Siemens Gamesa has received a second French offshore wind turbine order, for the EDF-led 497MW Fécamp project off Normandy.

The German-Spanish OEM will supply 71 of its SWT-7.0-154 machines, which will be manufactured in a new turbine plant the company plans to build in the French port town of Le Havre.

The order comes after the company last week had announced its first firm order for a French offshore wind array, for the Saint Brieuc project off Brittany by the Ailes Marine consortium that includes Iberdrola. Turbines from that project are also slated to be built in the new factory in Le Havre.

"These first two firm orders, which is almost 1,000MW of capacity of the 2,500MW currently in our French project pipeline, strengthens Siemens Gamesa's leadership of the French offshore wind industry,” said offshore business unit chief executive Andreas Nauen.

“This is good news for the renewable energy transition in France, and allows us to fully bring our offshore manufacturing project in Le Havre to life.”

After Fécamp, Siemens Gamesa also expects orders in France for the Courseulles sur mer, Dieppe le Tréport and Yeu Noirmoutier projects that have a combined 1.5GW in additional capacity.

Siemens Gamesa has chosen a consortium led by GTM Normandie-Centre, a unit of Vinci Construction France, for the construction of the plant in Le Havre, which it says is the largest industrial project in the French renewable energy industry to date. The plant is slated to start operations between the end of 2021 and early 2022.

“It has been a long journey from the award of these projects to the confirmation of the orders received today and is the result of great collaboration with customers and partners, and within our own teams. We can now look ahead to the launch of their construction,” said Siemens Gamesa France managing director Filippo Cimitan.

The first wave of offshore wind projects in France had already been auctioned off in 2012 and 2014, but lengthy administrative and court hurdles had delayed the projects by many years.

EDF said it plans to commission the Fécamp array in 2023. The French utility also said that it has chosen Bouygues Construction, plus Saipem and Boskalis for its foundations, and - Chantiers de l’Atlantique, plus GE Grid Solutions and SDI for the offshore substation.

“I am delighted to announce today the construction of the second French offshore wind farm for EDF in Fécamp," EDF Renewables chief executive Bruno Bensasson said.

"With already four offshore wind projects won in France, two of which currently under construction, EDF consolidates its leadership in the sector in France."

Canada's Enbridge like EDF owns 35% in Fécamp, while German developer Wpd owns another 30%.

Wind

Siemens Gamesa wins second French offshore wind order at Fécamp