Italian energy services firm Saipem on Friday said it had reached important milestones in offshore wind, in relation to the Saint Brieuc project in France, and the Formosa 2 project in Taiwan.
In France, Saipem said it has successfully completed the transport and installation of the jacket and topside of the electrical substation for the offshore wind farm in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, France, developed by Ailes Marines, part of the Iberdrola group.
The work was carried out in two phases by the Saipem 7000 semi-submersible crane vessel. Saipem installed the 1630 tons jacket and the 3400 tons topside of the electrical substation.
The electrical High Voltage Alternative Current substation will collect the electricity produced by the 62 wind turbines @ 66 kV and raise it to 225 kV prior to export by RTE, France’s Electricity Transmission Network, via two export cables. The offshore electrical substation is expected be connected to the mainland by the first half of 2023. This is the first electrical substation to be installed in Brittany and the second in an offshore wind farm in France.
For the Formosa 2 offshore wind farm in Taiwan, Saipem has completed the scope of work for the client Jan de Nul, EPCI contractor for the project, which involved the fabrication of 32 jackets for an equivalent number of wind turbine generators. The wind farm is being developed by a partnership between Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, Swancor Renewable Energy and JERA, offshore Miaoli County on the West coast of Taiwan.
The fabrication of jackets for the Formosa 2 project marks a first for Saipem: the total fabrication, weighing in at around 50,000 tons, was executed at Saipem’s Karimun Yard in Indonesia, which had been upgraded for the purpose of wind farm developments. The last of the jackets has been loaded out and handed over for transportation and installation in Taiwan by Jan de Nul.
"With these further milestones achieved thanks to the company’s commitment and teamwork, Saipem has contributed to the accomplishment of significant steps in these Offshore Wind projects, confirming its positioning in the energy transition," Saipem said.