Iberdrola-led consortium wins rights to 500 MW French wind farm

• 12 years ago (2012-04-12)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1094 Renewables 780

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France has awarded an Iberdrola - Eole-RES consortium the exclusive rights to develop a 500 MW offshore wind project near Saint-Brieuc, off the coast of Brittany. The project will create around 2000 jobs and help pioneer the offshore wind industry in France.

The wind farm is to be built 20 km off the coast in the French administrative area of Cotes d'Armor by a consortium led by Iberdrola and Eole-RES, but including Areva, Technip and Neoen Marine as technology partners. The project will eventually cover a total area of 80 km2 and comprise 100 wind turbines each with a 5 MW capacity.

The consortium will appraise both the technical and environmental risks of developing the site over the next 18 months in order to conduct a thorough project feasibility study. A joint venture company under the moniker ‘Ailes Marines’ (Sea Wings) has been set up to manage the project preliminaries and subsequent operation.

Areva Group will handle manufacture of the wind turbines at a factory in Le Havre and will also be responsible for their continued maintenance. Technip will be responsible for the installation of subsea cables, foundations and turbines, and will be creating 300 new engineering jobs in Brittany to achieve this. French companies STX and Eiffage have agreed to manufacture jacket type foundations.