21 Sep 2018by David Foxwell The Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine, the first offshore unit installed off the French coast, has exported its first electricity to the grid The Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine, the first offshore unit installed off the French coast, has exported its first electricity to the grid. Connection of the export cable and a final series of tests carried out in recent days enabled Floatgen, installed 22 km off Le Croisic, to become fully operational on 18 September 2018. The turbine is also the first operational example of a floating foundation concept developed by Ideol and built, using concrete, by Bouygues Travaux Publics. A second example of a floater with an Ideol foundation will soon be operational off the coast of Japan. The French project brought together Ideol, which is responsible for the design of the floating system, including foundation, mooring system and export cable, and supplying the wind turbine; Centrale Nantes, which is providing engineering expertise and access to its offshore test site; Bouygues Travaux Publics, which built the foundation; the University of Stuttgart, which played a key role in the simulation work during the study phase; RSK Group, which was responsible for the environmental impact analysis; Zabala, which is responsible for project management; and Fraunhofer-IWES, which undertook comparative analysis of the different floating solutions. The project is supported by the European Union as part of the FP7 programme, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency and by the Pays de la Loire region. France, which has lagged behind other European countries in implementing bottom-fixed offshore windfarms, aims to become a leader in floating wind energy.
The first offshore wind turbine to be put into operation in French waters has produced and exported power to the grid. The Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine, 22 km offshore Le Croisic, started operations on 18 September. In a press release from EDF, it said that the project was part of its strategy for “energy independence” by 2050.