Siemens Gamesa has confirmed receipt of nearly 1 GW of firm orders for offshore wind turbines for the French market
Most recently, the company has received a firm order to supply wind turbines and a 15-year maintenance contract for the Fécamp offshore windfarm from EDF Renewables, Enbridge and wpd.
This 497-MW project in Normandy will be equipped with 71 SWT-7.0-154 offshore wind turbines, each with capacity of 7 MW. The turbines will be manufactured in the wind turbine plant Siemens Gamesa is to build in Le Havre, France.
The announcement of the order comes in addition to the recent firm order from Ailes Marines consortium for the 496-MW Bay of Saint Brieuc offshore wind project in Brittany. Here, Siemens Gamesa will supply 62 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines and maintain them for 10 years. These machines will also be manufactured in Le Havre.
Siemens Gamesa offshore chief executive Andreas Nauen said, “These first two firm orders, almost 1.0 GW of capacity of the 2,500 MW currently in our French project pipeline, strengthens our position in the French offshore wind industry. This allows us to fully bring our offshore manufacturing project in Le Havre to life.”
The next order the company is expecting to receive is for the Courseulles sur mer, Dieppe le Tréport and Yeu Noirmoutier projects, with have a total capacity of nearly 1.4 GW.
Siemens Gamesa selected a consortium led by GTM Normandie-Centre, a subsidiary of VINCI Construction France to construct its offshore wind turbine plant in Le Havre. The consortium will build the new facility at the Quai Joannès Couvert at Port of Le Havre. The 20-hectare factory will be the first in the world to manufacture all of the main offshore wind turbine components under one roof.
The turbine plant is the largest industrial project in the French renewable energy industry to date and will be used to supply Siemens Gamesa offshore wind projects in France and potentially abroad. It is due to enter into operation at the end of 2021 or in early 2022.
The facility is expected to create approximately 750 direct and indirect jobs when fully operational, particularly in the fields of composite materials, mechanical assembly, and logistics. Siemens Gamesa is expected to start recruiting at the end of 2020.
The firm order for Siemens Gamesa for Fécamp follows the completion of financing arrangements for the project by EDF Renewables, Enbridge and wpd.
The total project capital cost is estimated to be €2.0Bn (US$2.2Bn), of which the majority will be financed through non-recourse project level debt.
The Fécamp offshore windfarm is underpinned by a 20-year power purchase agreement granted by the French state in June 2018.
Apart from Siemens Gamesa, contracts for the project have been awarded to Nouygues Construction, plus Saipem and Boskalis for the foundations; and Chantiers de l’Atlantique and GE Grid Solutions and SDI for the offshore sub-station. RTE, which is responsible for connecting the windfarm from the substation to the coast and then to Normandy’s electricity grid, will start its onshore work in June.
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