More than Half of îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier Foundations Now In Offshore France

November 14, 2024, by Adnan Memija

A total of 33 out of 61 monopile foundations have been installed at the Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier offshore wind farm in France, surpassing the halfway mark.

The first monopile foundation, supplied by China’s Dajin Heavy Industry, was installed by DEME’s installation vessel, Innovation, in June 2024.

The Chinese company manufactures the monopiles under a contract signed with Éoliennes en Mer des Îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier (EMYN), the project developer. EMYN is a consortium of Ocean Winds, Sumitomo Corporation, Banque des Territoires, and Vendée Energie.

The monopiles measure seven metres in diameter, and some are up to 68 metres long to adapt to the different depths of the site in France.

The foundations will support 61 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines produced in Siemens Gamesa’s Le Havre facility.

DEME has been contracted for the transport and installation of the foundations, wind turbines, and the substation.

Additionally, 17 of the 61 planned inter-array cables have been installed at the site located off the coast of Vendée, 11.6 kilometres from the island of Yeu and 16.5 kilometres from Noirmoutier.

The cables, with a total length of 90 kilometres, are essential for transporting the electricity produced by each wind turbine to the electrical substation.

According to the Les Éoliennes en Mer Services consortium, the goal is to finalise the installation of the foundations by February 2025.

The 498 MW Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier offshore wind farm is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.