EDF Renewables, Enbridge and wpd start construction of 500 MW Fecamp offshore wind project off the coast of Normandy

EDF Renewables, Enbridge Inc, and wpd have launched the Fécamp offshore wind farm following the finalization of financing agreements between the consortium and its financial partners.

The 500 MW offshore wind farm will be composed of 71 wind turbines located between 13 km and 22 km from the coast of northwest France. Project commissioning is scheduled in 2023. The power generated by the wind farm will provide enough annual electricity to meet the power needs of 770,000 people or over 60% of the Seine-Maritime department’s population.

The construction of the project will create over 1,400 local jobs in total. During its 25-year service life, approximately 100 local ongoing full-time jobs based at the port of Fécamp will also be created to maintain the wind farm.

The total project capital cost is estimated to be EUR2 billion (US$2.23 billion), of which the majority will be financed through non-recourse project-level debt. The facility is underpinned by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) granted by the state, in June 2018.

The consortium has sealed equipment supply contracts with suppliers, including Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) for the 71 wind turbines; Bouygues Construction, Saipem, and Boskalis for the foundations; and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, GE Grid Solutions and SDI for the offshore substation. RTE, responsible for connecting the wind farm from the substation to the coast and then until Normandy’s electricity grid, will start its onshore works in June.

The manufacturing of the gravitational foundations for the wind turbines will commence this summer at the Grand Port Maritime site. The wind turbines will be assembled at the Port of Cherbourg.