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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Iberdrola has inaugurated the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in Brittany, France.
With an annual production of nearly 2,000 GWh, Saint-Brieuc will provide energy to nearly one million people.
The €2.4bn project began development in 2012 and entered full operation this year, following three years of construction. It consists of 62 turbines, each with a capacity of 8 MW, the most powerful installed in France to date.
The inauguration follows by six months that of France’s largest (500 MW) offshore wind farm at Fécamp, Normandy. That 71-turbine farm was a project of EDF Renewables, EIH, a subsidiary of Enbridge, Canada Plan Investment Board and Skyborn.
At Saint-Brieuc, a total of more than 150 European companies worked on the project, including Siemens-Gamesa (wind turbines), the Navantia Windar consortium (foundations and transition pieces), Haizea (towers), Prysmian (cabling) and Van Oord (installation). The construction work supported more than 1,700 jobs.
Iberdrola says the project’s team and suppliers overcame a range of challenges to deliver the project, including adverse weather and challenging sea conditions. New techniques and equipment for fixing the turbine’s foundations to the seabed were developed, overcoming the challenges posed by hard rock formations in the seabed (composed of basalt rock).
The Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, adds: ‘This project lays the foundations for the offshore wind sector in France and clearly demonstrates the potential that this technology has to boost energy security and the reindustrialisation of Europe, while contributing to climate objectives, in line with the Draghi report.’
