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Saint Brieuc turbine towers to be assembled in Brest

By: Tom Russell 26/03/2021 Ailes Marines

General Ports Windfarms

Ailes Marines has announced that the 62 wind turbine towers for its Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm will be assembled in the Port of Brest’s new polder.

Assembly of the 62 structures in Brest is part of the industrial plan designed by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to supply the Saint Brieuc offshore wind project and it includes a tower manufacturing facility at the port of Le Havre, which is creating 750 jobs.

French company Fouré Lagadec, a specialist in industrial maintenance for the energy sector, and Spanish company Haizea Wind, manufacturer of wind turbine towers and offshore foundations, have been selected by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to put together the tower sections. The industrial programme proposed by the partnering companies includes the creation of new industrial capacity funded with €11.8 million from Ailes Marines.

Construction of the new assembly plant is expected to start in early 2022, with commissioning scheduled for late 2022. The construction and civil works will result in the creation of local jobs and the procurement of local services.

"Thanks to the expertise of our partner Haizea Wind and the commitment of Siemens Gamesa and Ailes Marines, we hope to deliver a major industrial challenge: to prove the feasibility and competitiveness of an offshore wind turbine tower manufacturing industry in France. The potential of the French and European offshore wind markets gives us hope, but we will need to mobilise all private and public players to make this industrial challenge a success," said Vincent Poulard, Fouré Lagadec's North-West Regional Director.

Running alongside the offshore wind foundation works, this new industrial activity is expected to create at least 35 new industrial jobs at the marine energy terminal. The jobs include mechanical assemblers, welders, industrial electricians and logistics experts. The recruitment process should start in mid-2022 while assembling the three sections of all 62 wind turbines will take approximately 8 months.

These 35 new jobs are in addition to the 250 jobs already created by Navantia-Windar and their Breton subcontractors for the manufacture of the foundation elements that will equip Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm. This means that no less than 285 jobs will be activated in and around the port of Brest for this project.

Javier Garcia Perez, Chairman of Ailes Marines and International Offshore Director for Iberdrola, said: "from the outset of the project in 2012, Ailes Marines' aim has been to turn Saint-Brieuc offshore wind project into a driver of economic development for northwest France. Ailes Marines is delighted with the creation of this new production facility in the port of Brest, which will provide the region with industrial skills and expertise in the marine renewable energy sectors."

The project to create the Marine Renewable Energy terminal in the port of Brest was initiated, supported and financed by the Brittany Region and its partners, the Finistère Departmental Council, Brest Métropole and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Brittany.

The 50 hectare terminal is designed to accommodate industrial companies specialising in marine renewable energies (MRE) such as offshore wind, floating offshore, wave and tidal energy and their industrial equipment.

The 496 MW Saint Brieuc wind farm, 16 km off the French coast, will feature 62 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines, standing at 207 metres high. It is being developed by Ailes Marines, subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Covering an area of 75km²the project will be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in Brittany and, when operational in 2023, it will be capable of generating 1,820 GWh/year of electricity, expected to meet the demands of 835,000 people.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

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Saint Brieuc turbine towers to be assembled in Brest

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