Le Havre Port Upgrading Quay for Siemens Gamesa’s Offshore Wind Turbine Plant

HAROPA – Port of Le Havre has signed a contract with a consortium of companies led by Eiffage Génie Civil for the maritime works on the Joannès Couvert quay as part of Siemens Gamesa’s construction of an offshore wind turbine plant in the Port.

The adaptation work – to be carried out by the consortium comprising Eiffage Génie Civil, ETMF, ETPO, NGE Fondations, and SDI – will increase the quay’s handling capacity to 25 tonnes per square metre to enable the handling of wind turbine blades that are almost 100 metres long and cargo that weighs 800 tonnes.

According to the Port’s website, these upgrade works will take 84 weeks from the moment the contract was signed.

The consortium will build two quayside berths in a linear distance of 400 metres from the current quay. A 200-metre quay called “Jack-up” will be dedicated to vessel loading heavy components stored on the quayside, while a 200-metre “Lo-Lo” quay will serve for receiving and dispatching various components. The construction of the two berths also includes work to reinforce the seabed of the Théophile Ducrocq basin. 

The work represents a EUR 64.9 million investment and is part of the global port development programme of HAROPA – Port of Le Havre of EUR 123.6 million, supported by the State, the Region, the Le Havre Seine Métropole Urban Community, the City of Le Havre and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Le Havre.

In February, HAROPA – Port of Le Havre awarded a EUR 12 million contract to the NGE group of companies for the construction works also related to Siemens Gamesa’s offshore wind turbine plant. Under that contract, NGE’s subsidiaries NGE Genie Civil, Guintoli, NGE Fondations, and Maia Sonnier will build a roll-on, roll-off (RORO) platform and reinforce the Herman du Pasquier quay to enable the handling of offshore wind turbine components.

Siemens Gamesa started building its plant in September 2020, with a consortium led by GTM Normandie-Centre in charge of the construction works.

The 22-hectare factory, located on the Joannès Couvert quay, will be the first in the world to manufacture all main offshore wind turbine components under the same roof.

The factory, expected to be brought into service in early 2022, will supply turbines to the Fécamp and Saint-Brieuc offshore wind projects.

The Fécamp project, located between 13 and 22 kilometres off the Normandy coast, will consist of 71 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW offshore wind turbines. Offshore construction is scheduled to commence in 2022 and the wind farm is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of 2023.

The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany will comprise 62 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines. Construction is scheduled to begin this year and the commissioning is planned for 2023.