France's first floating offshore wind farm project on track

April 5, 2023
The components of Provence Grand Large's future floating offshore wind turbines have arrived on the Quai Gloria in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône.

Offshore staff

CALGARY, Canada  The components of Provence Grand Large's future floating offshore wind turbines have arrived on the Quai Gloria in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, according to an EDF Renewables Twitter post.

The arrival of these components, designed and manufactured by Siemens Gamesa, represents a milestone for the first floating offshore wind farm in France.

The three wind turbines will be installed at the end of the summer, 17 km from the coast of the Gulf of Fos.

In April 2022, on France’s central south coast, Eiffage Métal said its yard in Fos-sur-Mer is responsible for fabrication of three floating structures for a pilot floating offshore wind project in the Mediterranean Sea in 70 m (230 ft) water depth, 17 km (10.6 mi) from Port Saint Louis du Rhône. EDF Renewables’ Provence Grand Large project is based on a proprietary TLP concept developed by SBM Offshore and IFP Energies Nouvelles for low motions and accelerations at nacelle level. The pilot features three Siemens 8-MW wind turbines. Eiffage Métal was scheduled to complete assembly of the nodes, columns and transition pieces in summer 2022. SBM performed some of the pre-fabrication in China, with various other items being shipped from Turkey to Fos, which has direct access to the sea.

Additional France-based offshore wind updates

In November 2022, EDF Renewables, Enbridge subsidiary EIH and CPP Investments achieved full operational capability at the 480-MW Saint-Nazaire wind farm 12 km to 20 km offshore western France.

In late March 2023, Enbridge Inc. said it welcomed the decision by the French government to select EDF Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French utility EDF Group, and Maple Power, the company's joint venture with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), to develop the future Normandy offshore wind farm (Centre Manche 1), with an expected installed capacity of 1 GW. Following the fourth offshore wind tender launched in January 2021, the French Ministry of Energy Transition chose Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie, the project company owned by the EDF Renewables and Maple Power consortium, to design, build, operate and decommission the project. The planned Normandy offshore wind farm will be located more than 32 km off the north coast and is expected to be commissioned around 2030.

04.05.2023