Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm: the first offshore wind turbine in France is installed

EDF Renewables, EIH SARL (owned by Enbridge Inc. and CPP Investments), the joint owners of the Saint-Nazaire off-shore wind farm, and GE Renewable Energy, the wind turbine supplier, are announcing the erection of France’s first offshore wind turbine, 12 km off the coast of the Guérande peninsula in the Loire-Atlantique department. This is a key milestone in the construction of the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, that has been launched in 2019. The work is in progress, as the entire offshore wind farm is scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2022.

On 31 March, SODRACO’s Vole au Vent vessel (Jan de Nul group) arrived at the Port of Saint-Nazaire to carry all the components (masts, generator and blades) for the wind turbines to the location of the offshore wind farm in sets of four turbines per trip. After a two-hour journey by sea, the wind turbines are erected from the ship on the monopile foundations – first the mast, then the generator and finally the three blades. When weather conditions are most favor-able, the operation takes around 24 hours per wind turbine, or just over 4 days at sea for each sets. The wind farm’s 80 wind turbines (installed capacity of 6 MW each) will progressively be erected by the end of the summer at a distance varying between 12 km and 20 km from the coastline ahead of commissioning tests.

By the end of 2022, the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm is expected to start generating the equivalent of 20% of the Loire-Atlantique department’s total annual electricity consumption. It will also contribute to meeting France’s target of generating 33% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

With the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, the whole offshore wind industry is set to take off. The generators were assembled at the GE Renewable Energy plant in Montoir-de-Bretagne, close to Saint-Nazaire, providing employment for 400 people. Overall, the various stages of the three-year construction project have already mobilized jobs for 2,300 people in France.

Bruno Bensasson, EDF Group’s Senior Executive Vice President, Renewable Energies and Chairman & CEO of EDF Re-newables, commented: “We are pleased that the construction of the St Nazaire offshore wind farm is progressing on schedule. Ten years after the call for tenders was awarded, it will be the first to enter into operation in France. Today, nearly 750 people are working on the site on land and at sea, with the greatest attention to safety rules. Alongside Enbridge and CPP Investments and our supplier GE Renewable Energy, we are committed to commissioning this installation, emblematic of the French energy transition: energy savings and carbon-free energy, by the end of the year. The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm and our three other offshore wind projects in France, two of which are under construction off the coast of Fécamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer, are fully in line with EDF's CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its net installed renewable energy capacity worldwide between 2015 and 2030, bringing it to 60 GW. ".

Matthew Akman, Enbridge Inc.’s Vice-President in charge of strategy, energy and new technologies, added: “We are delighted with the installation of the first turbine in the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm. This is not only a key milestone for our project, but also the first wind turbine installed in French waters, marking an important moment for the growing French offshore wind industry. Today's operation demonstrates the progress we have made in recent years on the Saint-Nazaire project, in close collaboration with our partners EDF Renouvelables and CPP Investments. It also means advancing Enbridge's renewable energy projects that support the transition to a low-carbon economy and align with our low-risk investment approach. ".

Bruce Hogg, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Renewable Energies, stated: “This is an important milestone for our partnership with Enbridge, EDF Renewables and GE Renewable Energy. It’s great to see the result of our investment. The installation of the first offshore wind turbine in France both contributes to increasing renewable energy capacity, supports the transition to a low-carbon economy and fits perfectly with CPP Investments' decarbonization commitments . ".

Jan Kjaersgaard, President & CEO of GE Renewable Energy’s Offshore Wind business, commented: “We are proud to celebrate this important moment for the offshore wind sector in France alongside EDF Renewables, En-bridge and CPP Investments. Even as the country's first offshore wind turbine is finally installed, an entire exceptional industrial fabric must be congratulated. Our teams and our key partners now remain focused on continuing the installation at sea of the other 79 wind turbines in complete safety. ".

Philippe Hutse, Jan De Nul Group’s Head of Offshore Operations, added: “We are delighted to contribute to the continued development of renewable energies at sea, in particular, in France. And we are particularly proud to be able to support France in its energy transition by paving the way for the delivery of the first electricity produced by the very first French offshore wind farm. We look forward to working again with EDF Re-newables and CPP Investments and confirming our skills by making the installation of offshore wind turbines, in collaboration with GE Renewable Energy, a great success. ".

Olivier Trétout, Chairman of the Grand Port Maritime Nantes Saint-Nazaire, concluded by saying: “With the arrival of Vole au Vent, we are entering the home stretch, that of the deployment of wind turbines at sea. Today, we are ready: all professions, whether on land or at sea, are mobilized: dock workers, sailors, crane operators, installation and maintenance technicians, engineers, logisticians… This is the first French offshore wind farm. The acquisition of experience will therefore continue. For the Grand Port Maritime, this first outcome is an investment for future massive deployments of installed or floating offshore wind farms. »

About EDF Renewables
EDF Renewables is an international leader in renewable electricity production with installed wind and solar capacity of 10.1 GW net (15.6 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 Renouvelables 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 segment, which transports approximately 30 T3T of crude oil produced in North America, the Gas Transportation and Midstream Services segment, which transports approximately 20 T3T of natural gas consumed in the United States, the Gas distribution and storage, which serves nearly 3.9 million retail customers in Ontario and Quebec as well as the Renewable Energy Production sector, which has a production capacity of approximately 1,766 MW (net capacity ) renewable energy in North America and 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

About CPP Investments
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan fund for the benefit of more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries. To diversify asset portfolios, CPP Investments invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income securities throughout 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 December 31, 2021, the fund totaled $550.4 billion. For more information, please visit https://www.investmentsrpc.com/fr/ 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.fr
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