General framework of the activity
The company Éoliennes en mer Îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier was designated in June 2014 winner of the call for the construction, installation and operation of an offshore wind farm off the Islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier.
Its shareholders are Engie (47%), EDP Renewables (43%) and Groupe Caisse des Dépôts (10%). Siemens Gamesa is its industrial partner, in charge of manufacturing wind turbines.
Specific skills in the MRE field
The offshore wind project of the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier provides for the installation of 62 wind turbines with a unit capacity of 8 MW over an area of 83 km2
The wind farm will be located 11.7 km from the island of Yeu and 16.5 km from Noirmoutier, on a seabed depth ranging from 19 meters to 36 meters.
With a total capacity of 496 MW, the farm should produce an average of 1900 GWh per year, which represents the annual electricity consumption of approximately 790,000 people, ie more than the entire population of “Vendée”.
The 8 MW wind turbine
The wind turbines will be designed and built by Siemens Gamesa.
With blades of 81 m, the 8 MW wind turbine allows an optimal adaptation to the Franch coasts winds. The rotation starts when the wind speed is greater than 11 km / h. The wind turbines operate at full power from around 40 km / h, and stop automatically when the wind exceeds 108 km / h. Based on the wind pattern over the project area, wind turbines will run about 90% of the time, and will run at full power 40% of the year.