admin Due for commissioning in 2022, the wind farm will contribute towards France’s goals of 5 GW offshore wind capacity by 2030, BAUER Group, the German manufacturing company, has completed onshore piling tests at the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, off the north-west coast of France.
The 1350 mm-diameter test piles were constructed near Cap Frehel, Brittany, with the challenge of hard rocks to drill through: reportedly, these included rocks with upwards of 180 MPa strength, 60 MPa more than the company had anticipated. Each borehole was measured using laser scanners, and an extreme test load of 10 MN was introduced into the via a custom-developed load distribution system. The larger piles were loaded with internal pile testing presses type Osterberg up to 40 MN.
BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH was commissioned by Ailes Marines SAS, which is heading up construction, installation, and operation, to provide 14 onshore test piles, including load tests. Paul Scheller, Head of Underwater Foundations at BAUR Spezialtiefbau, stated: ‘The aim of the onshore tests was to obtain important skin friction values for the foundation of the planned offshore wind farm,’ adding that this was ‘the first commercial application of this type of piling worldwide.
The smooth implementation of this project would not have been possible without the excellent cooperation of the employees involved.’
Saint-Brieuc will use 26 Siemens Gamesa 8.0-167 DD turbines, and was recently one of six projects awarded European Commission funding to contribute to electricity generation.
France’s offshore wind industry is nascent but ambitious. To date, France has awarded 2.5 GW of fixed offshore wind capacity. 97 MW of floating capacity has been also awarded across four innovation sites for commissioning by 2021. 600 MW of fixed-offshore wind was awarded in 2019 as part of the round 3 Dunkirk tender with a winning bid from an EDF-led consortium of €44/MWh. Taking the dramatic cost reduction on board, the French Government has set tender targets of 1 GW per year, including fixed and floating, between 2019-2023 with commissioning from 2026-2030.
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