The 500 MW Fécamp offshore wind farm in Normandy, France, has started producing the first electricity and feeding it into the grid after the first wind turbine was installed at the beginning of this month.
Following the load-out of the first four wind turbines from the port of Cherbourg, DEME Offshore’s Innovation proceeded with the installation of the components of the first Siemens 7 MW wind turbine on the construction site located between 13 and 24 kilometres off the coast of Normandy.
After a few days of tests and trials, the first kWh from the unit were transmitted last weekend into the national grid from the Sainneville substation.
The Fécamp offshore wind farm features 71 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW wind turbines, installed on gravity-based foundations.
The wind farm is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year when it will produce the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 770,000 people or 60 per cent of the inhabitants of Seine-Maritime.
The project is being jointly developed by Eolien Maritime France (EMF), a joint venture between the French company EDF Renouvelables; EIH S.à.rl, owned by Enbridge Inc. and CPP Investments; and Skyborn Renewables (formerly wpd offshore).
Fécamp is the third commercial-scale wind project offshore France to reach the turbine installation phase, following the now-inaugurated Saint-Nazaire, and the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm.
