Spanish energy company Iberdrola has concluded an agreement to take 100% ownership of Ailes Marines, the developer of the 496MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France.
Iberdrola, which previously owned 70% of the consortium’s capital, has acquired the remaining 30% from Avel Vor (RES and Caisse des Dépôts), after receiving the green light from the French Ministry of the Economy.
The transaction will add momentum to the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2021 and be fully operational in 2023, Iberdrola said.
Located approximately 16 kilometres off the coast of Brittany, the Saint-Brieuc project will require an overall investment of around EUR 2.4 billion.
It will be equipped with 62 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each with an 8MW capacity, installed in a 75-square-km area. The turbines will have a total height of 207 metres.
“The Saint-Brieuc project is now ready to get started on construction,” Jonathan Cole , Iberdrola’s Global Managing Director for offshore wind, said.
”All agreements are in place, the funding is secured and contracts are signed. Our detailed Industrial Plan will also support new factories and highly-skilled clean energy jobs in France. We are hoping that the final legal and administrative matters will be concluded quickly, and then this major €2.4 billion investment in a cleaner energy future will be ready to run full speed.”
With a global 12.4GW offshore wind project pipeline, Iberdrola currently operates three offshore wind farms: the 389MW West of Duddon Sands in the UK, the 350MW Wikinger in the German Baltic Sea, and the 714MW East Anglia ONE in the UK, currently under construction and scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2020.