LOC Group’s Paris-based renewables team is providing marine warranty surveying services for the Fécamp, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farms in France, developed by a consortium led by EDF Énergies Nouvelles and Enbridge.
The LOC team is working closely with EDF EN to advise on the transportation and installation of the individual turbines, and ensure all procedures meet the standards required by the marine warranty surveyor.
The marine warranty surveyor said it had accounted for the varying environmental conditions and water depth at each site. In particular, initial drilling revealed very different soil conditions, with Saint-Nazaire having a hard seabed, Courseulles-sur-Mer a softer one made up mainly of clay and limestone, and Fécamp’s being chalk-based. As a result, the 83 turbines at Fécamp will use gravity-based foundations, while the other two sites will use monopile foundations for the turbines.
“As the very first turbines to be built in French waters, these are important projects for the development of France’s offshore wind industry,” said Hugues Delanoue , Managing Director of LOC France.
“The LOC Paris team is also advising and contributing to the review of preliminary submissions for the next round of tenders for the foundations and offshore stations in the French market,” Delanoue added.
R V Ahilan , Group Director, Renewables Advisory & Energy Technology at LOC said: “France intends to install 6GW worth of wind farms by 2020, and is taking a leading role in developing opportunities in floating offshore wind. In this market, the offshore engineers of the LOC Paris team are well placed to take a lead role in the industry’s development in France.”