Saint-Brieuc OWF cleared of all appeals in France

The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind project is now free from any appeals before the French courts, according to an update from Ailes Marines on 3 December.

The appeal had been filed by the Association for the Protection of the Sites of Erquy and Surrounding Sites (ASPE), Erquy Environnement and others, requesting the Council of State to annul the decision of the Administrative Court of Nantes from 2019 that authorised Ailes Marines to build the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm. A hearing on this matter was held on 12 November.

French Council of State informed of its decision to reject the appeal on 2 December, following multiple such decisions throughout the past few years. One of the latest was made in July 2019.

“Ailes Marines welcomes this judgment. Following the decisions of the Council of State taken in recent years in favor of the project, it confirms the company’s compliance in every way with the very demanding administrative processes defined in the regulations for the development of offshore wind farms in France”, the developer said in a statement sent to media on 3 December.

“An appeal against the validation of state aid by the European Commission is currently being considered by the European Court of Justice. This appeal concerns the six offshore wind farms of the first two calls for tenders launched by the State in 2011 and 2013. It is non-suspensive”, Ailes Marines added.

The 496 MW Saint-Brieuc wind farm, scheduled for commissioning in 2023, will consist of 62 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines, spread over an area of ​​75 square kilometres at the project site off the Brittany coast.

Offshore construction is scheduled to start in the first half of 2021, with Van Oord and Saipem chosen to carry out transport and installation of the project’s components.

Navantia Windar will deliver jacket foundations, Eiffage Metal and ENGIE Solutions the offshore substation and its corresponding foundation, Prysmian is in charge of supplying the inter-array cables, while RTE will install the export cables.

The project is being developed by Ailes Marines, a company fully owned by Iberdrola.