The topside for the offshore substation of the 500 MW Fécamp wind farm has left Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard and is headed toward the project’s construction site located more than 13 kilometres off the coast of Normandy, France.
Atlantique Offshore Energy, a marine business unit of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, completed the construction of the topside at the end of June.
The company secured the contract for the construction of the substation in 2020, together with its partners GE Grid Solutions and DEME Group’s SDI.
Atlantique Offshore Energy was in charge of the topside and jacket foundation design, manufacturing, and onshore commissioning. Under a contract signed last year, the company will also be responsible for the maintenance of the offshore substation.
GE Grid Solutions was in charge of high and medium-voltage electrical equipment and protection control systems design, manufacturing, and commissioning, while SDI is responsible for the transport and installation.
The OSS jacket foundation is being manufactured by Rosetti Marino, which cut the first steel for the jacket at the beginning of last year, while Chantiers de l’Atlantique kicked off the construction of the topside in September 2020.
The four piles for the OSS jacket foundation were installed by DEME Offshore’s jack-up vessel Sea Installer in April 2022, with the foundation coming up next.
The Fécamp offshore wind farm will feature 71 Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 wind turbines, all of which will stand on gravity-based foundations.
According to the project’s most recent social media update, the second batch of gravity-based foundations have been placed on a transport barge at the Bougainville yard in the Grand Port Maritime of Le Havre, France.
The offshore wind farm is being built by EDF Renouvelables, EIH Sarl, a subsidiary of Enbridge, and wpd.
Offshore construction is scheduled to be completed, and the wind farm fully commissioned by the end of 2023.