Iberdrola inaugurates 496-MW Saint-Brieuc wind farm offshore France

Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (BME:IBE) has today inaugurated the 496-MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France, one of the country’s first, located off the coast of Brittany.

The EUR-2.4-billion (USD 2.7bn) project was commissioned in May after three years of construction, with development having begun in 2012. It is made up of 62 turbines of 8 MW each and is expected to generate nearly 2,000 GWh a year, sufficient to power almost 1 million people.

"This project lays the foundations for the offshore wind sector in France and clearly demonstrates the potential that this technology has to boost energy security and the reindustrialisation of Europe, while contributing to climate objectives, in line with the Draghi report,” said Iberdrola executive chairman Ignacio Galan.

Key contractors included Siemens-Gamesa for wind turbines, the Navantia Windar consortium for foundations and transition pieces, Haizea for towers, Prysmian for cabling and Van Oord for installation. Siemens-Gamesa manufactured the turbines at a new facility in Le Havre, while Navantia Windar partly built and assembled the components of the jacket foundations in the Port of Brest.

Saint-Brieuc is Iberdrola's fourth operational offshore wind farm, joining projects in the UK and Germany. The company has four other projects in construction -- Baltic Eagle in Germany, Vineyard Wind 1 in the US, East Anglia Three in the UK and Windanker in Germany. Recently, it has also been awarded contracts for East Anglia Two in the UK and New England Wind 1 in the US.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.116)

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