The consortium formed by IBERDROLA and the French company Eole-Res has been granted exclusive rights by the French government for construction and operation of the offshore wind farm of Saint-Brieuc of 500 MW in capacity.

The French government today announced its decision after considering the bids presented by a number of world-leading companies in offshore projects. The government placed special value on the industrial plan based on job creation and local production presented by the consortium led by IBERDROLA.

The Saint-Brieuc wind farm will be one of the most important renewable energy facilities in the world, with 100 wind turbines of 5 MW in unit capacity.  It will be opposite the Saint-Brieuc bay, in the French region of Côtes d'Armor, and some 20 kilometers at sea. 

IBERDROLA, which began to conduct wind and feasibility studies in this location several years ago, believes this is one of the best sites in the world for this type of renewable energy projects.

To carry out the project, the consortium has created the company Alas Marinas and it has contracted a number of leading French companies in offshore power. The start-up of this facility will boost employment throughout the coast of Bretagne, with creation of more than 2,000 jobs on average for the coming years.

Specifically, the company Areva will produce wind turbines for the farm at its Le Havre plant and it will also be responsible for maintenance of the turbines. Technip will install underwater cables and STX and Eiffage will lay the foundations and build the platforms for the turbines. Lastly, Neoen Marine will perform the environmental studies, which are key for a facility of this scale.

The first step in the project, which will last 18 months, will be to analyse the technical and environmental conditions of the site. During this time, the consortium must also establish an ongoing mechanism for co-operation with all users of the coastal waters in the area, with a view to achieving mutual decision-making among all parties. 

Start-up of the Saint-Brieuc wind farm will consolidate IBERDROLA as a leader in the offshore wind power sector, with a project pipeline of more than 11,000 MW.

Ignacio Galán: "This highlights our experience"

Ignacio Galán, Chairman of IBERDROLA, has stated that "this decision highlights the experience of our company and of EOLE-RES in developing offshore wind farms, and it firmly establishes the offshore industry in France. Equally important is the creation of 2,000 direct jobs during the development and construction of the project and 140 permanent jobs for the park's 30 years of operation, which will certainly provide a major boost to the economy of Bretagne and the northwest of France".

The concession is part of the tender process started last year by France aimed at installing 6,000 offshore wind MW by the year 2020. The first round of the tender for five projects, with combined capacity of 3,000 MW, was launched in July 2011 and included construction of up to 600 wind turbines in five coastal areas previously identified by the government.

As part of its commitment to the different types of renewable energies, IBERDROLA is currently developing a large number of offshore wind power projects. To achieve this goal, IBERDROLA has set up an Offshore Business Unit based in Scotland to promote the gradual start-up of facilities in the project pipeline, which now stands at over 11,000 MW worldwide.

IBERDROLA, via its British subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables, has started to develop, in partnership with the Danish company Dong, its first offshore project named West Of Duddon Sands, in the UK. Almost 500 people will be involved in the construction of this wind farm.

West Of Duddon Sands will have capacity of 389 MW, sufficient to supply electricity to 300,000 homes in the UK, and when it is operational, sometime within the next two years, it will be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

IBERDROLA has finished the plans for the project and has signed a contract worth nearly €700 million with Siemens to supply the wind turbines. It has also ordered two state-of-the-art vessels from two leading Danish naval companies specialising in offshore wind power, for the construction of the site.

Other long term IBERDROLA offshore projects include East Anglia Array,which is to be developed jointly with Swedish company Vattenfall in English waters. This will be one of the world’s largest offshore wind complexes, with 7,200 MW of capacity.

The first permits are expected to be granted this year with construction beginning in 2015. The facility is expected to supply electricity to around 5 million homes and create 8,000 jobs, giving a significant boost to the local economy.

The installation will cover an area of roughly 6,000 sq/km and one of the main advantages are the shallow waters in which it will be sited - 97% of the wind farm will be in waters less than 45 metres deep-, which is crucial to be able to install offshore wind power parks with today's technology.  In order to achieve maximum capacity, between 1,000 and 2,000 wind turbines will need to be installed, depending on the nominal capacity of those selected.

Oher international marine projects

This project is in addition to others in Germany, Spain and the UK amounting to an additional 2,500 MW. Amongst these is Wikinger, a wind farm in the German Baltic sea. The facility will have installed capacity of 400 MW and use wind turbines with a unit capacity of 5 MW each. IBERDROLA expects to present the final plans for this project at the beginning of 2014, with the aim of commencing construction in 2015 and offloading to the grid the first kilowatts in 2016.

Wikinger is located in the northern part of an area known as Westlich Adlergrund, which the Germany authorities have designated as a Priority Offshore Development Area, around 40 km from the nearest coast, Rügen island. The average depth is around 39 metres.

With renewable operations in 23 countries, IBERDROLA is the world leader in its sector by both installed capacity (nearly 13,690 MW at the end of 2011) and output (over 20,700 million kilowatt hours generated in 2011).

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