France has moved closer to bringing its first floating wind power farm online after completing the installation of the Floating Electrical Hub (FEH) off Port-la-Nouvelle in the southern region. The floating wind farm is expected to go online in 2025 and cater to the energy needs of 50,000 individuals.
Wind turbine manufacturers have been constructing large turbines to tap into the strong winds over the seas. The large sweeps of the turbine blades require construction in deeper waters, further increasing the cost and difficulty of turbine installation.
Going deeper into the sea increases the construction costs of offshore wind farms, making it difficult for utilities to lower the costs of energy generated using renewable resources.
Floating wind farms
A possible solution to this problem is floating wind farms that not only allow larger wind turbines to be installed offshore but also significantly reduce construction costs.
As early as 2022, the HyWind Tampen project, off the coast of Norway, was using this technology to build the world's largest floating wind farm project. The 11-turbine project went online in November of that year but has been dedicated to offset emissions from an oil and gas production facility.
In May last year, China completed its first deep-sea floating wind farm. Equipped with 18 MW turbines, the project is estimated to generate 22 million kWh of energy annually. It requires laying a 5,000km-long undersea cable to bring the offshore generated electricity to land.
France's floating wind farm
France's floating power project is not ambitious and consists of only three turbines. A press release said that the Eolmed project is located off Gruissan and is one of the first floating wind farm projects in the Mediterranean.
Bourbon Sea Services have been tasked with the project's construction and completed a crucial step by building the FEH in the autumn of 2023. The FEH will connect the three wind turbines in the sea with the onshore cable and help bring the energy online.
The step took over a year's preparation, including planning, designing, and manufacturing the floating tower. It was then towed to the location and installed over two months using the Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) system. This also involved the use of remotely operated vehicles.
The Eolmed project aims to validate floating wind farms' technical reliability and business model. "The project also demonstrates our ability to provide our energy clients with turnkey services mobilising all the skills and assets of the group in EPCI mode, from the engineering phase to offshore installation," said Stephan Midenet, CEO at Bourbon Sea Services, in a press release.
"We are now focused on preparing the second stage of this project in which BOURBON will install the field’s three wind turbines, in 2025, and connect them to the electricity grid."