The works
Information for sea users & local residents
Work on the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm
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Find out about financial compensation measures
The main phases of construction
Active work zones in 2023
Sequencing of works aimed at reducing the impact of the project on fishing activity
Order No. 2023/028 in force
Open part of the concession
- R Navigation authorized
- R Fishing authorized
Work zone
- Q Ban on anchoring, fishing and any underwater activity
Stages of work on the active area
From March 2022
Step 1: Preliminary work
A detailed mapping of the site was carried out before the work, with the use of underwater robots, to identify the last pieces of debris/rock blocks that would need to be moved a few tens of meters. Following this step, the protective layers, called “anti-scour” (small blocks of a few tens of cm), are installed when necessary. These protections aim to stabilize the substrate either for the installation phase, under the feet of ships and equipment, or for the operation phase in order to avoid scouring of the structures.
Step 2: Installing the foundation piles
The 190 piles were transported in 2021 and temporarily stored in Cherbourg. They are transferred to the construction site gradually by a specialized vessel. The Aeolus, a construction ship, drills the holes which will receive the piles. These are then inserted into the holes and sealed into the ground.
Step 3: Installing the foundations (Jackets type)
After having been partly built in Brest, and assembled in Fene (Spain), the jackets will be transported on cargo barges towed by an ocean tug. Once on site, the jackets are put in place by a dedicated vessel which will fit the legs of the jacket into the previously installed piles.
Step 4: Installation of the electrical substation
The electrical substation will be transported by two convoys from Antwerp. The first will transport the jacket, the second the electrical substation module. The “Saipem 7000” vessel, one of the largest in the world for this type of operation, will install the elements on the piles which were previously installed in 2021. The operations include the installation and sealing of the jacket on the 4 piles provided for this purpose, the lifting operation of the substation module, the fixing of the elements by welding, as well as the commissioning of the substation components.
Step 5: Installing the Cables
Ailes Marines has set itself the objective of burying all of the cables in order to ensure maximum maritime safety in the park for sea users, including professional fishermen. The particularly difficult site conditions (very hard rocks, numerous boulders, dolerite veins, etc.) require complex work in several stages. The 2021 campaign focused on pre-trenching operations, that is to say the opening of a trench to install the electrical cable later. The 2022 campaign aims to install part of the cables.
Step 6: Presence on site
All of these activities are carried out by many vessels. At the peak of the project, there will be more than 20 vessels on site: approximately 4 for pile installation operations (transfer, drilling, moving rock blocks, stabilization of the substrate), 6 for jacket-type foundations ( tugs, barges, installation vessel), 3 for the cables (laying, cutting, work on the jackets), 7 for the substation (transport, installation, commissioning).
To learn more about the previous steps
Work already carried out in 2021
Step 1
The Aeolus installation boat arrives at a site at the Saint-Brieuc wind farm.
2nd step
The Aeolus rises several meters above the water using its self-elevating system.
Step 3
Lifting of the drilling template using the crane and a specific lifting tool, and positioning on the seabed.
Step 4
Positioning the drilling template on the seabed.
Step 5
The supply boat transports the piles and concrete to the Saint-Brieuc field.
Step 6
The three temporary formworks are lifted using the Aeolus crane and inserted into the drilling template.
Step 7
The drills are in turn inserted into the formwork.
Step 8
Once the depth is reached, the drills are removed from the formwork.
Step 9
The three piles are lifted in turn and inserted into the temporary formwork.
Step 10
The sealing is carried out while removing the temporary formwork using the drilling template.
Step 11
Finally, the drilling template is retrieved and stored on board the Aeolus.
At the end of the first phase of work, the AEOLUS vessel carried out drilling on 5 wind turbine locations and on the location of the electrical substation. A total of 19 drillings were carried out by the ship, three-quarters of which were at the desired depth objective. The piles were installed in three positions, those of the SB30 and SB26 wind turbines and that of the electrical substation.
The main nautical resources mobilized
From 2021 to today, more than 67 nautical resources have been mobilized on the site of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm.
AEOLUS
🇳🇴
Activity: Pile drilling
Size: 140m x 45m
IMO: 9612636
MMSI. : 245179000
AETHRA
🇨🇾
Activity: Pre-slicing
Size: 95m x 22m
IMO: 9181481
MMSI. : 212466000
ARIADNE
🇬🇷
Activity: Cable laying
Size: 130m x 25m
IMO: 9413535
MMSI. : 241760000
BRAVE TERN
🇲🇹
Activity: Installation of wind turbines
Size: 131.7mx 39m
IMO: 9583782
MMSI. : 229044000
AEOLUS
🇳🇴
Activity: Pile drilling
Size: 140m x 45m
IMO: 9612636
MMSI. : 245179000
GMS ENDEAVOR
🇵🇦
Activity: Commissioning of the electrical substation
Size: 84m x 36m
IMO: 9558983
MMSI. : 370582000
AETHRA
🇨🇾
Activity: Pre-slicing
Size: 95m x 22m
IMO: 9181481
MMSI. : 212466000
SAIPEM 7000
🇧🇸
Activity: Installation of electrical substation
Size: 197.95mx 87m
IMO: 8501567
MMSI. : 309461000
ARIADNE
🇬🇷
Activity: Cable laying
Size: 130m x 25m
IMO: 9413535
MMSI. : 241760000
SEVEN BOREALIS
🇧🇸
Activity: Jacket Lifting
Size: 182m
IMO: 9452787
MMSI. : 311031900
BRAVE TERN
🇲🇹
Activity: Installation of wind turbines
Size: 131.7mx 39m
IMO: 9583782
MMSI. : 229044000
GMS ENDEAVOR
🇵🇦
Activity: Commissioning of the electrical substation
Size: 84m x 36m
IMO: 9558983
MMSI. : 370582000
SAIPEM 7000
🇧🇸
Activity: Installation of electrical substation
Size: 197.95mx 87m
IMO: 8501567
MMSI. : 309461000
SEVEN BOREALIS
🇧🇸
Activity: Jacket Lifting
Size: 182m
IMO: 9452787
MMSI. : 311031900
Site logistics
Harbor Factory
750 jobs mobilized for the construction of Siemens Gamesa wind turbines.
Brest Polder
Construction of jacket-type foundation components by the Navantia-Windar Joint Venture.
The main companies in the work zone
Lézardrieux & Kerantour
I&C (Installation & Commissioning)
Base for construction monitoring and personnel transport.
Saint Brieuc
Regional office of the company Ailes Marines
Ailes Marines SAS
19 bis, boulevard Clémenceau
22000 Saint-Brieuc
The Saint-Brieuc wind farm
Foundations:
Installation by Van Oord.
Electrical substations:
Installation by Saipem
Cherbourg
The pile storage area
Jack Up Ship - Aeolus
Installation of piles
The distribution of work between Ailes Marines & RTE
To find out more about the electrical connection of the wind farm, go to the RTE website
The location of the park and the fishing zones
The wind farm and fishing
Financial compensation measures
A limited impact on fishing zones during the construction phase and a set of measures taken to make the wind farm compatible with the maintenance of fishing activities during the operating phase
The wind farm is not located from a geographical or geomorphological point of view in the 800 km2 of the Bay of Saint Brieuc, but off the coast of it.
- The positioning of the project avoids the most productive areas of the bay of Saint-Brieuc (Impact study on the fishing sector carried out by the independent study office Océanic Développement in 2011).
- Little fishing activity in the project area, particularly in the north (Commission Nautique Locale 2016).
- From a spatial point of view, the wind farm represents approximately 2% of the ICES 26E7 fisheries statistical rectangle.
Study zone : | |
Park location area | |
From a spatial point of view, the wind field represents a little more than 3% of the whelk fishing zones in the entire Bay of Saint-Brieuc, i.e.: 1% of zone A 6% of zone B 0% of zone C |
Limit of scallop shell beds. | |
Study zone : | |
Park location area | |
Maritime limits: | |
Maritime border between France and UK. | |
The location of the project completely excludes the wind farm from the “Main Field” and the most productive fishing areas of the Bay. We can therefore estimate that the spatial footprint of the wind farm represents less than 1.5% of the production of scallops in the entire Bay. |
- The entire park is in the "offshore deposit" and therefore completely excludes the wind farm from the "Main deposit" of scallops.
- Production from the offshore field represents approximately 15% of the overall production of the Bay of Saint Brieuc (CNL 2016). The spatial footprint of the project represents 6% of the "offshore" deposit.
- We can therefore estimate that the wind farm represents less than 1.5% of the production of scallops in the entire Bay.