French energy major EDF has announced that the commercial commissioning of the Calvados offshore wind farm has been pushed back to late 2027.
This will see the project commissioned more than two years after its original schedule. The project was previously set for start-up in 2025.
The company has faced issues while developing a new drilling tool. Tests of a drilling system designed specifically for the site are incomplete, and Saipem, the company in charge of installing the monopiles, will continue installation in August once final internal certification for the tool is granted.
The equipment in question is a high-capacity drill intended to secure monopiles in a calcareous seabed between 20 and 31 meters deep.
EDF said that the delay in the construction site is not linked to the nature of the seabed and that soil conditions were in line with the results of the geophysical and geotechnical studies carried out during the four drilling operations already carried out.
However, Saipem has already encountered drilling issues in January when it claimed that soil problems were slowing down work on the installation of the 64 monopiles for the wind farm. Later in the year, the Italian contractor revealed it had resolved the issue and was moving along much faster until its work was stopped due to EDF’s drilling tool development.
The offshore electrical substation was installed in 2023 and connected to the onshore electricity grid. The work was carried out by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and the Deme.
The wind farm has a capacity of 450MW. Its production should cover the equivalent of the domestic electricity consumption of more than 630,000 people. PPA and grid-connection contracts with transmission operator RTE are unchanged.
