French TSO taps Fugro for floating offshore wind survey work

France’s RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Electricité) has awarded Fugro with a contract to perform a geotechnical investigation for future offshore substations at two floating wind farm sites in the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean Sea.

After an evaluation of environmental impacts, Fugro mobilised its Gargano vessel on Wednesday, 12 April, equipped with drilling, sampling, and cone penetration testing equipment.

Fugro will perform a series of deep geotechnical boreholes to acquire data on ground conditions for substation foundations.

The resulting Geo-data from Fugro’s investigations will be used to develop a comprehensive ground model which will include the integration of previously acquired geophysical data.

This will be used by RTE and developers as input for future tenders and offshore substation designs.

”We are delighted to have been awarded this key project for the development of floating wind farms in the Mediterranean Sea. Our vast technical expertise and resources ensure timely delivery of the preliminary geotechnical data, which will be instrumental in advancing the OSS design process. We are committed to supporting the French government in achieving its sustainability goals and we look forward to contributing to the success of this important renewable energy initiative,” Denys Borel, Fugro’s Commercial Manager France, said.

These offshore developments are part of the French government’s plans to accelerate the growth of offshore wind power in France, with each of the two sites having a capacity of 750 MW.

Back in August 2022, France selected 13 companies and consortia to advance to the competitive dialogue phase as part of the A06 tender to build and operate two 250 MW floating wind farms in the Gulf of Lion.

Under the A06 tender, two sites for floating offshore wind will be developed, each with a planned installed capacity of about 250 MW, with potential extensions leading to a total capacity of 1.5 GW.

The winner or winners of these competitive bidding procedures will be selected in the fall of 2023, and the two wind farms are expected to be commissioned by 2030.