Press release
The electrical substation of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm has been successfully installed
Pleudaniel / Lézardrieux / Saint-Brieuc / Paris - 08 July 2022 -
● Ailes Marines, a company wholly owned by the Iberdrola Group, announces the complete installation of the electrical substation (OSS) of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm.
● Saipem installed the foundation and the electrical substation at sea, the first in Brittany.
● This is the second substation installed on an offshore wind farm in France.
● "By the end of 2023, the Côtes d'Armor department, with the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, will be the leading contributor of renewable energy in Brittany, producing the equivalent of 9% of the Region's total electricity consumption. "Emmanuel Rollin, Iberdrola's Director of Offshore France, was delighted.
July
Saipem 7000 vessel installs Brittany's first offshore electrical substation
Saipem has installed the first offshore electrical substation in Brittany. This is the second substation installed on an offshore wind farm in France.
This unusual installation operation was carried out by the Saipem 7000, one of the largest lifting vessels in the world, belonging to the Italian company Saipem. This crane ship has the capacity and technology particularly suited to this type of operation.
The substation was installed in two stages. After the installation of the jacket foundation (1630 tons) on its 4 piles, the topside (3400 tons) was installed on its foundation during the night of July 6.
The OSS, a key part of the wind farm
The substation is made up of two separately manufactured elements assembled at sea: the lower part, the "jacket" foundation, fixed to the seabed by piles, and the upper part, the "topside", which houses all the electrical equipment
The foundation of the electrical substation is 63 metres high and weighs a total of 1,630 tons. The topside is 55 metres long, 31 metres wide and 23 metres high, with a total weight of approximately 3,400 tons.
Smulders (a subsidiary of Eiffage Métal) carried out the engineering and manufacturing of the jacket foundation and the steel structure of the topside
Equans designed and equipped the low voltage electrical part of the topside, including the auxiliary systems and the integration of the medium and high voltage equipment supplied by GE Grid Solutions.
Equans designed and equipped the low voltage electrical part of the topside, including the auxiliary systems and the integration of the medium and high voltage equipment supplied by GE Grid Solutions.
Connection to the electricity grid operational in 2023
Technicians from Equans and Smulders will be working on the OSS to commission it. Once operational, the fully automated substation will be remotely controlled and monitored. Technicians will be available for maintenance operations via personnel vessels.
The substation will collect the electricity produced by the 62 wind turbines by raising the voltage through power transformers. The electricity will then be transported by Réseau de Transport d'Electricité (RTE) via two export cables with a voltage of 225 kV.
The connection by Réseau de Transport d'Electricité (RTE) of the electrical substation to the export cables to the mainland will be operational before the installation of the wind turbines planned for 2023.
Emmanuel Rollin, Director of Offshore France at Iberdrola, was pleased with this achievement: "With the successful installation of the electrical substation, the Saint-Brieuc wind farm is now more than ever at sea. This operation, which was completed in a relatively short timeframe, is a testament to the expertise and commitment of all the teams at Ailes Marines, its contractors and local stakeholders, who have been involved in the development and implementation of this ambitious project for over 10 years. By the end of 2023, the Côtes d'Armor department, with the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, will be the leading contributor of renewable energy in Brittany, producing the equivalent of 9% of the region's total electricity consumption. "
All informations concerning the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm project developed by Ailes Marines are available on the website www.ailes-marines.bzh
You can follow Ailes Marines news on twitter @AilesMarines

About Ailes Marines
- 75 km2 in area
- 62 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD 8 MW wind turbines
- 496 MW of installed capacity
- 1,820 GWh/year of production, i.e. the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants (including heating)
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