French Top Court Clears Saint-Brieuc Offshore Wind Farm

The French Council of State has rejected appeals opposing the construction of the Bay of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind project being developed by Ailes Marines.

Environmental conservation organization Gardez les caps and Nass & Wind, who competed in the tender for developing the wind farm, submitted the appeal citing irregularity in the selection procedure and seeking an annulment.

Despite concurring with the irregularity, the Council of State believes it does not have any impact on the Bay of Saint-Brieuc project and has therefore rejected the appeals, but ordered a EUR 2.5 million compensation to Nass & Wind for the caused damage.

Additionally, the Council considers that the Gardez les caps organization is not authorized to submit the appeal as it is not directly related with the tender.

“Ailes Marines and its shareholders (Iberdrola, RES and Caisse des Dépôts) have learned with great satisfaction of the decision of the Council of State concerning the offshore wind project of Saint-Brieuc,” Ailes Marine commented on the decision.

“This excellent news for the industrial sector reinforces the solidity of the project, whose development continues according to the announced programme, with a start of construction in 2021 and a commissioning in 2023.”

To remind, Nass & Wind’s complaint on the authorization of project modification was dismissed back in 2017 at the Administrative Court in Rennes, which did not stop the company to proceed with its main legal action against the tender.

Ailes Marine, a consortium of Iberdrola, Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and Caisse des Dépôts, is developing the Bay of Saint-Brieuc wind farm off the coast of Northern France.

The 496MW offshore wind project will comprise 62 Siemens Gamesa 8MW turbines mounted on jacket foundations designed by Atkins.