Wind

Vive l’offshore wind | Slow-burning French sector sees first turbine in at flagship project

Lead-off installation of first of 80 GE Haliade-150s at 480MW Saint-Nazaire development marks milestone for European country's slow-emerging sector

. GE Haliade 150 Saint-Nazaire.
. GE Haliade 150 Saint-Nazaire.Foto: GE

Installation of the first turbine on a commercial offshore wind farm off France is complete, with the lead-off GE Haliade-150 on the 480MW Saint-Nazaire now in place.

The 6MW machine is one of 80 that the project, being developed by EDF Renewables, Enbridge and CPP off the coast of Brittany, will erect “through the course of 2022”, said GE in a LinkedIn post, with commissioning slated before year-end.

The nacelles of Saint-Nazaire’s Haliade-150s were assembled in GE’s nearby Saint-Nazaire factory and turbine’s 73-metre blades manufactured by GE-owned LM Wind Power at its Cherbourg fabrication hall.

“We are proud to celebrate this important moment for the French offshore wind sector in France along with EDF Renewables, Enbridge and CPP,” said Jan Kjaersgaard, CEO of GE’s offshore wind business.

“While the first offshore wind turbine in France is now installed, it is actually the entire offshore wind industrial network in France that we must recognise and praise. Our teams, along with all the partners involved, now remain focused on the safe installation of the next 79 turbines.”

Despite three rounds of licensing rounds over the past decade, Saint-Nazaire will formally be the first steel in the water for a commercial offshore wind farm – although the EU-sponsored FloatGen floating wind prototype was installed off Brittany in 2017.
France aims to massively expand its offshore wind fleet by mid-century, building “50 [projects] by 2050” to deploy 40GW of turbines , along with major additions of nuclear and solar power plant capacity, to reach its climate targets amid rising electricity consumption, President Emmanuel Macron announced in February.
Last turbine in autumn

"We are pleased that the construction of the St Nazaire offshore wind farm is progressing on schedule," EDF Renewables chief executive Bruno Bensasson said.

"Ten years after the award of the call for tenders, it will be the first to enter into operation in France.

"The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm and our three other offshore wind projects in France - two of which are under construction off Fécamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer - are fully in line with EDF's CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its net installed capacity of renewable energies ... to 60GW"

Belgian contractor Jan de Nul is installing GE's turbines at Saint Nazaire with its Vole au vent vessel at about 12 kilometres off the coast, with the last turbine scheduled for installation in the autumn of this year.

UPDATES with comment by EDF, Jan de Nul
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Published 13 April 2022, 18:50Updated 14 April 2022, 07:29
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