ABL to support the construction of Eolmed pilot floating offshore wind project
Energy and marine consultancy ABL has been awarded the marine warranty surveyor (MWS) contract to cover the offshore construction, transportation and installation (‘T&I’) of the Eolmed floating offshore wind farm, for independent renewable energy producer Qair.
“ABL has long played an active part in France’s offshore wind development, whether as independent engineering consultant or marine warranty survey on France’s first offshore wind projects.”
Fabien Thomas, Head of MWS Services in ABL Paris
Eolmed involves the development of a pre-commercial floating offshore windfarm with a total capacity of 30MW, 66kV, 18 kilometres off the coast of Gruissan and Port-la Nouvelle, France, in the Mediterranean Sea. The farm will consist of three turbines connected to a floating electrical hub by inter-array cables at a water depth of around 60 metres.
This project was awarded to Qair by the French authorities in 2015, to test and demonstrate the efficiency of the technology and the viability of the floating wind industry.
ABL’s operations in France, headquartered in Paris, will support Qair with MWS services covering T&I operations for the turbines, dynamic cables and floating electrical hub.
“We look forward to working together with Qair and their different stakeholders to make this challenging and exciting project a reference project for French floating wind. We know that EolMed will make a significant contribution to the commercial-scale development of the French offshore wind industry and to help France to transition towards a greener future.”
Fabien Thomas
The offshore construction activities are due to start in summer 2023 with the installation of the floating electrical hub offshore Port-la Nouvelle. Once online, the wind farm will provide green energy to around 50,000 people.
ABL is part of Oslo-listed ABL Group ASA, an independent energy and marine consultancy group to the global renewables, maritime and oil and gas sectors.
*Photo credit: Ideol & V. Joncheray