4C Offshore Empowering Intelligence

Foundation installation complete at Saint-Nazaire

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 31/05/2022 DEME Offshore
DEME Offshore and Eiffage Métal completed the installation of 80 foundations at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm in France.

Installation of the foundations started in spring 2021. DEME and its partner Herrenknecht, jointly designed a 350-tonne Offshore Foundation Drill (OFD) to perform the drilling work for the XL monopiles. Other unique equipment deployed at Saint-Nazaire is the MODIGA. At nearly 60 m high, the MODIGA encapsulates the drilling and installation operations, protecting them from adverse Atlantic marine conditions. The complete technological solution has been deployed from the offshore installation vessel  ‘
Innovation’ .

Bart De Poorter, General Manager DEME Offshore, said: “Deploying this world’s first equipment enabled us to complete the installation well ahead of schedule. Installation operations continued through the winter season, despite the combination of severe weather conditions and the harsh Atlantic ocean environment. At Saint-Nazaire, our teams and crew have not only gained substantial experience for the next offshore wind farm projects at the French coast, but also to successfully carry out installation works in similar challenging conditions across the globe.”

"Eiffage is very proud to be a key actor helping to build France's first offshore wind farm. Given the complexity of the works done which were first of a kind in many aspects, we are glad to prove that the planning milestones are met on time. This is the demonstration of our know-how and our ability to manage this type of project successfully"
said Arnaud de Villepin, Managing Director of the Industry & Energy Division at Eiffage Métal. "The Group, which already has substantial operations on this market in Northern Europe, where Eiffage Métal, through its subsidiary Smulders, has a large number of wind farm project references off the coasts of Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, has now its first track record of its expertise in France. The members of the joint venture are delighted to have worked in full cooperation with the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm to complete this project safely and in accordance with its environmental features."


The 480 MW
Saint-Nazaire wind farm, currently owned by EDF (50%), Enbridge (25.5%) and CPP (24.5%), is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of 2022. It is located between 12 and 20 kilometres off the Loire-Atlantique coast. It will consist of 80 GE Haliade 150-6MW wind turbines. Work is scheduled to run throughout the summer and autumn.

According to GE, each Haliade turbine powers 5,000 homes; the project is expected to generate the equivalent of 20% of Loire-Atlantique’s electricity consumption.


For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide,
click here. Alternatively, you can view projects across the globe using 4C Offshore's Interactive Map.

Premium

ForeSEE Premium, our most popular subscription, gives you full access to use the ForeSEE WebApp which includes exclusive offshore wind, transmission and vessel reports, news and downloads.

Request a 30 minute Demo

Trending News!