Energy and marine consultancy ABL has been awarded the marine warranty surveyor (MWS) contract for the EolMed floating offshore wind farm, off France.
The MWS contract, with developer Qair, covers the offshore construction, transportation and installation (T&I) of the floating offshore wind farm.
“ABL has long played an active part in France’s offshore wind development, whether as independent engineering consultant or marine warranty surveyor on France’s first offshore wind projects,” said Fabien Thomas, Head of MWS Services in ABL Paris.
EolMed involves the development of a pre-commercial floating offshore wind farm with a total capacity of 30MW, 66kV, 18 kilometres off the coast of Gruissan and Port-la Nouvelle, France, in the Mediterranean Sea.
The wind farm will consist of three turbines connected to a floating electrical hub by inter-array cables at a water depth of around 60 metres.
This project was awarded to Qair by the French authorities in 2015, to test and demonstrate the efficiency of the technology and the viability of the floating wind industry.
ABL’s operations in France, headquartered in Paris, will support Qair with MWS services covering T&I operations for the turbines, dynamic cables and floating electrical hub.
“We look forward to working together with Qair and their different stakeholders to make this challenging and exciting project a reference project for French floating wind.
The offshore construction activities are due to start in summer 2023 with the installation of the floating electrical hub offshore Port-la Nouvelle.