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Ailes Marines awards Saint-Brieuc substation contracts

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 07/09/2020 Iberdrola

Ailes Marines, a company 100% owned by Iberdrola, has awarded two French companies, Eiffage Métal and ENGIE Solutions, contracts to construct the electrical substation for the
Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm.

Eiffage Métal will be in charge of the engineering and construction of the upper part of the substation, housing the transformers and electrical equipment. The company will also fabricate the foundation for the substation. ENGIE Solutions will carry out the final assembly work and the commissioning tests.

The substation will collect the electricity produced by the 62 wind turbines by raising the electrical voltage, through power transformers. The electricity will then be transported by the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) via two export cables with a voltage of 225,000 volts.

The foundation of the electrical substation is 63 metres high for a total weight of 1,630 tonnes. The upper part of the sub-station is 55 metres long, 31 metres wide and 23 metres high, with a total weight of approximately 3,400 tons.

The construction of the electrical substation will take several months. The work will be carried out mostly at Eiffage’s facilities in Belgium (Arendonk, Balen, Tessenderlo, Hoboken) and in Poland (Zary). ENGIE Solutions will perform final assembly operations in Hoboken (Belgium) and Vlissingen (the Netherlands). The substation, launched from Vlissingen, will be delivered in 2022.

The
Saint-Brieuc wind farm is located 16.3 kilometres off Brittany. Once completed, the wind farm, with a total capacity of 496 MW, will produce 1,820 GWh annually, expected to meet the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants. The installation works will last several months and will continue until 2022. It is expected to be fully commissioned in 2023.

Since the final investment decision, Ailes Marines has finalised the contracts for most of its first tier suppliers for the components of the Saint-Brieuc wind farm.

In September 2019, Ailes Marines selected the company Navantia to fabricate the foundations for the offshore wind farm. The company has since moved to Brest’ Polder. This activity will mobilise 250 jobs over two years.

In May 2020, Ailes Marines contracted several suppliers, including Siemens Gamesa, for the supply of wind turbines in Le Havre, where the construction of its factory has just started. Ailes Marines also selected Prysmian as the supplier of the submarine inter-array cables, and Van Oord for the transport and the installation of the wind farm’s foundations.

In July 2020, Ailes Marines selected Saipem for the transport and installation of both the foundation and upper part of the electrical substation.

Ailes Marines will soon announce the company selected for the latest contract regarding the supply and installation of major electrical equipments for the wind farm’s substation. The pile and foundation installation works will start first semester 2021. The wind farm will be fully commissioned in 2023.

Javier Garcia Perez, President of Ailes Marines and International Offshore Director of Iberdrola, commented: “​This is the largest contract after the one signed with Siemens Gamesa for the supply of the wind turbines and Navantia-Windar for the foundations. It is encouraging to see European governments presenting recovery plans for national economies. Green infrastructure, a major source of industrialisation and sustainable, quality jobs, is a way out of the crisis as it stimulates activity across the entire value chain. In this context, the offshore wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc is contributing to overcome these difficult circumstances in France, thanks to the support of the team, our supply chain and all stakeholders. It is good to see France accelerating towards a fully decarbonised economy.”


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