DEME has been awarded two transport and installation contracts for the foundations and the offshore substation for the Iles D’Yeu et Noirmoutier wind farm offshore France.
For DEME this is the second major offshore wind farm project in France following industry-first technology deployed at Saint-Nazaire.
DEME Offshore will execute the pre-piling works for the offshore substation jacket, and the transport and installation of the 2,700-tonne topside. The scope of work also includes the transport and installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces.
Just like Saint-Nazaire, the wind farm is located in a very rocky area, some 11.6 kilometres from the island of Yeu and 16.5 kilometres from Noirmoutier, with challenging ocean conditions.
Therefore, the installation of the monopile foundations will again require DEME’s drilling technology and some of the equipment, methods, and tools deployed at Saint-Nazaire to be reused.
This includes the 350-tonne offshore foundation drill developed together with Herrenknecht and the so-called MODIGA.
At 60 m high, the MODIGA encapsulates the drilling and installation operations, protecting them from harsh marine conditions, which in turn, improves operational working time substantially, DEME said.
DEME’s offshore installation vessel Innovation will carry out the foundation installation. Similar techniques and vessels deployed at the Saint-Nazaire wind farm will be used for the substation pre-piling works, which will be executed in the second half of 2023.
Allseas’ vessel Pioneering Spirit will be used to install the substation jacket and topside. The installation of the monopile foundations, substation jacket, and topside is scheduled to start in the first half of 2024.
The 496 MW wind farm is being developed by Éoliennes en Mer des Îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier (EMYN), a consortium including Ocean Winds (an ENGIE and EDPR joint venture), Sumitomo Corporation, La Banque des Territoires and Vendée Energie.
In December 2022, China-based Dajin Heavy Industry secured a contract to supply and manufacture all monopiles for the offshore wind project, while Eiffage will build all 62 transition pieces that will support Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines.
Spain’s Navantia will build jacket-type foundations and the associated piles for the substation, while Atlantique Offshore Energy is responsible for the design, manufacture, and commissioning of the substation topside for the Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier offshore wind farm.
The project is planned to be commissioned by 2025.