Construction starts on Fécamp offshore wind farm

The 500 MW Fécamp offshore wind farm will be comprised of 71 wind turbines located between 13 km and 22 km off the coast of Northwest France. Project commissioning is scheduled in 2023. The power generated by the wind farm will provide enough annual electricity to meet the power needs for 770 000 people, or over 60% of the Seine-Maritime department's population. The construction of the project will create over 1400 local jobs in total. During its 25-year service life, approximately 100 local ongoing full-time jobs based at the port of Fécamp will also be created to maintain the wind farm.

The total project capital cost is estimated to be €2 billion, of which the majority will be financed through non-recourse project level debt. Fécamp offshore wind farm is underpinned by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) granted by the state in June 2018.

The consortium has sealed equipment supply contracts with top-tier suppliers, including:

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) for the 71 wind turbines
• Bouygues Construction, plus Saipem and Boskalis for its foundations
• Chantiers de l'Atlantique, plus GE Grid Solutions and SDI for the offshore sub-station

RTE, responsible for connecting the wind farm from the substation to the coast and then to Normandy's electricity grid, will start its onshore work in June.

SGRE's new turbine manufacturing plant in Le Havre, of which construction is set to begin this summer, will create 750 jobs. The manufacturing of the gravitational foundations for the wind turbines will commence this summer at the Grand Port Maritime site, providing work for around 600 people. The wind turbines will be assembled at the Port of Cherbourg. These orders come at a time when the country intends to boost its activity after two months of containment.

This project has been guided by extensive consultation carried out over 10 years with local stakeholders (state services, elected officials from the region, the Department, coastal municipalities, and non-government organisations) and is supported by in-depth environmental studies undertaken with local environmental associations. Specific work was also carried out in close collaboration with the fishing industry to ensure the coexistence of various maritime activities on the site.

All the project partners possess considerable experience in offshore wind farms and in the delivery of large-scale industrial projects:

• EDF Renewables, which owns 35% of the project through Éolien Maritime France SAS, brings its expertise in the development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects, including in the offshore wind sector. The company has a portfolio of 6.5 GW in offshore wind energy projects at various stages of their development in the Belgian, UK, German, Irish, US and Chinese offshore wind sectors.
• Enbridge Inc., which owns 35% of the project through Éolien Maritime France SAS, is a North American leading energy infrastructure company. In addition to its portfolio of 1.4 GW of net onshore renewable power generation in Canada and the U.S., the corporation has investments across Europe in several large offshore wind projects in the development, construction and operational stages. In total, Enbridge has interest in 28 facilities totalling 1.8 GW of net renewable power generation capacity in operation.
• wpd offshore, which owns 30% of the project, is one of the pioneers and leaders of offshore wind. The group has already commissioned 3 wind farms in Germany, and recently gave the final go-ahead to invest in a 640 MW project in Taiwan. The company has a portfolio of 7.4 GW of offshore wind projects in development, in Europe and Asia.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/02062020/construction-starts-on-fcamp-offshore-wind-farm/