That’s it, the offshore wind farm is running at full speed

This time it is. The first offshore wind farm in France, off Saint-Nazaire, has been running at full speed since Wednesday, EDF announced, a few hours before the inauguration of this park. “EDF Renewables and EIH Sarl (…) have the honor to announce the full commissioning of the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm with an installed capacity of 480 MW”, announces a press release. “Located between 12 and 20 kilometers from the coast, the 80 wind turbines of the park now produce the equivalent of 20% of the annual electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantique”, specifies EDF.

The maintenance of the park, which extends over 78 km2 and is monitored remotely from a base located in the port of La Turballe, will be carried out by around a hundred people during the 25 years of its operation.

Annual consumption of 700,000 people

The work to connect the park began in 2019, then the construction of the offshore park took place in 2021 and 2022, with first the installation of the foundations and electrical cables under water, before routing the wind turbines on place, from the spring of 2022 until the installation of the last one on September 5. “Since the production of its first megawatthours (MWh) at the beginning of June 2022, the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm has gradually connected its 80 wind turbines to the national electricity transmission network”, which supply electricity the equivalent of the consumption 700,000 people annually.

This is “France’s first offshore wind farm on an industrial scale”, declared Bruno Bensasson, Chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables, who recalled EDF’s objective of “doubling its net energy capacity renewables in the world to reach 60 GW in 2030”. This announcement comes as the executive must appoint Wednesday in the Council of Ministers the new CEO of EDF Luc Rémont, who will have the difficult task of reviving nuclear power, but also solar and wind power.