Iberdrola’s 496MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, off France, has been connected to the national electricity grid by RTE, to begin producing electricity.
The project is Iberdrola’s first in France, and the second offshore wind project to produce power in the country.
After a testing phase, the site was connected to the grid on 5 July under the supervision of Iberdrola’s maritime coordination centre based in Kerantour (Côtes d’Armor).
Energy and marine consultancy ABL supported this step, carrying out owner’s engineering scope to RTE for the grid connection of the project.
ABL was appointed as owner’s engineer in 2019 to support the installation of two export cables from Saint-Brieuc to shoreside Brittany, France.
This involved the offshore transportation and installation (T&I) of two 33km long high voltage alternating current (HVAC) wires that were buried by jetting and mechanical cutting.
“ABL has been of great support for Saint-Brieuc’s offshore wind farm grid connection project. We have ranked ABL ten out of ten on safety, timely responses, handling deadlines, and competence,” said an RTE project lead installation engineer.
The production of the wind farm will increase as its 62 turbines are installed and commissioned in the months ahead.
“It is with great pride that we have started producing clean energy from the first wind turbines in the project,” said Iberdrola France chief executive Emmanuel Rollin.
“This is a landmark moment, following 12 years of hard work to deliver this mega-scale project, which contributes both to the energy security of Brittany and to the energy transition, a key element in the battle against climate change,” added Rollin.
The electricity is collected by the offshore electrical substation located in the centre of the wind farm.
It is transported by two subsea export cables with a voltage of 225kV installed by RTE to Caroual beach, in Erquy.
Power enters the grid via the Doberie substation in Hénansal (Côtes-d’Armor).