Calvados

Calvados Offshore Wind Farm Profile

The Calvados Offshore Wind Farm, also known as the Courseulles-sur-Mer wind farm, is located approximately 10 kilometers off the Bessin coast in Normandy, France, near the commune of Courseulles-sur-Mer.
The wind farm spans an area of about 50 square kilometers.

The project has a total capacity of 448-450 megawatts (MW), depending on the source, and will feature 64 offshore wind turbines.
Each turbine is a 7-MW Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 model, manufactured in France at the Quai Joannes Couvert plant in Le Havre.

The project is developed by a consortium comprising EDF Renewables, Enbridge’s subsidiary EIH, and wpd. EDF Renewables and EIH each hold a 42.5% stake, while wpd owns the remaining 15%.

The turbines use gearless direct-drive technology for high efficiency, with each turbine having a blade length of 75 meters, a rotor diameter of 154 meters, and a swept area of 18,600 square meters.
The power generated from each turbine is transferred to an offshore substation through 33kV collector cables buried in the seabed. The substation steps up the voltage to 225kV and transmits the power via 225kV high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) submarine cables.

The electrical infrastructure includes a 15km-long 225kV submarine link to the landing point near Bernières-sur-Mer and a 24km-long underground link from the landing point to the Ranville substation. The power is supplied to the French electricity grid in Normandy through the offshore substation.

Construction officially started in February 2021, following the finalization of financing agreements between the developers and financial partners. The project is expected to take up to three and a half years to complete.
Preliminary installation work for the offshore substation began in May 2022, and turbine installation activities were scheduled to start in 2022. The monopile foundations for the turbines were expected to be installed by 2023.

The project is estimated to cost approximately €2 billion, with the majority financed through non-recourse project finance debt.
The construction phase is expected to create more than 1,000 direct jobs in Normandy. Once operational, the wind farm will contribute to the creation of approximately 100 sustainable local jobs for maintenance, based at the port of Caen-Ouistreham.

The project has undergone extensive environmental studies to ensure compatibility with the local environment. Ongoing monitoring programs include visual surveys, dives, radar, and airplane observations to monitor marine mammals, fish, birds, and sea floor flora and fauna.
There has been ongoing consultation with fishing professionals to ensure the wind farm is compatible with fishing activities. The turbines are aligned in the direction of the current to facilitate fishing once the park is operational.

The wind farm will generate enough electricity to supply approximately 630,000 people, which is more than 90% of the population in the Calvados department.
The power generated will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) granted by the French government in June 2018.

Key contractors include Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for the turbines, Saipem for the monopile foundations, Prysmian Group for the sub-sea cables, and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, GE Grid Solutions, and SDI for the offshore substation.
Atlantique Offshore Energy, a business unit of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, is responsible for designing, manufacturing, and commissioning the topside and jacket-type foundation of the substation.

The project includes a commitment to local involvement and remembrance. A "History and Remembrance" group was set up to keep alive the memory of the D-Day landings in connection with the industrial project. The wind farm has also become the main private sponsor of the Arromanches-les-Bains memorial site.