496 MW Wind Project in France Reaches FID and Construction State: Ocean Winds

Renewable energy developer Ocean Winds has announced that a $2.5 billion final investment decision (FID) has been taken regarding an offshore wind energy project in France. Ocean Winds, Sumitomo Corporation, Banque des Territoires and Vendée Energie who form ‘Eoliennes en Mer des îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier’ (EMYN) have made the announcement about the Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier project, the fifth offshore wind farm to be commissioned in France from 2025. This will be located off the coast of Vendée.

The project involves the construction and installation of a wind farm located 11 km off the island of Yeu and16 km off the island of Noirmoutier. This offshore wind farm will supply nearly 800,000 people with electricity each year.

Ocean Winds held that the Yeu and Noirmoutier wind farm represents an investment of around €2.5 billion. The total capacity of the project is 496 MW.

Start of the construction phase

Ocean Winds said that the final investment decision opens the way for the construction phase of the project. The first offshore operations will take place this summer before the effective start of the installation operations in 2024.

As per Ocean Winds, from spring 2024, maritime work will begin by the installation of the monopile foundations, the electrical substation built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, and the installation of the first submarine cables by Louis Dreyfus TravOcean.

DEME and Jan de Nul, two firms, will transport and install the foundations and wind turbines. At the same time, RTE, which is responsible for the connection of the wind farm, will set up a double submarine connection to transfer the electricity generated at sea to the onshore grid.

The wind turbines, produced by Siemens Gamesa in its Le Havre facility, will be installed in 2025. Ocean Winds also held that the wind farm is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025.

The construction phase of the EMYN wind farm, that will last 2.5 years, will create 1,600 direct jobs and contribute to the development of the French offshore wind energy industry.

The project involves international public and private financing, led by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and a syndicate of 16 banks. The financing is provided through shareholders backed financing and non-recourse debt. It was raised with the support of Société Générale, who acted as the financial advisor to the project, held Ocean Winds.