GE rolls out first turbine nacelle for 480 MW offshore wind farm
Run by consortium partners EDF Renewables, Enbridge and GE Renewable Energy, the offshore wind farm project will be comprised of 80 wind turbines to be installed by 2022.
The first nacelle for the 80 Haliade 150-6 MW wind turbines for the future Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm has officially left the GE plant in Montoire-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique). Photo Credit: JEC
The consortium formed by EDF Renewables (Paris, France), Enbridge (Calgary, Canada) and GE Renewable Energy (Paris France) for the future Saint-Nazaire, France, offshore wind farm recently celebrated the production of the first GE Renewable Energy nacelle.
This nacelle, which contains the generator, is said to be the first in a series of Haliade 150-6-megawatt (MW) wind turbines and will be assembled by GE Renewable Energy at the Montoir-de-Bretagne production site. The offshore wind farm will be comprised of 80 wind turbines total, spaced one kilometer apart and located 12-20 kilometers off the coast. When it goes operational in 2022, it is said it will produce enough power to supply 20% of the electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.
In addition to supplying power, the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm has contributed to boosting the region’s economic activity, generating more than 1,000 local jobs during the construction phase. More than 500 GE Renewable Energy employees will participate in the creation of the French wind farm, in the Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique department) nacelle assembly plant and at the Nantes, France, GE office which currently employs more than 200 persons. According to the partners, 200 additional jobs will be added to this workforce when the Saint-Nazaire plant is fully loaded. The project, says consortium partners, has taken GE Renewable Energy, EDF Renewables and Enbridge into a new phase of French wind farm industry development.
While GE Renewable Energy nacelle production for the turbines continue, earthworks are being finalized in preparation for the storage and assembly of the wind turbine components in the port of Saint-Nazaire, where the wind turbines will be stocked beginning in 2021.
Installation at sea will begin in 2021 with anchoring of the foundations and the burying of the interturbine cables. Then, the electric substation will be installed in the sea during the summer. In spring 2022, it is said that the first wind turbines could be installed offshore and progressively commissioned. This start-up process will last until the end of 2022.
According to the partners, the agreement also covers the multi-year contract for wind farm turbine maintenance services.
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