The jacket foundation for the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm’s offshore substation is ready to be transported from Italy to France, according to Rosetti Marino’s latest update posted on social media.
The jacket, 50 metres tall and weighing 1,200 tonnes, has been loaded onto a barge in a vertical position and will travel to the Saint-Nazaire offshore construction site this way to speed up installation activities.
The Italian company was subcontracted to manufacture the foundation after a consortium of Atlantique Offshore Energy, GE Grid Solutions and Société de Dragage International (SDI), part of DEME Group, won the EPCI contract for the Saint-Nazaire electrical offshore substation in June 2019.
This April, DEME installed the four pin piles for the jacket foundation, saying the installation was done in record time despite the piles having to be drilled into rock.
The installation of monopile foundations for the project’s wind turbines is now also underway, with the first monopile put into place at the beginning of May.
The wind turbine foundations are being delivered by Eiffage Métal, with Sif producing 80 monopiles and primary steel for the 80 transition pieces, and Smulders manufacturing the transition pieces.
The 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, also known as Parc du Banc de Guérande, will comprise 80 GE Haliade 150-6MW turbines.
The project is being developed by Eolien Maritime France (EMF), a consortium of EDF Renouvelables, Enbridge, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.