Senvion, a leading global manufacturer of wind turbines, has especially adapted its 6.2M152 wind turbine to the floating offshore foundation developed by the EolMed consortium, led by Quadran.
A consortium led by French-based Quadran and a consortium of French group Eolfi and Chinese nuclear group CGN have won tenders for pilot floating wind parks off the coast of France, the companies said.
The two contracts are the first awards in a tender for four offshore sites, one in Brittany and three in the Mediterranean, launched by French environment agency Ademe last year.
The tenders are France’s first attempt at testing floating offshore wind technology on an industrial scale. Portugal and Norway have pioneered floating technology with a single floating turbine each, but the French project is set to become the first to test floating offshore wind on a large scale.
Floating turbines are built for waters deeper than the roughly 50 metres maximum for foundation-based turbines and offer huge potential as they are not limited to shallow coasts.
Unlisted renewable energy specialist Quadran said on Monday the government had awarded it a contract to build a 24 megawatt floating wind farm with four turbines 15 km off the Mediterranean coast at Gruissan.
Germany’s Senvion will provide the turbines while French construction firm Bouygues and French offshore floating platforms specialist Ideol will provide the platform. Development and construction will take four years and the turbines are set to run for between 15 and 20 years.
Eolfi and CGN said they had won a tender for a floating offshore farm off the island of Groix, Brittany, for four turbines.
General Electric will provide the turbines while French naval group DCNS and French construction firm Vinci will provide the platform.
The companies gave no financial details but the government has made 150 million euros ($165 million) available, one third as investment subsidies, two thirds as a loan.
The next two contracts are expected to be awarded later this year or early next year.
France lags behind Germany, Denmark and Britain in offshore wind, but also hopes to catch up with the launch of two fixed-foundation offshore tenders with a combined capacity of about 3,000 MW, due to be built from around 2020 onwards.
The consortium members for those tenders – French utilities EDF and Engie, Spanish utility Iberdrola and Portuguese utility EDP Renovaveis – are also possible bidders for the floating offshore tenders.
The French environment and energy management Agency (ADEME) has awarded EolMed for the construction of three to four Senvion 6.2M152 in the French Mediterranean Sea, for the first floating pilot wind farm in France which is intended to be installed and commissioned in 2020.
Jürgen Geissinger, CEO at Senvion, says: “As a pioneer in Offshore, Senvion has all the expertise and experience needed to successfully take the next steps in further improving the flexibility and usability of wind energy in different locations and different conditions. The Senvion 6.2M152 is the best fitting turbine and as a flexible company, we are happy to now also provide solutions for floating offshore projects. We are looking forward to kick-off our campaign with this project in France, where we have proven track record and are very well-positioned on site.” The pilot wind farm is located in Gruissan, Southern France, where, depending on the ADEME’s decision, between three and four Senvion 6.2M152 turbines shall be installed.
Olivier Perot, Managing Director of Senvion France, adds: “Senvion has a unique experience in high-capacity offshore technology with over 750 MW installed capacity worldwide. For this first pilot floating offshore wind farm in France, Senvion is pleased to offer its capacity for innovation, and to leverage its pioneer role in the French wind energy field with a presence of 15 years with 1000 turbines in operation in the country, a strong footprint in France and dense territorial coverage with 14 locations in French regions. Senvion is pleased to have worked in close collaboration with the other partners in the EolMed consortium, Quadran, Idéol & Bouygues Travaux Publics, during the Call for Project phase. The partners bring together excellent complementary skills to the consortium; Quadran for their development, system integration and operation experience, Idéol for the floater technology and Bouygues Travaux Publics for their construction expertise. We look forward to continuing our successful cooperation with them during the execution and operation of this exciting and innovative project.”
Jérôme Billerey, Managing Director of Quadran, says: “The Quadran group is proud of this success for itself and its partners: Senvion, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Ideol. Eolmed project is a great opportunity for Occitanie region and France. Since the beginning, it has been built in partnership with all stakeholders of the territory and the sea players, with a strong Public/Private partnership and collaborative approach. This project illustrates what our near future should be: more renewable energy for energy independence in the territories. EolMed is an additional step towards the energy transition to which France is committed. This will allow France to emerge with a new industrial sector ready to expand into the international market.”
The Senvion 6.2M152 features a rotor diameter of 152 metres, with the rotors sweeping an area larger than three football pitches. Thanks to a larger rotor diameter compared to its predecessor Senvion 6.2M126 (126 metres), the energy yield at wind speeds of 9.5 m/s is increased by up to 20%. The bigger rotor and correspondingly larger drive train combined with tried-and-tested, first-class technology enables Senvion customers to generate energy even more cost-efficiently on the high seas with the 6.2M152 with a design life of 25 instead of 20 years. With a rated power of 6.15 megawatts, each Senvion 6.2M152 turbine can supply around 4,000 homes with electricity.
To date, the Senvion 6.2M126 is the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine to be produced in series. Senvion began in the multi-megawatt category back in 2004 and ever since then has achieved a great deal of success. No other manufacturer today can compete with the Senvion offshore experience with more than 140 turbines from the 5 and 6 megawatt class installed on the high seas.
Senvion is a leading global manufacturer of onshore and offshore wind turbines. The company develops, produces and markets wind turbines for almost any location – with rated outputs of 2 MW to 6.15 MW and rotor diameters of 82 metres to 152 metres. Furthermore, the company offers its customers project specific solutions in the areas of turnkey, service and maintenance, transport and installation, as well as foundation planning and construction. The systems are designed at the Senvion TechCenter in Osterrönfeld and manufactured at its German plants in Husum (North Friesland), Trampe (Brandenburg) and Bremerhaven, as well as Portugal. With approximately 3,900 employees worldwide, the company makes use of the experience gained from the manufacture and installation of more than 6,600 wind turbines around the world. The company’s operational subsidiary Senvion GmbH is based in Hamburg and represented by distribution partners, subsidiaries and participations in European markets such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Sweden, and Poland as well as on a global level in the USA, China, Australia, Japan, India and Canada. Senvion S.A. is listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
