General framework of the activity
Valeco, a subsidiary of EnBW, is a developer of renewable energy projects. The company, employs more than 230 people spread over 10 agencies in France. Valeco acts along the whole value chain of its projects, from their very first development until their dismantling. As of today, Valeco operates more than 515MW of renewable energy power plants in France.
Specific skills in the MRE field
Within Valeco and EnBW, more than 200 collaborators are working on making our offshore wind farms reality. We benefit from a strong experience acquired thanks to 4 bottom-fixed offshore wind farms currently in operation in Germany (for a total capacity of 945MW). Furthermore, EnBW is developing 3,9GW of fixed offshore wind :
- He Dreiht, 900MW in the North sea, which is the first German project authorized without subsidies,
- 3GW recently awarded in February 2021 in the UK.
Finally, our French team based in Nantes and Montpellier are working closely to our projects in order to establish tight relationship with the main local stakeholders.
Test facilities applicable to MRE
In 2019, Valeco EnBW, became the owner of the offshore test site Mistral, located in the Mediterranean sea. This test site is granted with an authorization for the installation of two floating offshore wind turbines. This project represents a unique opportunity to test innovative technologies related to Marine Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean offshore conditions.
EnBW is involved in the development of an innovative floating wind concept, together with the North German engineering company Aerodyn: Nezzy². A prototype of this multi-rotor concept (scale 1:10) has been tested in Germany: firstly in a flooded gravel pit near Bremerhaven and then in the Baltic Sea in real wind and wave conditions.
The tests have shown that the prototype is now ready to be tested in the sea on a full-size scale. The 1:10 scale model has now been dismantled and the recorded data will be further evaluated. The findings will then be incorporated in the design of the 1:1 scale model, which is set to be tested in China in 2022.
Projects in MRE
Our offshore wind strategy in France combines 2 axes:
- The development of the Mistral test site, and install a floating offshore wind demonstrator;
- Be part and win the future commercial auctions on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.