The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €350 million credit line to a consortium made up of EDF Renouvelables, Enbridge and wpd to co-finance the construction of a wind farm off the coast of Courseulles-sur-Mer in France. This financing will be guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, a pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
Totalling an estimated €2 billion, the project involves the construction of 64 wind turbines located over 10 km off the French coast. With a capacity of 450 MW, the wind farm is expected to enter service in 2024. Construction is expected to last three and a half years and will create over 1,000 direct jobs in Normandy, particularly in Le Havre where the wind turbines will be manufactured and assembled in a Siemens Gemesa factory currently being built. During the life of the wind farm, the project will enable the creation of around 100 long-term jobs at the port of Caen-Ouistreham for maintenance operations.
“This second financing of an offshore wind farm in Normandy confirms that our transformation into the EU climate bank is picking up speed,” says Ambroise Fayolle, vice president of EIB. “This operation consolidates our expertise in fixed and floating offshore wind turbines like other projects that we are financing elsewhere in Europe.”
In 2020, the EIB co-financed France’s largest offshore wind farm project off the coast of Fécamp (also in Normandy) in a consortium of the same organizations. This financing is also guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
Photo by @yakobusan Jakob Montrasio is licensed under CC BY 2.0
