Spanish energy company Iberdrola has announced the start of green energy production from its 496MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France.
The first electricity generated from the French offshore wind farm has been connected into the country’s national electricity grid by its manager, Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE).
Located in the Saint-Brieuc Bay, 16km off the coast of Brittany, the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm covers a surface area of around 75 km2.
Built with an investment of €2.4bn, the French offshore wind project features 62 wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 8MW.
The Saint-Brieuc project will generate 1,820GWh per year of clean power for 835,000 people. This is equivalent to 9% of Brittany’s total electricity consumption.
The electricity generated from the Saint-Brieuc facility is gathered by the offshore electrical substation built at the centre of the wind farm. It is then transported by two subsea export cables with a voltage of 225kV that were laid by RTE in Caroual beach, in Erquy.
According to Iberdrola, the electricity is connected into the grid through the Doberie substation located in Hénansal commune in the Côtes-d’Armor department.
Iberdrola France CEO Emmanuel Rollin said: “It is with great pride that we have started producing clean energy from the first wind turbines in the project.
“This is a landmark moment, following 12 years of hard work to deliver this mega-scale project, which contributes both to the energy security of Brittany and to the energy transition, a key element in the battle against climate change.”
The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm is Iberdrola’s first French offshore wind farm and fourth offshore wind project of the Spanish energy company in Europe.
Earlier this year, Iberdrola announced the completion of the first phase of construction of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm.
