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Work begins on the first French floating wind farm in the Mediterranean

Work has begun on the creation of the first French floating wind farm in the Gulf of Lion, off the coast of Leucate and Le Barcarès.

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The Réseau de transport d’électricité (RTE) has announced that work on the creation of the first French floating wind farm began last Sunday in Le Barcarès, in the Pyrenees-Orientales. The Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion project includes three floating wind turbines and is to be installed 18 km off the coast of Leucate and Le Barcarès.

The first stage of work at sea for RTE

Last Sunday, RTE launched a “sheath”, a tube that protects part of the underwater electrical cable that will connect the wind farm to the land cable. According to an RTE spokeswoman, the sleeve avoids work on the beach, which is in a protected area. The connection between the submarine electric cable that will link the wind farm to the terrestrial network will be made on the coast, within a “junction chamber”, a “buried masonry concrete box” a few meters from the beach.

The submarine electric cable intended to ensure a 63,000 volt link will be installed in the sheath in a second phase. About thirty people are mobilized for the realization of this work, said the operator in a statement. The first ground work, consisting of digging a borehole for the installation of the sheath, was launched in February on this site.

Commissioning of the wind turbines planned for late 2023/early 2024

The April-May period should see the completion of the junction chamber while the submarine cable intended to ensure a link to 63,000 volts, must be installed “during the second half of 2023”, said the spokeswoman of RTE. The commissioning of the wind turbines is scheduled for “late 2023/early 2024”, according to RTE.

An important project for the energy transition

This project is a step forward for the energy transition in France, which is seeking to increase its production of renewable electricity to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Floating wind turbines produce electricity at sea, where the winds are stronger and more regular than on land, and they are not visible from the coast.

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