France – EDF Renewables, EIH, a subsidiary of Enbridge, and wpd have started work on the Calvados offshore wind farm (Courseulles-sur-Mer).
The 448 MW Calvados offshore wind project consists of 64 wind turbines situated more than 10 kilometers from the Bessin coastline and covers a total surface area of approximately 45km2. When completed in 2024, it will produce enough electricity to power 630,000 inhabitants, or more than 90 percent of the Calvados French department’s population.
€2 billion investment
The approximate cost of the project is expected to be around €2 billion. The bulk of the money would come from non-recourse project financing debt. The French government awarded the Calvados offshore wind farm a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) in June 2018.
The three-and-a-half-year construction project will generate over 1,000 direct jobs in Normandy and will help the French offshore wind industry develop.
750 direct and indirect jobs
The wind turbines for the project will be installed at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy’s Quai Joannes Couvert plant in Le Havre, which is currently under construction. A total of 750 direct and indirect jobs will be generated by the time the project is completed in the first half of 2022. The plant will also produce the 71 wind turbines for the Fécamp offshore wind farm, which was awarded to the same consortium which began construction in June 2020. The wind turbines will be installed in Le Havre before being delivered to the construction site. Offshore construction is expected to begin in 2022.
RTE, which is in charge of linking the wind farm from the offshore substation to the power grid in Normandy, will begin onshore work in March 2021. In-depth environmental surveys have been carried out by specialist engineering firms in collaboration with local wildlife and environmental conservation organizations. A close and ongoing dialogue with the fishing industry has also been developed to ensure the coexistence of numerous maritime users, especially scallop fishermen.
