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First offshore operations for EOLINK's innovative 5MW wind turbine at the Centrale Nantes offshore test site
The Brest-based company EOLINK reached an important milestone this summer with the installation of the anchors of its 5MW floating wind turbine on the Centrale Nantes SEM-REV offshore test site, operated by the OPEN-C Foundation, off Le Croisic. These operations were carried out as part of the France-Atlantique project, for which the investment decision was made by EOLINK in November 2022.
The anchoring system consists of three anchors and three mooring lines connected to a submerged buoy; each anchor can withstand loads of up to approximately 315 tonnes.
"The operation was not easy because the anchors had to be installed in a very restricted area within the SEM-REV concession, next to other installed prototypes, as well as due to difficult weather conditions," said Alain Morry, EOLINK 's Commercial Director . "The 5 MW unit is on the technology roadmap in order to be able to respond to the commercial projects scheduled to be commissioned in 2028."
For the SEM-REV offshore test site, created by Centrale Nantes and operated by the OPEN-C Foundation, this is an important step towards hosting several floating wind turbine prototypes simultaneously. In this sense, since 2022, several investments have taken place on the site to increase its injection capacity into the network to 10MW, in particular to accommodate the EOLINK project
The France Atlantique project received in 2022 a repayable advance of €14.9 million under the France 2030 program; more specifically, the installation of the underwater anchoring system is partially financed by the European Interreg Ocean DEMO project . VALOREM and the Spanish company ACCIONA are also contributing to the project. VALOREM is notably responsible for assembling the turbines on the float and for operation and maintenance via its subsidiary VALEMO.
The 5 MW wind turbine from the French engineering company is a pre-commercial version of the 15 MW+ units that EOLINK is developing. The EOLINK concept is based on a patented four-mast pyramid structure, which leads to a foundation that is 45% lighter than with a single wind turbine mast and allows for 10% additional energy production thanks to the use of longer wind turbine blades.
For EOLINK, this installation marks the first offshore activities of the France-Atlantique project; the next offshore stage is expected in the second half of 2024 with the towing of the floating wind turbine to the SEM-REV and its connection to the French electricity grid.
