Acta Marine announced it has signed a contract for the charter of a Construction Support Operations Vessel, the Acta Auriga, to support Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy’s commissioning activities of 71 offshore wind turbines at the Fécamp offshore wind farm and 64 offshore wind turbines at the Calvados offshore wind farm.
- The Construction Support Operation Vessel will support the commissioning of both Fécamp and Calvados offshore wind farms, respectively in 2023 and 2024;
- The Fécamp offshore wind farm will be equipped with 71 7-MW turbines and the Calvados offshore wind farm with 64 7-MW turbines; and will have an installed capacity of respectively around 500MW and 450MW.
The vessel Acta Auriga, owned and operated by the Dutch company Acta Marine will be responsible for providing safe accommodation and transportation of cargo and project personnel and tools required for turbine commissioning. Acta Auriga will begin on Fécamp, on behalf of Siemens Gamesa, in the second quarter of 2023, when the offshore wind turbine installation is expected to begin. Departing from the Port of Le Havre, the vessel will assist in the mechanical completion and commissioning of the 71 Siemens Gamesa 7-MW offshore wind turbines located between 13 km and 22km off the coast. Also scheduled for the second quarter of 2024, the vessel will provide the same service for the 64 Siemens Gamesa 7-MW turbines located between 10 km and 16 km off the coast.
Acta Marine will engage various local stakeholders in the projects and will work with local suppliers including ship agencies and port authorities.
Simon Anink, General Manager Commerce at Acta Marine comments: “Acta Marine is very excited to have been awarded these two landmark projects in French waters by Siemens Gamesa. We trust this will further strengthen the long-standing cooperation between Acta Marine and Siemens Gamesa that has been ongoing for the past several years. For France these two projects will be a great step in achieving a stronger renewable-based power supply and a further maturing of offshore wind in the region.”
The Fécamp offshore windfarm, located off the coast of Fécamp, and the Calvados offshore windfarm, located off the coast of Courseulles-sur-Mer, are both owned by EDF Renewables, E.I.H. S.à r.l, a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. and CPP Investments, and wpd. The two projects will be the third and fourth offshore commercial wind farms in France. It is a key milestone in the development of renewable energy in France and a vital step in the offshore wind sector to support France’s renewable energy goals. Commissioning is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023 for Fécamp and 2024 for Calvados.
