Spanish renewable energy company said Thursday that its first French offshore wind farm has officially started supplying electricity to the grid.
Electricity from the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm has started feeding into the grid in Brittany for the first time, as the wind farm is connected to the national electricity grid managed by RTE.
The project is Iberdrola’s first in France, and only the second offshore wind project to produce power in the country, after the Saint Nazaire offshore wind farm became fully operational in November 2022.
The electricity production Iberdrola's Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm will increase as all 62 Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines are installed and commissioned in the months ahead.
Ultimately, the project will produce 9% of Brittany's total electricity consumption.
"It is with great pride that we have started producing clean energy from the first wind turbines in the project. This is a landmark moment, following 12 years of hard work to deliver this mega-scale project, which contributes both to the energy security of Brittany and to the energy transition, a key element in the battle against climate change," said Emmanuel Rollin, CEO of Iberdrola France.
The electricity produced is collected by the offshore electrical substation located in the center of the offshore wind farm.
It is transported by two subsea export cables with a voltage of 225 kV installed by RTE (Réseau de Transport d'Électricité) to Caroual beach, in Erquy. Electricity is connected to the grid via the Doberie substation located in Hénansal (Côtes-d'Armor).
The project will produce about 1,820 GWh/year, which corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants (including heating) or 9% of Brittany's total electricity consumption. Once fully commissioned, the territory of Côtes-d'Armor (600 000 inhabitants) will produce more energy than it consumes domestically, Iberdrola said.
In May 2022, the French Government signed an offshore sector deal with France’s wind industry. The agreement recognized that offshore wind was a major energy and industrial opportunity and commited France to build 40 GW of offshore wind by 2050 spread over 50 wind farms.
To reach this goal, France plans to organize auctions for at least 2 GW of new offshore wind capacity each year starting in 2025.