Offshore Wind Energy (Saint-Brieuc)

We are living in a historic moment in renewable energy; a determined commitment to clean energy production can help combat climate change and ensure that our world will have better longevity and sustainability. The nation with the most nuclear power plants in Europe, France, is building its first commercial offshore wind farm off the coast of Brittany in Saint-Brieuc (up until now, the machines that had reached its waters had been prototypes that various companies were testing). It has a production capacity of 496 MW and 62 wind turbines with an annual production of 1,820 GWh, the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of some 835,000 people, and is to be located across an area of 75 km².

It is no coincidence that the Brittany region is a land of strong winds and high tides, characteristics that have always determined the landscape, economy and life in the region. With the idea of harnessing its full energy potential, the company conceived the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm as the first large-scale offshore wind project in Brittany and one of the first in France to obtain all the necessary permits from the authorities for its construction and operation.

SOLUTION BY DELVALE ENGINEERING TEAM

This installation poses numerous challenges that we must solve: firstly an area of high stress, subjecting the electrical cabinets to strong air currents and salinity from the sea, in addition to the fact that as they are not easily accessible, they have to be controlled remotely or at least require minimal physical intervention. This is something that we achieve with 316 stainless steel enclosures equipped with molybdenum. In addition to all the components of stainless steel: iron, carbon, chromium and nickel, molybdenum drastically improves corrosion resistance, especially in the most saline or chloride-exposed environments, such as in this case