Saint Nazaire, August 28, 2021. Today, the Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Castex, accompanied by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Ms. Barbara Pompili, and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, in charge of Industry , Ms. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, visited the first offshore wind project launched in France, in Saint-Nazaire in the Pays de la Loire region. This visit took place in the presence of Mr. Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of the EDF group, Mr. Bruno Bensasson, Executive Director of EDF in charge of the renewable energy division and Chairman and CEO of EDF Renouvelables , and Mr. Jérôme Pécresse, Chairman and CEO of GE Renewable Energy.
With a capacity of 480 MW, the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, co-owned by EDF Renewables, a 100% subsidiary of the EDF group and EIH S.à rl, a joint venture between Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) (NYSE:ENB ) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (via its subsidiary at 100% CPP Investment Board Europe S.à rl), is made up of 80 wind turbines located on the rocky plateau of the Banc de Guérande, more than 12 km off the coast of the peninsula 'island.
Two years after the start of the project, the manufacturing of the various components of the future park has progressed significantly. So :
– The foundations are manufactured by Eiffage Metal and are delivered over water to La Rochelle, from where they leave to be installed
– Wind turbines: the nacelles and generators of the 80 wind turbines of 6 MW each are being assembled in the GE Renewable Energy factory in Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique). The last ones have entered the assembly line while half are already stored in the port of Saint Nazaire before their installation at sea. The mast sections and the blades are gradually stored on this same site.
– The inter-wind turbine submarine cables connecting the wind turbines to the electrical substation were manufactured by Prysmian Group in the Montereau-Fault-Yonne (Seine-et-Marne) and Gron (Yonne) factories, and are currently stored at the port of Saint-Nazaire.
– The electrical substation built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and GE Grid was completed in July 2021.
– The connection work carried out by RTE has been finalized between Prinquiau and Plage de la Courance.
– The construction of the maintenance base, located in La Turballe (Loire-Atlantique), is being finalized.
Furthermore, installation operations at sea before commissioning have already started:
– The first 21 monopile foundations (steel tubes sunk into the seabed between 12 and 25 m deep), were installed by an SDI ship (DEME Group).
– A first part of the inter-wind turbine cables has just started to be deployed on the seabed between the foundations by Louis Dreyfus TravOcean.
– On August 21, the electrical substation was positioned on its jacket foundation by SDI.
– RTE’s offshore cables have been deployed and are ready to be pulled to the offshore electrical substation.
From spring 2022, the wind turbines will be installed at sea, then gradually put into service. Once commissioned, the park will produce the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 700,000 people, or the equivalent of 20 % of the electricity consumption of Loire-Atlantique.
Lasting more than three years, the project currently employs more than 1,200 direct jobs in Pays de la Loire. It participates in the creation of a national industrial sector, providing jobs and new skills. The local French companies involved in the construction of the park are gaining experience in this growing sector, allowing them to position themselves on other projects in France and internationally. The offshore wind farms of Fécamp and Calvados (Courseulles-sur-Mer), also won by EDF Renouvelables and EIH S.à rl, are also under construction in Normandy and thus strengthen the constitution of the industrial sector. The three projects together generate more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs in France.
Throughout the life of the park, approximately 25 years, a team of around a hundred people will work from the La Turballe maintenance base to carry out operating operations and preventive and corrective maintenance of the wind turbines, monitoring and the optimization of the park's production, monitoring of weather conditions and planning of interventions at sea, and of course ensuring the safety of the whole.
Furthermore, since the start of the project, a continuous dialogue has been established with local stakeholders (elected officials and communities, fisheries committees, environmental protection associations, residents, state services, etc.). An in-depth environmental impact study was carried out and the project was adapted to integrate it into natural environments. The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm thus responds to all of the territory's challenges: energy transition, economic dynamics, landscape integration, environmental protection and compatibility of maritime activities. Close and ongoing consultation with fishermen and their representatives continues to allow the two activities to operate jointly on the site.
Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of the EDF group, declared: “It is an immense source of pride for the EDF group to build the very first offshore wind farm in France alongside our partner Enbridge. I would like to salute the professionalism of the EDF group teams and our industrial partners, as well as the mobilization of local and national stakeholders for the creation of this emblematic installation of the French energy transition. With three offshore wind farms under construction, a project in development and a floating wind farm pilot project, the EDF group is today the leader in the sector in France. All these projects contribute to the creation of a true French industrial sector of excellence which is already creating value and jobs for the territories and in particular for the Pays de la Loire region. They are fully in line with the EDF group's CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its renewable capacities worldwide between 2015 and 2030 to bring them to 60 GW net. They will contribute to the multi-annual energy programming and the carbon neutrality objective adopted by France, which call for a drastic reduction in the share fossil fuels in our energy mix, today representing 67 % of French final energy consumption, by replacing them with electricity production of nuclear and renewable origin.
Jérôme Pécresse, President & CEO, GE Renewable Energy added: “GE Renewable Energy was the first industrialist to invest in an offshore wind turbine nacelle assembly plant in France, then in a blade manufacturing plant in Cherbourg. We are proud to see the progress made in structuring this cutting-edge industrial sector as well as in the creation of the first French offshore wind farm, alongside our partners and suppliers. We continue to be focused on the future of this strategic sector and the sustainability of the skills developed in our factories for a bright future for offshore wind power in France and abroad. »
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About EDF
A major player in the energy transition, the EDF group is an integrated energy company, present in all businesses: production, transport, distribution, trading, energy sales and energy services. Leader in low-carbon energies in the world, the Group has developed a diversified production mix based mainly on nuclear and renewable energy (including hydraulics) and is investing in new technologies to support the energy transition. EDF's purpose is to build a CO2-neutral energy future reconciling preservation of the planet, well-being and development, thanks to electricity and innovative solutions and services. The Group participates in the supply of energy and services to approximately 37.9 million customers (1), including 28.7 million in France (2). In 2020, it achieved a consolidated turnover of 69.0 billion euros. EDF is a company listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.
(1) Customers have been counted since 2018 by delivery site; a customer can have two delivery points: one for electricity and another for gas.
(2) Including ÉS (Electrcité de Strasbourg).
About EDF Renewables
EDF Renewables is an international leader in renewable electricity production with installed wind and solar capacity of 13.8 GW gross worldwide. Mainly present in Europe and North America, EDF Renewables continues its development by taking a position in promising emerging markets such as: Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the Middle East. Historically active in onshore wind power and photovoltaics, the Company is now strongly positioned in offshore wind power and new technologies such as energy storage. EDF Renewables ensures the development and construction of renewable energy projects as well as their operation and maintenance. EDF Renewables is a subsidiary of the EDF group.
For more information: www.edf-renouvelables.com
Follow us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edf-renouvelables and on Twitter @EDF_RE in French and @EDF_Renewables in English.
About Enbridge
Enbridge Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. We safely and reliably deliver the energy that powers people's quality of life. Our principal businesses include the Pipelines sector, which transports approximately 25 % of crude oil produced in North America, the Gas Transportation and Midstream Services sector, which transports approximately 20 % of natural gas consumed in the United States, and the Distribution sector and gas storage, which serves nearly 3.8 million retail customers in Ontario and Quebec, and the Renewable Energy Generation sector, which produces approximately 1,766 MW (net capacity) of renewable energy in America in the North and in Europe. The Company's common shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under the symbol ENB. For further information: www.enbridge.com. Nothing contained in or linked to the Enbridge website is incorporated by reference into or forms part of this press release.
About CPP Investments
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the fund for the benefit of more than 20 million Canada Pension Plan contributors and beneficiaries. To diversify asset portfolios, CPP Investments invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income securities around the world. CPP Investments is headquartered in Toronto with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney. Its governance and management are distinct from those of the Canada Pension Plan. CPP Investments operates at arm's length from governments. As of June 30, 2021, the fund totaled 519.6 billion Canadian dollars.
For more information, please visit www.cppinvestements.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
About GE Renewable Energy
$15 billion in revenue, GE Renewable Energy combines one of the broadest portfolios in the renewable energy industry to provide comprehensive solutions for customers seeking green energy that is both reliable and affordable. By combining onshore and offshore wind, blade, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar and grid solutions, as well as hybrid renewable energy and digital service offerings, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400 gigawatts of renewable energy and equipped more than 90% operators worldwide with its network solutions. GE Renewable Energy employs nearly 40,000 people in more than 80 countries, and creates quality solutions for all customers seeking to provide affordable, clean and sustainable electricity around the world.
Follow us on www.ge.com/renewableenergy, Linkedin – GE Renewable Energy or Twitter – GErenewables
PRESS CONTACTS
For EDF Renewables
Manon of Cassini-Hérail
manon.decassini-herail@edf-re.com
06 29 48 43 40
For Enbridge
Mandy Dinning
mandy.dinning@enbridge.com
For CPP Investments
Steve McCool
Steve.mccool@cppib.com
For GE Renewable Energy
Juliette Prost
Juliette.prost@plead.fr
06 72 47 53 28