Eiffage to make transition pieces for Yeu-Noirmoutier offshore wind project

French infrastructure company Eiffage SA (EPA:FGR) said on Wednesday that it had secured a contract to manufacture 62 transition pieces for the 496-MW Yeu-Noirmoutier offshore wind farm project off the west coast of France.

The consortium leading the project awarded the job to Eiffage Metal and Eiffage’s subsidiary Smulders.

Each transition piece will measure 29.5 metres (96.8 ft) in height and 6 metres in diameter, and weigh over 360 tonnes including the secondary steel structures. Eiffage’s companies will make the secondary steel elements at the Smulders factory in Poland. Next, they will be transported to Belgium where the transition pieces will be assembled in Hoboken.

Production is expected to begin in the spring of 2023. Eiffage plans a staged release from the factory between early and mid-2024, it said.

The wind farm will be located off the shores of the Yeu and Noirmoutier islands. The site will feature 62 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, which are expected to generate about 1,900 GWh per year.

Commissioning is scheduled for 2025.

The Yeu-Noirmoutier consortium includes the Ocean Winds joint venture, Japan’s Sumitomo Corp (TYO:8053), French financial institution Caisse des Depots Group through La Banque des Territoires, and Vendee Energie, a semi-public company from the Vendee department in western France.

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