Italy’s Falck Renewables has officially opened its new wind farm in Illois, Seine-Maritime department, France.
The six-turbine wind farm, which came into commercial operation last July, has an installed capacity of 12MW and an estimated annual production of around 28GWh, enough to power approximately 6,600 households.
During the project development phase, special consideration was given to the bird and bat species living in the region, which was reflected in the location of the turbines.
The area is also rich in archaeological sites, seven of which are in the vicinity of the wind farm. These have been fully integrated in the layout of the wind farm, so that any new archaeological excavations can be carried out while the wind farm is operating.
“We are delighted to officially open our new wind farm in France with our local partners. To us a new plant not only means generating more energy from renewable sources, contributing to national decarbonisation objectives and increasing energy independence. It also means creating shared value with and for the local community around the wind farm,” said CEO of Falck Renewables Toni Volpe.
Falck Renewables’ Country Manager in France, Bertrand Le Mouëllic said: “We are proud to keep growing in France, with the official opening of our tenth French wind farm and an overall capacity of 110 MW installed in the country.
“While developing and constructing the wind farm we looked carefully at the specific environmental and social needs of the area to ensure they were integrated in a sustainable way into our plans. The input of the mayor and the local community was invaluable and we thank them and look forward to working together and supporting each other in the coming years.”
Mayor of Illois Bernard Haudiquert added: “Security of the electricity supply is becoming more and more important; we must move with the times and look after our environment for future generations. Thanks to constructive dialogue with Falck Renewables, the former and current municipal council have obtained significant commitments for Illois and its inhabitants.”