Iberdrola Launches Saint-Brieuc Offshore Wind Farm In France
Spanish utility firm Iberdrola has announced the inauguration of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France, the second largest in the country, with 496 MW capacity and an annual production of nearly 2,000 GWh.
With an investment of $2.6 billion, the project began development in 2012 and entered full operation in 2024, following three years of construction. It consists of 62 turbines, each with a capacity of 8 MW, the most powerful installed in France to date.
The construction work supported more than 1,700 jobs, 500 locally, and involved a range of industry leading companies, such as Siemens-Gamesa (wind turbines), the Navantia Windar consortium (foundations and transition pieces), Haizea (towers), Prysmian (cabling) and Van Oord (installation). In total, more than 150 European companies worked on the project.
Besides the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, Iberdrola operates 11 onshore wind projects in France and has a portfolio of wind and solar PV projects of in different stages of development.
Iberdrola’s Executive Chairman Ignacio Galán said that this project lays the foundation for the offshore wind sector in France and clearly demonstrates the potential that this technology has to boost energy security and the reindustrialisation of Europe, while contributing to climate objectives, in line with the Draghi report.
The Saint-Brieuc project also helped to advance the offshore wind sector in France. The wind turbines were manufactured by Siemens-Gamesa at a new facility in Le Havre and the components of the jacket foundations were partly built and assembled by Navantia Windar in the Port of Brest.
Iberdrola’s experienced project team and suppliers successfully overcame a range of challenges to deliver the project on schedule, including adverse weather and challenging sea conditions. Innovative new techniques and equipment for fixing the turbine’s foundations to the seabed were developed, overcoming the challenges posed by hard rock formations in the seabed (composed of basalt rock).
Years of planning was involved in ensuring hundreds of companies across the supply chain delivered components and equipment to specification and on schedule, all supported by expert teams leading on thousands of environmental protection measures and delivering against a wide range of social requirements.
Iberdrola’s Fourth Wind Farm
Saint-Brieuc is Iberdrola’s fourth offshore wind farm in full operation, following West of Duddon Sands located in the Irish Sea in the UK, Wikinger (Germany), in the Baltic Sea, and East Anglia One in the UK’s North Sea.
In addition, Iberdrola has four other projects in construction. Baltic Eagle in Germany and Vineyard Wind 1 (which will be the first large-scale in the US) will be commissioned in 2025. Likewise, East Anglia Three in the UK and Windanker in Germany will come into operation in 2026.
Iberdrola’s investment in operational offshore wind farms, and those under construction, amounts to $16.74 billion. Iberdrola also has guaranteed seabed rights for future projects in the UK, continental Europe, the US, Australia, and Japan, the company said.
Beyond these projects, Iberdrola has been awarded contracts for two new projects. East Anglia Two, in the UK and New England Wind 1, in the state of Massachusetts (US) in August this year. Once concluded, the group’s total investment in offshore wind will exceed $27.90 billion.
