Major milestone achieved! The first electrical offshore substation (OSS) in France successfully sailed away from St Nazaire in France and was installed on its jacket 12 km from the coast, on August 18th. The sheer size of this electrical substation is impressive - with its total weight approximately equivalent to the London Eye, (also known as the London Millennium Wheel), or about 280 adult African elephants - imagine that!

GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions’ AC Systems division, responsible for turnkey projects at its site in St. Priest (France), designed and integrated the high and medium voltage systems for this project. The systems include five 220 kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) from Aix-les-Bains (France), two 220/33 kV transformers manufactured in Monchengladbach (Germany), two SCADA systems developed in Montpellier (France) as well as one 33 kV GIS and a telecommunications system.

In terms of the consortium partners’ activities: DEME Offshore carried out the transport and installation of the OSS, including the offshore pre-piling works. Chantiers de l’Atlantique is responsible for the topside and jacket foundation design, manufacturing, and commissioning. GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions is responsible for the high voltage electrical equipment and protection control systems design, manufacturing and commissioning.

The electrical substation for Saint Nazaire’s offshore wind farm will be connected to 80 Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines manufactured by GE Renewable Energy.

“With this major milestone delivered to our customer, GE’s Grid Solutions demonstrates once again its domain expertise to integrate turnkey high voltage electrical systems for the Alternating Current (A/C) offshore market. Moreover, GE reaffirms its position as a leading provider of solutions for this sector, with a dedicated focus on the development of turnkey solutions in Europe and worldwide for our valued customers,” said Johan Bindele, AC Systems Business Leader at GE’s Grid Solutions.  

More about Parc Eolien en mer de St Nazaire:

The Parc Eolien en mer de St Nazaire is the first offshore windfarm France. It will have a capacity of 480 MW, with the ability to power 20% of the Department Loire Atlantique. This project is a key milestone based on France’s energy roadmap, targeting 32% renewables within its total energy consumption. The Parc Eolien en mer de St Nazaire project is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2022.

This project was awarded in 2019 to a consortium including Atlantique Offshore Energy, the business unit of Chantiers de l’Atlantique dedicated to Renewable Marine Energies, DEME Group’s French subsidiary SDI, Chantiers de l’Atlantique and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions. The 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind project is being developed by EDF Renouvelables and EIH S.à r.l, an indirect subsidiary of Enbridge Inc., and CPP Investments.