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Marine
and Subsea contractor BOURBON has completed the installation of anchoring
system for Ecole Centrale de Nantes' (ECN) Floatgen project at the SEM-REV
experimental test site, off the coast of Le Croisic.
The system uses synthetic mooring lines which were designed and developed
by Ideol. The installation was carried out using an anchor handling tug
supply vessel as well as a work class remotely operated vehicle.
“
The BOURBON team is extremely proud of this successful operation,
which confirms once again our ability to deliver integrated projects, our
expertise in offshore engineering services and our adaptability to demanding
environments for the entire energy sector,” comments Patrick Belenfant,
BOURBON Corporation’s Senior Vice President Subsea Services.
“
One of the FLOATGEN project challenges was to install an innovative
mooring system that needs to meet the production conditions criteria of
the floating wind turbine. This demonstrates the value of an experimental
site to test innovative technological developments, their implementation
and project management when in production. Competent and dedicated teams
from BOURBON, Ideol and Centrale Nantes have highly contributed to the
success of the operation”, adds Christian Berhault, Head of SEM-REV
at Centrale Nantes.
The Floatgen project is backed by several European companies and aims to
demonstrate the feasibility of a multi-megawatt turbine mounted on a floating
foundation.
Back in June 2016, construction work began on the first offshore wind turbine
in French waters after the go-ahead was officially given by the European
partners behind the project.
The floating foundation was designed by French wind energy specialist Ideol
and its construction by Bouygues Travaux Publics has been completed. Once
it has been fitted with a wind turbine it will be towed to the site. Work
is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.