Pioneering Spirit has successfully completed her first assignment of a busy 2024 lift season, installation of the offshore substation (OSS) for the Eoliennes en Mer Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier wind farm project, developed by Ocean Winds (an ENGIE and EDPR joint-venture), off the Pays-de-la-Loire coast of France.
DEME contracted Allseas to install the substation jacket and topsides, transferred to Pioneering Spirit in the field and installed directly with the 5000-t crane. Earlier, DEME installed the pin piles in the rocky seabed for the OSS jacket foundation.
Completed in two days, the “lift and set down” job is a repeat of Allseas’ first project for the offshore industry, the OSS installation for the Saint-Nazaire windfarm in the Bay of Biscay in August 2021.
The Ile d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier wind farm is situated about 20 kilometres off the Atlantic Coast. The 488 MW substation will be the heart of the development, converting the energy generated by 61 turbines and transferring the electricity to the French mainland.
When complete, the offshore wind farm will produce enough energy to meet the annual electricity demands of around 800,000 people.
