Wind

EDF's offshore drilling woes delay construction of Normandy wind farm by more than two years

Saipem has not yet said if it will incur penalties under a 2021 contract to install 65 monopiles

Fred Olsen Windcarrier's Bold Tern jack-up vessel
Fred Olsen Windcarrier's Bold Tern jack-up vesselPhoto: Fred Olsen
Senior Correspondent

French utility giant EDF has confirmed the Calvados offshore wind farm under construction off the northwestern coast of France will not reach its commercial operation date until late 2027, more than two years behind schedule.

Construction of the 450MW wind farm has faced a series of setbacks rooted in the drilling operations contracted to Italian company Saipem.

Operational challenges were encountered during preparation for drilling the first monopile socket.

A new drilling tool capable of boring sockets with diameters exceeding nine metres was expected to provide gains in efficiency, but EDF reported setbacks due to the need to carry out what was described as “extensive testing to make it operational, and then significant time to correct technical flaws”.

The first socket was completed in December 2024 using the Jan de Nul-owned Vole au Vent jack-up vessel, but only after a long delay.
A first monopile was installed by the Saipem 7000 offshore construction vessel in January, followed by four more as the quarter progressed.
But Saipem was faced a new delay because theVole au Vent was due to roll off its charter in March.
To continue with operations, the Italian contractor had to carry out a major logistics operation involving transfer of the drilling package to Fred Olsen Windcarrier's Bold Tern jack-up vessel, which was chartered as a replacement.

As a result, Saipem was forced to postpone the conclusion of the full scope of its 64-socket drilling project into 2026.

“We are actively preparing the next stages of the offshore work,” EDF told Recharge.
“The new vessel, the Bold Tern, is now being mobilised to install the drilling equipment. It will resume offshore work to complete the remaining 60 sockets,” the company stated.

EDF said Saipem is expected to resume monopile installation in August and commissioning of the wind farm will only begin in a phased manner, starting in the second half of 2027.

The utility has not disclosed any cost overrun or impairments and has said that scheduling of the €2.3bn ($2.69bn) senior financing package, led by BNP Paribas, will be adjusted.

Calvados will be Normandy’s second offshore project after Fecamp, which entered service in 2024.

“The park will be commissioned at the end of 2027, with a delay of a little over two years,” the press office said, in a written statement to Recharge.
Saipem won the monopile installation contract for the Calvados/Courseulles-sur-Mer wind farm project in 2021.

The development consortium, where EDF Renewables partnered Skyborn Renewables, Enbridge and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is known as Eoliennes Offshore du Calvados (EODC).

(Copyright)

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Published 10 July 2025, 06:08Updated 10 July 2025, 14:21
EDFFranceSaipemFred Olsen WindcarrierJan de Nul