Vensys to Supply Turbines to Repower RES’ 24 MW WInd Farm in France

RES SAS, the Turkey-based subsidiary of RES, has ordered 16 turbines from German gearless wind turbine manufacturer Vensys for the repowering of 24 MW of the Souleilla-Corbières wind farm in the south of France.

The deal is for Vensys62 1.5MW gearless machines with hub heights of 49 meters. Souleilla-Corbières currently has a capacity of 20.8 MW and has 16 Siemens turbines of 1.3 MW. It is located in Aude and was initially commissioned in 2001.

The remotorized wind farm is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2023. Vensys and RES have also signed a 20-year service contract.

Jean-François Petit, Managing Director of RES SAS, declared: “As part of its ambitious repowering strategy, RES is proud to initiate this first project on its historic site of Souleilla-Corbières, the first wind farm built by RES in 2001. Thanks to the expertise of the RES teams and the innovative and tailor-made solutions from Vensys, we look forward to renewing this wind farm for the next 25 years.”

Vensys CEO Jurgen Rinck said: “We are delighted that RES, a company with strong engineering and technical background, has been won over by our craftsmanship and technology. We are looking forward to working closely with RES and delivering our first repowering wind farm in France.”

In July this year, RES, Equinor, and Green Giraffe joined forces to form Océole, a partnership dedicated to developing floating offshore wind in France.

Establishing this partnership is in line with the three companies’ ambition of delivering high-performance floating offshore wind projects to support France’s targets of up to 6.8 GW offshore wind by 2028 on its path to become carbon neutral by 2050, said the companies.

The French Council of State ruled earlier this year that France is not doing enough to fight climate change and that it needs to increase its climate commitments.

“So France needs more offshore wind energy if it wants to reach its climate targets. Floating technology allows it to build offshore wind in its deeper seas and is therefore an excellent technology for further decarbonisation in France and other countries with similarly deep seas,” noted WindEurope.