Following recent news of DEME, the other Belgian offshore contractor, Jan de Nul, has now also signed its first contract for the French renewables market. Through its French subsidiary, Sodraco International SAS, the company will install the 80 turbines for the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm.

The contract was awarded by Parc du Banc de Guérande, a joint venture between the French renewable energy company EDF Renewables and the Canadian energy infrastructure company Enbridge.

The Saint-Nazaire wind farm is located in the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, nearly 12 kilometres from the coast and lies on top of the Banc de Guérande seabed formation. The wind farm will consist of 80 General Electric (GE) wind turbines and have a total capacity of 480 MW, which equals 20% of the Loire-Atlantique’s electricity consumption needs.

Jan de Nul is the second large Belgian offshore contractor to be contracted for the development of France’s first offshore wind farm. End of August, DEME announced it had won the EPCI-contract. In a consortium with Eiffage Métal, DEME will design, build and install the foundations for the 80 wind turbines. DEME’s contract has a total value of EUR 500 million. Jan de Nul did not disclose the value of its contract.

The turbine installation works are planned to kick off in spring 2022 and will be finalized by the end of 2022.