Iberdrola started on Wednesday the transfer of the first jackets for its offshore wind farm in Saint Brieuc, Brittany, France, from the Navantia Seanergies shipyard in Fene (A Coruña) where the Navantia-Windar consortium is building these structures to support the wind turbines.
These are the first four jackets of the total of 62 to be built at the wind farm, which will be the Iberdrola Group’s first major offshore wind energy site in France. The contract for the construction of the jackets was also the largest order to date for the Navantia and Windar partnership in offshore wind energy.
The foundations will be transported in a 122-metre-long barge of the company Van Oord. They are expected to arrive at their destination in the port of Brest in approximately three days, depending on weather conditions, during which time they will cover the more than 1,500 kilometres that separate the port of Ferrol from their location in the English Channel. The delivery of the first jackets demonstrates the successful completion of the contract signed two years ago, valued at 350 million euros. The order included the manufacture and assembly of the 62 structures at Navantia Windar’s facilities in Brest (France) and Fene and the piles that anchor the wind turbines to the seabed at Windar’s facilities in Avilés.
Economic driver of local business and employment
The project gives continuity to the employment of Navantia and Windar in their respective facilities, generating 1,250 jobs, both in Asturias and Galicia.
In addition, as a result of this contract, Navantia-Windar has opened a plant in Brest, France, where the 186 stabbings and intermediate platforms of the transition pieces and the lattice structure for 34 of the 62 jackets in the park have been manufactured, creating 250 jobs.
In France, the building of the park creates 1,500 jobs distributed among various companies in France (including 250 at the Navantia-Windar plant in Brest), which means the creation of at least 2,750 jobs between both countries.
2.5 billion euros invested
The Saint-Brieuc wind farm will be the Iberdrola group’s first major offshore wind power site in France. With almost 500 MW of capacity, it will generate enough clean energy to meet the electricity consumption of 835,000 people, once it comes into operation in 2023.
Located some 16 kilometres from the coast, it will cover an area of 75 square kilometres. Its construction represents an overall investment of around 2,500 million euros.
This new facility demonstrates Iberdrola’s commitment to the French market, where the company plans to invest around 4 billion euros by 2025, mainly in renewable projects.
The plant will become the company’s fourth offshore wind farm in operation, following West of Duddon Sands, located in the Irish Sea; Wikinger, in the Baltic Sea; and East Anglia ONE, one of the world’s largest offshore wind developments, located in the southern North Sea.