Consortium including wpd submits four projects forming the basis for a sustainable French wind energy equipment manufacturing industry with Alstom
Paris, 11 January 2012. The consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles has today submitted four robust and realistic projects in response to the French offshore wind energy call for tenders. These projects go hand in hand with a highly ambitious and balanced industrial plan to manufacture the wind turbine designed by Alstom in France that will create around 7,500 jobs.
The offshore consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles and comprising DONG Energy, Nass&Wind Offshore and wpd Offshore, with Alstom acting as its exclusive supplier, is participating in the offshore wind energy call for tenders launched by the French government in July 2011, by submitting a total of four projects for the Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Brieuc, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Fécamp sites.
Implementation of these projects is based on a highly ambitious and unique industrial plan that will create around 7,500 jobs in total. With the only wind turbine manufactured completely in France, Alstom’s ground-breaking technology would help to create a sustainable industry that will ultimately generate exports of French technology.
This balanced industrial plan will deliver economic benefits for numerous ports on the French coast. Alstom, the exclusive supplier of the next-generation 6 MW turbines that will be used by the consortium, plans to set up four plants at two sites, namely Saint-Nazaire and Cherbourg, to manufacture all the turbine’s key components, leading to the creation of around 5,000 sustainable equipment manufacturing jobs for qualified workers, including 1,000 direct jobs. In parallel, the consortium plans to set up as many as eight units to build the foundations and assemble wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire, Brest, Cherbourg and Le Havre port facilities, as well as four Operations & Maintenance centres in the local ports of La Turballe, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, Ouistreham and Fécamp. This industrial programme will also help to shape and develop the activities of a network of industrial operators and local subcontractors during construction and operation of the wind farms.
The four projects submitted by the consortium are based on wind and environmental studies conducted over a period of around four years, as well as in-depth geotechnical surveys carried out at each location to determine the characteristics of the sea bed. All this data is crucial for selecting the best technical solutions at each location and designing robust projects that are well-suited and realistic by the key project submission stage. Through its rigorous and forward-looking approach, the Consortium has gained a project development lead.
In addition, the consultation it launched some considerable time ago with local stakeholders-fishermen, municipalities, elected officials, neighbours-has already enabled it to achieve a broad consensus in favour of the projects at the four sites.
PRESS CONTACTS
wpd
Christian Schnibbe, +49 421 168 66 10 – c.schnibbe@wpd.de
ALSTOM
Jérôme Bridon: +33 (0)1 41 49 38 78 – jerome.bridon@power.alstom.com
EDF Energies Nouvelles
Clotilde Nicolas: +33 (0)1 40 90 48 02 – clotilde.nicolas@edf-en.com
Aurélia de Lapeyrouse (Brunswick): +33 (0)1 53 96 83 72
About Nass&Wind Offshore
Nass & Wind Offshore has been developing for four years an offshore wind projects portfolio that represents more than 1,000 MW. Substantial human and financial resources and a methodology based on best practices implemented in Northern Europe have allowed the company to carry out impact studies and additional technical studies necessary to ensure the technical and financial viability of the developed projects. Nass & Wind Offshore is a subsidiary of French group Nass & Wind, based in Lorient (56). For more information, please visit www.nass-et-wind.com
About wpd offshore
wpd Offshore is one of the leader of Offshore Wind in Europe, with 10GW under development and 2GW already consented.
wpd Offshore achieved last summer the construction of Baltic I WindFarm (21 WTGs, 1st German WindFarm in Baltic Sea). The group is in the procurement and construction phase for the Butendiek project (80 WTGs, Germany).
In France, wpd Offshore develops many projects since 2007. Technical and Environmental studies on these areas were key factors for the development of these projects, together with the knowledge and consideration of local stakeholders.
www.wpd-offshore.fr
About DONG Energy
DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in northern Europe. Its corporate headquarters are in Denmark. DONG Energy’s activities encompass the generation, distribution and trading of energy. During 2010, the Group generated revenues of DKK55 billion (€7.3 billion) and it has 6,000 employees. For further information, please go to www.dongenergy.com.
About EDF Energies Nouvelles
With operations in Europe and North America, EDF Energies Nouvelles is a market leader in green electricity production. With a development focused on wind energy for several years and more recently on solar photovoltaic, the Group is also present in other segments of the renewable energies market: small hydro, marine energy, biomass, biofuel and biogas. In addition, the Group is expanding in the distributed renewable energies sector. EDF Energies Nouvelles is a subsidiary of the EDF Group.
For more information, please visit www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com.
About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,500 people in some 100 countries, and had sales of €20,9 billion in 2010/11. www.alstom.com/power/
