Rouen-based company Thomas Services Maritimes ( TSM ), which has a joint venture with Windcat Workboats in France, has been selected to provide crew transfer to and from the Fécamp offshore wind farm, being built by EDF Renouvelables, EIH Sarl (owned by Enbridge and CPP Investments), and wpd Offshore.
TSM will provide dedicated 25-metre crew transfer vessels (CTVs), which will be built at the Delavergne shipyards in Avrillé and in Vendée.
The TSM Windcat 53 and TSM Windcat 54 vessels, to be built for the offshore wind farm in accordance with the French flag HSC rules, will be able to carry up to 26 passengers at a cruising speed of 26 knots, according to Loïc Thomas, Chairman of TSM Group and TSM Windcat.
“We are now busy recruiting and training the French TSM Windcat teams, on land and at sea, with the support of our partner Windcat Workboats, and we look forward to starting our operations at Fécamp in 2022 “, Loïc Thomas said.
TSM Windcat is already operating French-flagged CTVs on an offshore wind farm, having put into service the first one, TSM Windcat 49, at the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in July.
At the Fécamp offshore wind farm, the CTVs will be supporting both construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) phases.
According to EDF Renouvelables, the project is progressing with the construction of gravity foundations at the port of Le Havre, with preparation work for offshore construction underway and first offshore installation work set to start in the first quarter of 2022.
The 500 MW offshore wind farm will consist of 71 Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 wind turbines located between 13 and 22 kilometres offshore.
The project’s commissioning is scheduled for 2023, from when it will produce the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 770,000 people.