Saipem Picks Ramboll Design for Calvados Foundations

Ramboll has been awarded a contract by Saipem, through its subsidiary Saipem SA, to perform the primary steel design of the monopile foundations for the Calvados offshore wind farm in France.

The 448 MW Calvados offshore wind farm is owned by a consortium consisting of EDF Renewables, EIH S.à.r.l, a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc., CPP Investments and wpd, and will comprise 64 wind turbines of 7 MW capacity each.

The wind farm, also known as Courseulles-sur-Mer, is located ten kilometres off the Bessin coast in northwestern France and is expected to be commissioned in 2024.

“Delivering a primary steel design for the offshore wind market in France is a successful milestone and it forms the basis for further growth in one of Europe’s top offshore wind markets,” said Andreas Willecke, Head of Department for Offshore Wind Structures at Ramboll.

Ramboll’s services cover model validation, primary steel design, grouted connection between the monopiles and transition pieces, and associated fatigue optimization.

The monopiles will be installed in water depths of 21 to 31 metres, providing challenging design conditions such as large changes in the water level due to tidal variation and hard rock soil conditions, Ramboll said.

Ramboll has been involved in the development of the Calvados wind farm from the initial phases, also carrying out the conceptual design for Saipem SA.