The contract to manufacture the foundations for Iberdrola’s offshore wind farm off the coast of Saint-Brieuc is progressing according to plan at Navantia Fene’s facilities.
As of today, 15 of the 62 jackets that make up the project are already completed in the storage area, ‘in the process of the testing phase for delivery to the end customer before the ‘load out’ of the jackets, which will begin in the summer window of 2022′.
According to Iberdola’s plans and the Navantia-Windar joint venture, the wind farm will begin its installation process during the second half of next year.
The project, as it was announced at the time, has a great particularity, and that is the commitment to local contracting for its development. Some of the main components of 34 of the units are being manufactured in France – as well as some secondary components for all the jackets – and transported to the Perlío facilities for the intermediate and final assembly phases.
The rest, some 28 units, will be manufactured at the Fene shipyard, to which should be added the piles that hold the foundations to the seabed, which are built by Windar in Avilés.
To date, this is the largest contract in the history of the Navantia-Windar joint venture, with more than 60 Spanish and as many French companies involved.
This challenge, however, “has become an opportunity” both for the joint venture and for Navantia itself. On the one hand, both the naval group and its main contractor, Nervión Industries, have set up permanent establishments in France, while Windar has opened a subsidiary. Iberdrola, on the other hand, has established itself as Navantia’s main customer and one of the European leaders in offshore wind power.
DIARIO DE FERROL
