Arrayed components for the under-construction €2bn ($2.4bn) Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm – France’s first sector project – served as backdrop for the announcement of the inauguration of the development’s logistic hub in the port of Saint-Nazaire on the country’s west coast.
The ribbon-cutting was attended by French Prime Minister Jean Castex, minister of the ecological transition Barbara Pompili, and Agnès Pannier-Runacher, representing the minister of the economy in charge of industry, along with Jérôme Pécresse, CEO of project turbine supplier GE Renewable Energy, and developer EDF’s CEO, Bruno Bensasson.
“GE Renewable Energy was the first manufacturer to invest in an offshore wind turbine nacelle assembly plant in France, then in a blade manufacturing plant in Cherbourg,” Pécresse said.
“We are proud to note the progress made in the structuring of this cutting-edge industrial sector as well as in the construction of the first French offshore wind farm, alongside our partners and suppliers.”
GE is supplying 80 of its Haliade-150 turbines for the 480MW project, which comes out of the first wave of French offshore wind farms that were auctioned off in 2012 and 2014, but then delayed by many years as a result of lengthy administrative and court hurdles.
Earlier this month, Belgian contractor DEME installed the first offshore wind substation for Saint-Nazaire, slated to be online next year.
