The first components for wind turbines which will spin at the Fécamp offshore wind farm are being transported to the storage and assembly site at the Port of Cherbourg, France, ahead of the installation at the offshore site that is scheduled to start in the late Spring.
The 497 MW Fécamp offshore wind farm will comprise 71 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW wind turbines, scheduled to be operational by the end of 2023.
Siemens Gamesa started manufacturing blades and nacelles for the project in 2022 at its facility in Le Havre, with the tower sections being produced in Spain.
The towers, consisting of three sections, will be assembled at the quay in Cherbourg before being loaded onto the installation vessel together with four nacelles and twelve blades for the installation of four complete wind turbines in one batch.
At the assembly site in Cherbourg, around 60 people will be mobilised on land and some 70 people will be mobilised on the installation vessel to install the wind turbines, according to Eolien Maritime France (EMF), a joint venture between EDF Renouvelables; EIH S.à.rl, owned by Enbridge Inc. and CPP Investments; and Skyborn Renewables.
All 71 gravity-based foundations and the substation were in place at the Fécamp wind farm by October 2022, with the inter-array cable installation underway until the summer.
The 497 MW offshore wind farm is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year.