PARIS, June 2, 2020 /CNW/ - EDF Renewables, a
subsidiary of the EDF Group, Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) (NYSE:ENB), a
leading energy infrastructure company in North America, and wpd, a European renewable
energy company, announced today the launch of the Fécamp offshore
wind farm following the finalisation of financing agreements
between the consortium and its financial partners during the
weekend.
The 500 MW Fécamp offshore wind farm will be comprised of
71 wind turbines located between 13km and 22km from the coast of
northwest France. Project
commissioning is scheduled in 2023. The power generated by the wind
farm will provide enough annual electricity to meet the power needs
for 770,000 people, or over 60% of the Seine-Maritime department's
population. The construction of the project will create over 1,400
local jobs in total. During its 25-year service life, approximately
100 local ongoing full-time jobs based at the port of Fécamp will
also be created to maintain the wind farm.
The total project capital cost is estimated to be EUR2 billion, of which the majority will be
financed through non-recourse project level debt. Fécamp offshore
wind farm is underpinned by a 20-year power purchase agreement
(PPA) granted by the state in June
2018.
The consortium has sealed equipment supply contracts with
top-tier suppliers, including:
- Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) for the 71 wind
turbines;
- Bouygues Construction, plus Saipem and Boskalis for its
foundations; and
- Chantiers de l'Atlantique, plus GE Grid Solutions and
SDI for the offshore sub-station.
RTE, responsible for connecting the wind farm from the
substation to the coast and then to Normandy's electricity grid,
will start its onshore work in June.
SGRE's new turbine manufacturing plant in Le Havre, at which construction is set to begin
this summer, will create 750 jobs. The manufacturing of the
gravitational foundations for the wind turbines will commence this
summer at the Grand Port Maritime site, providing work for around
600 people. The wind turbines will be assembled at the Port of
Cherbourg. These orders come at a time when the country
intends to boost its activity after two months of containment.
This project has been guided by extensive consultation carried
out over 10 years with local stakeholders (state services, elected
officials from the region, the Department, coastal municipalities,
and non-government organisations) and is supported by in-depth
environmental studies undertaken with local environmental
associations. Specific work was also carried out in close
collaboration with the fishing industry to ensure the coexistence
of various maritime activities on the site.
Bruno Bensasson, EDF Group
Senior Executive Vice-President Renewable Energies and Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of EDF
Renewables commented: "I am delighted to
announce today the construction of the second French offshore wind
farm in Fécamp. I want to salute the professionalism of our teams
and the mobilization of local stakeholders who have been working
for years together to meet the energy and economic challenges
facing the Normandy area. With already four offshore wind projects
won in France and two of which
currently under construction, EDF consolidates its leadership in
the sector in France. We are
thrilled to have contributed to the creation of an industrial
sector that creates value and employment for the territories. These
large-scale projects fit with EDF's strategy, under which it aims
to double its renewable energy capacity worldwide between 2015 and
2030 to 50 GW net. This is how we will build a
CO2-neutral energy future as well."
John Whelen, EVP & Chief
Development Officer, Enbridge, added: "We are pleased
to mark this important milestone with our partners. The start of
construction of Fécamp demonstrates our continued
commitment to offshore wind development in Europe and further positions us as a
diversified energy infrastructure leader. This investment is
underpinned by a long-term power purchase agreement that is in line
with our low-risk business model. Enbridge now has several
investments in offshore wind projects in various stages of
development in France, as well as
investments in three offshore wind projects currently operating in
Germany and the U.K."
Achim Berge Olsen, wpd Group
Executive director and CEO of wpd
offshore declared: "This is a big step for
offshore wind power in Normandy and for the wpd group, highly
committed to this project. More than 10 years ago now, when
offshore wind energy was only just starting in France, our team began a broad consultation
with all stakeholders, on this excellent area for offshore wind, in
order to build a real territorial project. By achieving financial
& industrial closing, we can now run for the project's
construction, which will make France the 3rd country where wpd is engaged in
offshore wind, after Germany &
our recent achievements in Taiwan."
All the project partners possess considerable experience in
offshore wind farms and in the delivery of large-scale industrial
projects:
- EDF Renewables, which owns 35% of the project through
Éolien Maritime France SAS, brings its expertise in the
development, construction and operation of renewable energy
projects, including in the offshore wind sector. The company has a
portfolio of 6.5 GW in offshore wind energy projects at various
stages of their development in the Belgian, UK, German, Irish, US
and Chinese offshore wind sectors.
- Enbridge Inc., which owns 35% of the project through
Éolien Maritime France SAS, is a North American leading energy
infrastructure company. In addition to its portfolio of 1.4 GW of
net onshore renewable power generation in Canada and the U.S., the corporation has
investments across Europe in
several large offshore wind projects in the development,
construction and operational stages. In total, Enbridge has
interest in 28 facilities totalling 1.8 GW of net renewable power
generation capacity in operation.
- wpd offshore, which owns 30% of the project, is one of
the pioneers and leaders of offshore wind. The group has already
commissioned 3 wind farms in Germany, and recently gave the final go-ahead
to invest in a 640 MW project in Taiwan. The company has a portfolio of 7.4 GW
of offshore wind projects in development, in Europe and Asia.
For more information, go to:
http://parc-eolien-en-mer-de-fecamp.fr/
Enbridge Forward-Looking Information
Forward-looking information, or forward-looking statements,
have been included in this news release to provide information
about Enbridge and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including
management's assessment of Enbridge and its subsidiaries and
affiliates' future plans and operations. This information may not
be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are
typically identified by words such as ''anticipate'', ''expect'',
''project'', ''estimate'', ''forecast'', ''plan'', ''intend'',
''target'', ''believe'', "likely" and similar words suggesting
future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook.
Forward-looking information or statements included in this news
release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to
the Fécamp offshore wind farm (the "Project"), including the
benefits, anticipated employment, costs and timing of the Project
and its expected power generation capacity.
Although Enbridge believes these forward-looking statements
are reasonable based on the information available on the date such
statements are made and processes used to prepare the information,
such statements are not guarantees of future performance and
readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements
involve a variety of assumptions, known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results,
levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such statements. Assumptions regarding the
expected supply of and demand for energy, and the prices thereof,
are material to and underlie all forward-looking statements, as
they may impact current and future levels of demand for Enbridge's
services and for the Project. Similarly, exchange rates, inflation,
interest rates and the COVID-19 pandemic impact the economies and
business environments in which Enbridge operates and may impact
levels of demand for Enbridge's services and the Project as well as
the cost of inputs and are therefore inherent in all
forward-looking statements. Due to the interdependencies and
correlation of these macroeconomic factors, the impact of any one
assumption on a forward-looking statement cannot be determined with
certainty. The most relevant assumptions associated with
forward-looking statements on announced projects and projects under
construction such as the Project, including estimated completion
dates and expected capital expenditures, include the following: the
COVID-19 pandemic and the duration and impact thereof; the impact
of customer, government and regulatory approvals on construction
and in-service schedules and cost recovery regimes; the
availability and price of labour and construction materials; the
effects of inflation and foreign exchange rates on labour and
material costs; the effects of interest rates on borrowing costs;
the impact of weather; and the ability of our joint venture
partners to complete and finance proposed projects, including the
Project.
Enbridge's forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties, including, but not limited to those risks and
uncertainties discussed in this press release and in Enbridge's
other filings with Canadian and United States securities
regulators. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a
particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with
certainty as these are interdependent and Enbridge's future course
of action depends on management's assessment of all information
available at the relevant time. Except to the extent required by
applicable law, Enbridge assumes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statements made in this news release
or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether
written or oral, attributable to Enbridge or persons acting on
Enbridge's behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by
these cautionary statements.
About EDF Renewables
EDF Renewables is a leading international player in renewable
energies, with gross installed capacity of 12.6 GW worldwide. Its
development is mainly focused on wind and solar photovoltaic power.
EDF Renewables operates mostly in Europe and North
America but is continuing to grow by moving into promising
emerging regions such as Brazil,
China, India, South
Africa and the Gulf. The company has strong positions in
offshore wind power, but also in other areas of the renewable
energies industry such as energy storage. EDF Renewables develops,
builds, operates and maintains renewable energies projects, both
for itself and for third parties. Most of its international
subsidiaries bear the EDF Renewables brand. EDF Renewables is the
EDF Group subsidiary specialising in developing solar and wind
power.
For more information, visit: www.edf-renewables.com
Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/edf-renewables and on Twitter
(@EDF_RE in French and @EDF_Renewables in English).
About Enbridge Inc.
Enbridge Inc. is a leading North American energy
infrastructure company. We safely and reliably deliver the energy
people need and want to fuel quality of life. Our core businesses
include Liquids Pipelines, which transports approximately 25
percent of the crude oil produced in North America; Gas Transmission and Midstream,
which transports approximately 20 percent of the natural gas
consumed in the U.S.; and Utilities and Power Operations, which
serves approximately 3.7 million retail customers in Ontario and Quebec, and generates approximately 1,750 MW
of net renewable power in North
America and Europe. The
Company's common shares trade on the Toronto and New
York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. For more
information, visit www.enbridge.com
About wpd AG
wpd AG develops and operates wind farms on- and offshore and
solar farms. The Bremen-based
German company operates in 25 countries worldwide and has realized
wind energy projects with around 2,270 wind turbines and an output
of 4,720 MW. The project pipeline comprises a total of 11,300 MW
wind onshore, 7,400 MW wind offshore and 1,150 MW of solar
energy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
EDF Renewables:
Manon de Cassini-Hérail
Mobile: +33 (0)1 40 90 48 22
Email: manon.decassini-herail@edf-re.fr
Enbridge:
Mandy Dinning
Toll Free: (888) 992-0997
Email: media@enbridge.com
wpd AG:
Alison Aguilé
Email: a.aguile@wpd.fr
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SOURCE Enbridge Inc.