First Turbine Stands at Saint-Brieuc Offshore Wind Farm

May 12, 2023, by Adnan Memija

The first of 62 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167DD wind turbines has been installed on the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm site in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, some 16.3 kilometres from the Breton coast.

The operation was carried out from the jack-up vessel Brave Tern of the Norwegian company Fred. Olsen Windcarrier.

The first Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbine of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm was installed on position number SB44, located in the northern part of the site. According to Iberdrola, thanks to this, Brittany acquires its first offshore wind turbine.

The turbine has 209 metres at the tip of the blade and the rotor is 167 metres in diameter.

The installation vessel Brave Tern will carry out several iterations in the coming months from Siemens Gamesa’s factory in Le Havre, each time with the constituent elements of four wind turbines on board.

The wind turbines were manufactured in France, on the industrial site of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, located on the port of Le Havre where about 900 jobs have been mobilised for its fabrication and assembly.

Haizea Wind is manufacturing and painting the towers at its factory in the Port of Bilbao, Spain, and then shipping them to the workshop in the Port of Brest, where the assembly of the internal components such as platform, cables, and ladders is performed by SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire.

When it comes to the wind turbine jackets, the installation began on 1 July 2022, while the first four units were placed on the seabed a few weeks later.

The 496 MW Saint-Brieuc project, developed by Iberdrola’s wholly-owned subsidiary Ailes Marines, is the first offshore wind farm in France to be equipped with jacket foundations.

The offshore wind farm is also the first large-scale project in Brittany to obtain all the necessary government permits for its construction and operation.

Once completed, Saint-Brieuc is expected to generate enough clean energy for 835,000 people.