France Okays Switch to 8MW Siemens Gamesa Turbine on Saint-Brieuc Offshore Wind Farm

French Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition Nicolas Hulot has approved the switch from the Adwen 8MW to the Siemens Gamesa 8MW turbine to be used on the 496MW Bay of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, Ailes Marines, the developer of the project, said.

Ailes Marine will now incorporate the decision into the project’s documents, the developer said.

[FLASH] Le Ministre d’Etat @N_Hulot valide le nouveau modèle d’éolienne de notre projet (Modèle SG 8.0-167 @SiemensGamesa). #EMR @AilesMarines s´attache désormais à modifier ses autorisations pour être en conformité avec cette modification. Instruction en cours par le @Prefet22. pic.twitter.com/SPIi8qNVlH

— Ailes Marines (@AilesMarines) December 15, 2017

Earlier this year, Siemens Gamesa, now the owner of Adwen, announced that it will discontinue the development of Adwen’s AD8 model as it wants to focus its offer on only one 8MW platform – the SG 8.0-167 DD.

Siemens Gamesa also said that it plans to replace the AD8 turbine at three French projects for which the model was selected with the Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbine.

The ministry had already approved the switch to the Siemens Gamesa turbines on the other two projects – the Eoliennes en Mer Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier and the Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport.

The Bay of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm will comprise 62 wind turbines mounted on jacket foundations, one offshore substation, as well the associated cables. Offshore construction is scheduled to start in 2018 and the wind farm is expected to go online in 2020.

Ailes Marines is a joint venture between Iberdrola, RES and Caisse des Dépôts.