Iberdrola crowns its Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm in French waters
Iberdrola has commissioned Saint-Brieuc, the second offshore wind farm in France and the first in Brittany. As 28 May 2024, the 62 wind turbines, which at 8 MW are the most powerful installed in an offshore wind farm in France, totalling 496 MW in total, are already operational and are feeding 100% renewable and emission-free energy into the national grid.
Located 16.2 km off the Breton coast, Saint-Brieuc produces about 1,820 GWh/year (gigawatt hours per year), enough to produce 1,820 GWh/year of renewable and emission-free energy, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 people, or more than the population of Valencia, or 9% of Brittany's total electricity consumption.
The total investment in the park, whose development began in 2012, amounts to 2.4 billion euros, financed entirely by Iberdrola. Since the start of the project, Saint-Brieuc has been a driver of development for the region, boosting local businesses and the country's offshore wind industry. Its development and construction have mobilised more than 1,700 jobs in France, more than 500 of them in Brittany.
A strong Spanish stamp
Saint-Brieuc has a strong Spanish stamp. All its jackets, i.e. the platforms that support the offshore wind turbines, were built and assembled entirely by Navantia-Windar in Fene (A Coruña), where a 1,600-tonne crawler crane was installed for the final assembly. In addition, the 124 piles of the park were also built in Avilés. The pieces have a diameter of 2.6 metres and measure between 18 and 47 metres, weighing 150 tonnes each.
With a value of 350 million euros, it was the largest offshore wind contract in the history of the shipping company. To carry it out, more than 2,000 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs were created. In addition, Navantia-Windar at its plant in Brest, France, manufactured the 186 stabbings and intermediate platforms of the transition pieces, and the lattice structure for 34 of the 62 structures of the wind farm.
Leader in offshore wind
Two decades ago, Iberdrola was a pioneer in onshore wind energy, and now it is also a pioneer in offshore wind, one of the company's major growth vectors. By the end of 2023, Iberdrola had 1,793 MW offshore installed and 3,000 MW to come on stream by 2027 thanks to major investments around the world.
Within the company's renewables portfolio, offshore wind plays a strategic role thanks to the growth experienced over the last 10 years and the solid project portfolio.
Saint-Brieuc is the fourth offshore wind farm developed, built and operated by Iberdrola in the world, after West of Duddon Sands (Irish Sea, 389 MW), Wikinger (Baltic Sea, 350 MW) and East Anglia One (North Sea, 714 MW), which is part of the East Anglia Hub complex, which, in turn, with three projects will have a total installed capacity of 2,900 MW.
Iberdrola has also begun construction of Baltic Eagle (476 MW) in Germany, East Anglia 3 (1.4 GW) in the UK and Vineyard Wind 1 (806 MW), the first offshore wind farm in the US.
Commitment to France
Iberdrola operates 11 onshore wind projects in France, with a total installed capacity of 118 MW. As for its onshore activities, the company is developing a portfolio of wind and photovoltaic projects of more than 1.2 GW at various stages of development, from Paris and its regional offices in Lyon, Nantes, Nancy, Bordeaux, Limoges and Marseille. As for its offshore activities, the company has completed the installation of the 496 MW Brittany offshore wind farm.
