EOLMED: CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON THE FLOATING WIND TURBINE PROJECT IN PORT-LA NOUVELLE, FRANCE

Port – La Nouvelle, April 21, 2023 – Eolmed is delighted to announce that it has opened a construction site to build its floating offshore wind turbines at Port – La Nouvelle. This made-in-Occitanie project for a 30MW floating wind farm off the coast of Gruissan and Port – La Nouvelle marks the first milestone in deploying a French offshore industry – and starting commercial tenders in the Mediterranean.

In front of nearly 200 people, including local and national elected representatives, project partners and socio-economic stakeholders, the Port – La Nouvelle construction site was opened by:

 

• Jean-Michel Alvarez, Vice-Chairman, Grand Narbonne Communauté d’agglomération
• Didier Codorniou, 1st Vice-President, Occitanie Region
• Jean Marc Bouchet, Founder Qair and Chairman Eolmed
• Philippe Matière, President, Archimed
• Thierry Bonnier, Prefect, Aude

 

 

The speeches concluded with a traditional coin ceremony, during which each of the speakers slipped a coin engraved with the Occitan cross into a specially design recipient. In shipyards, it was customary to place gold coins under the mast of ships to bring good luck to the shipyard, crew and passengers. This custom has withstood the test of time and remains to this day. The recipient for the coins was then welded to the bottom of float No. 1.

 

 

CREATING LOCAL JOBS

The arrival of the first steel blocks for the floating structures marks the first step in this ambitious project to build three floating wind turbines in the port of Port – La Nouvelle. They will take around 18 months to build and require 250,000 workhours – of which 150,000 will be spent welding in the port.

Manufactured in Bagnac sur Célé (Lot) by Archimed, formed following the merger of French companies Matière and Ponticelli, these blocks will be welded together in Port – La Nouvelle, like a giant construction set.

As well as promoting the energy transition, the Eolmed project is part of an ambitious regional strategy aimed at creating sustainable local jobs.

“The Eolmed project is a major step forward for the renewable energies sector in France, and particularly for the Occitanie region. It has a key role to play in the drive to create an offshore industry in France and is positioned as a benchmark project for commercial tenders in the Mediterranean,” highlights Laurent Vergnet, Managing Director, Eolmed.

“Combining local development, energy sovereignty and national reindustrialization, this project was imagined fifteen years ago. Now we’re ready to assemble the floating wind turbines here in Port – La Nouvelle, built in France, in Occitanie,” declares Jean Marc Bouchet, Chairman, Eolmed.