DEME, Eiffage to install foundations for France’s first offshore wind farm

A consortium including DEME and Eiffage Métal has been awarded a major engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract for 80 foundations at the Saint-Nazaire wind farm, the first offshore wind farm to be built in France.

The scope includes the design, fabrication, and installation of the steel foundations.

The consortium contract has a total value of more than €500 million (US$550 million).

The 480MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, owned by EDF Renewables and Enbridge, will be located between 12 kilometres and 20 kilometres off the coast of the Guerande peninsula in western France. Water depths for the installation range between 12 and 25 metres.

The first foundations will be installed offshore, in rocky seabed conditions, in the spring of 2021, with completion being planned in the summer of 2022.

The wind farm is expected to generate enough electricity to supply 20 per cent of the Loire-Atlantique department’s power.