Eolmed Floating Wind Farm Starts Taking Shape in Mediterranean Sea

Bourbon Subsea Services has installed a floating electrical hub (FEH) at the Eolmed floating offshore wind farm in France, completing the first stage of the 30 MW project.

The FEH for the pilot floating farm was installed off Portla-Nouvelle in southern France in fall 2023.

This project will involve three 10 MW-rated wind turbines, supplied by Vestas, that will be capable of producing more than 110 million kWh/year by 2025, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 50,000 inhabitants.

The FEH will be connected to the three wind turbines on one side and the shore connection cable on the other, enabling the transportation of electricity to the power grid.

Towing and installation took place over a period of two months and involved the use of an anchor handling tug supply (AHTS), the Bourbon Liberty 222, equipped with a Bourbon remotely operated vehicles.

The Eolmed project, led by the renewable energy company Qair and partners TotalEnergies and BW Ideol, is one of the first floating wind farm projects in the Mediterranean.

Stephan Midenet, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services, said: “The project demonstrates our ability to provide our energy clients with turnkey services mobilizing all the skills and assets of the group in EPCI mode, from the engineering phase to offshore installation.

We are now focused on preparing the second stage of this project in which Bourbon will install the field’s three wind turbines, in 2025, and connect them to the electricity grid.”

In mid-2023, subsea cable maker JDR Cable Systems won a contract to deliver, test and terminate the 66kV dynamic inter-array cables the Eolmed project.

JDR will design and manufacture the 66kV dynamic cables, with the cable cores being produced at its parent company TFK’s Bydgoszcz plant in Poland.

Following final assembly and testing to be conducted at JDR’s facility in Hartlepool, UK, Bourbon Offshore Gaïa will transport and install the cables and accessories between the 10 MW floating wind turbines and Eolmed floating electrical hub, the companies said earlier.