Van Oord has completed the installation of 62 jacket foundations at a new wind farm off the coast of Brittany.
The 496MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm is being constructed in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc, 16.3 kilometres from shore, and is the first in France with jacket foundations.
“After executing a variety of projects in France, Van Oord reached a huge milestone by completing our very first highly complex offshore wind project here,” said Ivar Daemen, project director Van Oord. “We’re proud to have contributed to France’s energy transition.”
Van Oord was contracted by Ailes Marines, part of Iberdola, to transport and install the 62 jacket foundations for the wind turbines – three pin piles each – and the four foundation pin piles of the substation.
Van Oord used its offshore installation vessel Aeolus to install the 190 pin piles and teamed up with other partners to install the jackets. Prior to installation Aeolus underwent an upgrade to make it fit for the challenging conditions in the bay.
To ensure that the Aeolus could be safely jacked above sea level, the feet of the jacking system were modified with a flex-pin construction. An innovative drilling method was used to install the foundations owing to the hard and rocky seabed.
Project-specific drills were jointly engineered and constructed with partner Bauer Spezial Tiefbau and a newly designed template functioned as a positioning and casing drilling tool to ensure precise placement of the pin piles.
