, in charge of Industry, Ms. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, visited the first offshore wind project launched in France, in Saint-Nazaire in the Pays de la Loire region. This visit took place in the presence of Mr. Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of the EDF group, Mr. Bruno Bensasson, Executive Director of EDF in charge of the renewable energies division and Chairman and CEO of EDF Renouvelables, and Mr. Jérôme Pécresse, Chairman and CEO of GE Renewable Energy. With a capacity of 480 MW, the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, jointly owned by EDF Renouvelables, a 100% subsidiary of the EDF group and EIH S.à rl, a joint venture between Enbridge Inc. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (via its wholly-owned subsidiary CPP Investment Board Europe S.à rl), is made up of 80 wind turbines located on the rocky plateau of the Guérande bank, more than 12 km off the coast of the peninsula. Two years after the start of the site, the manufacture of the various components of the future fleet has made significant progress. Thus: The foundations are manufactured by Eiffage Metal and are delivered over the water to La Rochelle, from where they leave to be installedWind turbines: the nacelles and generators of the 80 wind turbines of 6 MW each are in progress assembly in the GE Renewable Energy plant in Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique). The last have entered the assembly line while half of them are already stored in the port of Saint Nazaire before their installation at sea. The sections of masts and blades are gradually stored on this same site.The inter-wind submarine cables connecting the wind turbines to the electrical substation were manufactured by Prysmian Group in the factories of Montereau-Fault-Yonne (Seine-et-Marne) and Gron (Yonne), and are currently stored at the port of Saint-Nazaire.The electrical substation built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and GE Grid was completed in July 2021.The connection works carried out by RTE were finalised between Prinquiau and Plage de la Courance.The construction of the maintenance base, located in La Turballe (Loire-Atlantique), is being finalised. In addition, installation operations at sea before commissioning have already started: The first 21 monopile foundations (steel tubes driven into the seabed between 12 and 25 m deep) have been installed by an SDI vessel (DEME Group).A first part of the inter-wind turbine cables has just started to be deployed on the seabed between the foundations by Louis Dreyfus TravOcean.On August 21, the electrical substation was positioned on its jacket foundation by SDI.RTE’s offshore cables have been deployed and are ready to be pulled onto the electrical substation at sea. From spring 2022, the wind turbines will be installed at sea, then gradually put into service. Once commissioned, the park will produce the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 700,000 people, or the equivalent of 20% of the electricity consumption of Loire-Atlantique. Lasting more than three years, the site currently mobilises more than 1,200 direct jobs in Pays de la Loire. It participates in the creation of a national industrial sector, providing jobs and new skills. French companies in the territory involved in the construction of the park are building up experience in this growing sector, allowing them to position themselves on other projects in France and internationally. The offshore wind farms of Fécamp and Calvados (Courseulles-sur-Mer), also won by EDF Renouvelables and EIH S.à rl, are also under construction in Normandy and thus strengthen the constitution of the industrial sector. The three projects together mobilise more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs in France. Throughout the life of the park, i.e. around 25 years, a team of around 100 people will work from the La Turballe maintenance base to carry out operations and preventive and corrective maintenance of wind turbines, as well as monitoring and the optimisation of the fleet’s production, the monitoring of meteorological conditions and the planning of interventions at sea, and of course ensuring the safety of the whole. In addition, since the start of the project, a continuous dialogue has been established with local stakeholders (elected officials and communities, fisheries committees, environmental protection associations, residents, State services, etc.). An in-depth environmental impact study was carried out and the project was adapted in order to integrate it into natural environments. The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm thus responds to all the challenges facing the territory: energy transition, economic dynamics, landscaping, protection of the environment and compatibility of maritime activities. Close and continuous consultation with fishermen and their representatives continues to allow the two activities to operate jointly on the site. Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of the EDF group, said: “It is a great pride for the EDF group to build the very first offshore wind farm in France alongside our partner Enbridge. I would like to salute the professionalism of the teams of the EDF group and our industrial partners, as well as the mobilisation of local and national players for the creation of this emblematic installation of the French energy transition. With three offshore wind farms under construction, one project in development and a pilot floating wind farm project, the EDF group is today the sector leader in France. All these projects contribute to the constitution of a true French industrial sector of excellence which is already creating value and jobs for the territories and in particular for the Pays de la Loire region. They are fully in line with the EDF group’s CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its renewable capacities worldwide between 2015 and 2030 to bring them to 60 GW net. They will contribute to the multiannual energy programming and to the carbon neutrality objective adopted by France, which call for a drastic reduction in the sharefossil fuels in our energy mix, now representing 67% of final French energy consumption, by replacing them with nuclear and renewable electricity production ”. Jérôme Pécresse, President & CEO, GE Renewable Energy added: “GE Renewable Energy was the first manufacturer to invest in an offshore wind turbine nacelle assembly plant in France, then in a blade manufacturing plant in Cherbourg. . We are proud to note the progress made in the structuring of this cutting-edge industrial sector as well as in the construction of the first French offshore wind farm, alongside our partners and suppliers. We continue to be focused on the future of this strategic sector and the sustainability of the skills developed in our factories for a bright future of offshore wind power in France and abroad. “ Source: https://www.edf-renouvelables.com/Image source: Courtesy of EDF Renewables Read more Wind energy news here

Low