France Launches First Offshore Wind Power Project

LOC Renewables supplied MWS across the project, which enabled an efficient and successful delivery of the 2MW Floatgen.

LOC Renewables, a part of LOC Group, a leading international marine and engineering consulting firm, has successfully overseen the launch of France’s first offshore wind project.

LOC Renewables supplied marine warranty surveying services (MWS) across the project, which enabled an efficient and successful delivery of the 2MW Floatgen. The project is both France’s first offshore wind turbine and its first launch of the full-scale floating wind turbine.

The Floatgen Demonstrator wind energy project, led by Ideol and involving 6 other European partners (Centrale Nantes, Bouygues Travaux Publics, University of Stuttgart, RSK, Zabala, Fraunhofer), is designed to show the technical and economic feasibility of the multi-megawatt integrated floating wind turbine system, opening up a route to future developments with decreased, competitive electricity generation costs, which may soon match those of bottom-fixed offshore wind.

Hugues Delanoue, Managing Director of LOC France, said, “This Floatgen project could be the first step of a significant success story for France, which has already awarded four offshore floating wind pilot projects. With its larger potential capacity, floating offshore wind is at the forefront of a new wave of renewables technologies that will shake up the energy mix in France and wider Europe.”

For Ideol, LOC offered MWS services for a variety of activities, from concrete floater construction and launch to turbine component integration, mooring line hook-up and turbine tow-out. In order to accomplish this, LOC brought their considerable marine engineering expertise to the local market, working with firms more used to coastal work and shore construction to guide the efficient build of Floatgen to keep risks low and ensure a successful installation.

“The MWS provided by LOC Renewables can ensure smooth, safe and quick operations, particularly when new projects and technologies such as floating wind can require delicate operations that may be unfamiliar to local project teams. Bringing our engineering expertise to floating wind has allowed us to deliver this ground-breaking project with carefully-managed costs and minimal complications,” Delanoue added.