Seabed surveys needed for 24 MW French floating wind project

Parc Eolien Offshore de Provence Grand Large, an EDF EN France company developing a 24 MW floating wind demonstration project in the French part of the Mediterranean Sea, has launched a tender for offshore survey services.

The developer is looking to carry out seabed clearance, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and identification surveys in in water depths of between 6 and 100 metres on the project’s export and inter-array cables routes and contingency layout.

For part of the scope, Parc Eolien Offshore de Provence Grand Large is acting on behalf of and for RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Electricité).

The 24 MW Provence Grand Large floating offshore wind farm is located approximately 40 kilometres west from Marseille.

Requests to participate in the tender can be submitted until 11 March, and the selected candidates will be invited to take part in the tender on 16 March.

The wind farm will comprise three 8 MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines installed on floating foundations that will be manufactured by SBM Offshore. The floating system is light and modular, it has low motions and accelerations at nacelle level, and does not require any construction or port infrastructure, according to SBM.

The project received the go-ahead from the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) in 2016, as part of the country’s call for tenders for the development of floating wind launched in 2015.