Ailes Marines is in charge of the development, construction, installation and operation of the offshore wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc. The company has selected Dutch marine contractor Van Oord to transport and install the 62 jacket foundations (steel lattice structure) and the foundation piles for the offshore substation.
Van Oord will start the offshore operations in 2021 with the installation of the pin piles using its offshore installation vessel Aeolus. The Aeolus will be assisted by a second vessel in 2022 to install jackets foundations that will be manufactured in Fene, Spain and in Brest, France.
The Aeolus, which was purposely built to construct offshore wind parks, was put into service in 2014. The main crane of the Aeolus has a lifting capacity of more than 1600 tonnes. This makes the Aeolus suitable for the transport and installation of foundations and wind turbines. Its advanced jacking system with its four giant legs, each measuring 85 metres and weighing 1280 tonnes, allow the Aeolus to be jacked up and work in waters of up to 45 metres deep.
Van Oord has been awarded an Early Works Contract as per December 2019 in order to expedite the design and engineering. Construction on the subsea drilling template has already started and is scheduled to be delivered Q4 2020.
‘The Saint-Brieuc project will be our first offshore wind project in France and I’m proud of our involvement,’ says Pieter van Oord, CEO Van Oord. ‘By taking on this offshore wind project, we are also contributing to the EU-wide renewable energy target of 32% by 2030.’
