Dieppe Le Tréport offshore wind farm reaches Final Investment Decision and starts construction
Thursday 27 April 2023
Ocean Winds, Sumitomo Corporation, and la Banque des Territoires as shareholders of the company “Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport” (EMDT), announced the final investment decision for the Dieppe Le Tréport project, the sixth fixed bottom offshore wind farm to be commissioned in France from 2026 and located off the coast in the English Channel.
The project involves the construction and installation of an offshore wind farm located 15 km off the Tréport city and 17 km off Dieppe city. The 62 wind turbines will supply 850,000 people with electricity each year, the equivalent of 2/3 of the inhabitants of Seine-Maritime, or more than all the inhabitants of the Somme department.
The Dieppe Le Tréport wind farm represents an investment of around €2.7 billion. The signing of all the financing agreements took place on April 26th, 2023.
Nine years of development
Winner in 2014 of the call for tenders launched by the State in 2013, the project has been developing since then, in a constant commitment to dialogue with local elected officials, fishermen and users of the sea, socio-economic actors and the general public.. Detailed engineering studies, environmental studies and the creation of a Scientific Interest Group to follow-up and accompany the environmental impacts of the wind farm, from its construction to its exploitation, have also been carried out. The administrative authorisations were obtained in 2019 and the appeals were lifted before the French courts at the end of last year.
Start of the construction phase
The final investment decision opens the way for the manufacturing and construction phase of the project.
From 2024, maritime work will start by the installation of the piles. At the same time, RTE, which is responsible for the connection of the wind farm, will set up a double submarine connection to transfer the electricity generated at sea to the onshore grid. The installation of the jackets and the electrical substation built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire will follow in 2025. DEME will be responsible for the transport and installation of the foundations, the substation and the construction, transport and installation of the inter array cables in 2026.
The wind turbines, produced by Siemens Gamesa in its Le Havre facility, will be installed by Jan de Nul Group during 2026.
The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2026.
The construction phase of the EMDT wind farm, which will last 3 years, will create 1,300 direct jobs in France. It will contribute to the development of the French offshore wind energy industry.