DEME Offshore has installed the first drilled monopile foundation at the 480MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm off the French coast.
The company said that, although the first monopiles had to be conventionally driven, most of the XL foundations – 73 out of 80 – have to be drilled through calcarenite rock.
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DEME said that it has deployed for the first time an offshore foundation drill and the tailor-made Modiga unit, which encapsulates the drilling and installation operations and shields them from the adverse Atlantic marine conditions.
The Modiga is deployed from its offshore installation vessel Innovation.