All inter-array cables in place at Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm

Louis Dreyfus TravOcean (LDTVO) has installed all 80 inter-array cables at the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire, France’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

A consortium of LDTVO and Prysmian officially secured a contract for the supply and installation of inter-array cables at the 80-turbine Saint-Nazaire in 2018.

Prysmian was responsible for cable manufacturing, while LDTVO was in charge of transporting the inter-array cables to the Montoir-de-Bretagne logistics base, storing them, and installing them between the wind turbines.

The cable installation started in late August 2021 and was carried out in two campaigns.

The second campaign was carried out by the cable-laying vessel Olympic Triton, accompanied by the support ship Wind of Pride, and the personnel transfer ship HST Sofia.

At the end of July and the project’s latest full construction update, 56 out of the 80 GE Haliade 6 MW wind turbines were installed at the site, and 20 of the turbines had already been commissioned.

The first turbine was installed by Jan De Nul’s Vole au vent at the site located between 12 and 20 kilometres off the coast of the Guérande peninsula in the first half of April.

The construction of the wind farm is scheduled to be completed in December 2022.

Saint-Nazaire, also known as Parc éolien en mer du Banc de Guérande, is owned and developed by Eolien Maritime France (EMF), a consortium of EDF Renouvelables, Enbridge, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The project developer has also announced the arrival of Inno’vent, the first of the two crew transfer vessels (CTVs) ordered by GE dedicated to the operations and maintenance of the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm. The hybrid Inno’vent is the first CTV entirely designed and built in France.