Port-la Nouvelle, France – April 21, 2023 – Eolmed is pleased to announce the launch of the construction site for floating offshore wind turbines in Port-La Nouvelle. This “Made in Occitania” project of a 30MW floating wind farm off the coast of Gruissan and Port-La Nouvelle, France, marks the first milestone in the deployment of a genuine French offshore industry and heralds the launch of commercial tenders in the Mediterranean.
The Port-La Nouvelle floating offshore construction site was opened in front of nearly 200 people, local and national elected officials, project partners and representatives of the socio-economic world, including :
- Jean-Michel Alvarez, Vice-Chairman of the Grand Narbonne Agglomeration Community
- Didier Codorniou, 1st Vice-President of the Occitanie Region
- Jean Marc Bouchet, Founder of Qair and Chairman of Eolmed
- Philippe Matière, President of Archimed
- Thierry Bonnier, Prefect of the Aude
The speeches were symbolically concluded by the traditional coin ceremony, during which the speakers each slipped a coin engraved with the Occitan cross into a receptacle provided for this purpose. In shipyards, it was customary to place gold coins under the mast of ships to bring good luck to the shipyard, the crew and the passengers. Over time, this custom has remained. The receptacle that held the coins was then soldered to the bottom of the No. 1 float.
A project set to create local employment
The arrival of the first steel blocks that will make up the 3 floats marks the start of the construction of the floating wind turbines in the port of Port-La Nouvelle, which will take around 18 months and involve 250,000 hours of work, 150,000 of which will be spent on welding in the port.
Made in Bagnac sur Célé, in the French Lot region, by Archimed, a company created by the merger of the French companies Matière and Ponticelli, these blocks will be welded together in Port-La Nouvelle, like a giant construction set.
In addition to contributing to the energy transition, the Eolmed “Made In Occitania” project is part of a genuine regional strategy that will create sustainable local jobs.
” Eolmed is a major step forward for the renewable energy sector in France, and particularly for the Occitanie region. It is a milestone in the creation of an offshore industry in France and is positioned as a reference project for commercial tenders in the Mediterranean,” said Laurent Vergnet, Managing Director of Eolmed.
” This project, which combines local development, energy sovereignty and national reindustrialisation, was imagined fifteen years ago and we are now going to assemble the biggest floating wind turbines built in France, in Occitania”, said Jean Marc Bouchet, President of Eolmed.
For more information : eolmed.qair.energy
About Qair
Qair is an independent renewable energy company developing, financing, building, and operating solar, onshore and offshore wind, hydroelectric, tidal energy, energy from waste, renewable hydrogen production and storage projects.
With more than 1 GW of capacity in operation, the group’s 600 employees are developing a portfolio pipeline of 30 GW in 20 countries across Europe, Latin America and Africa. Our ambition is to become an independent leader in responsible energy.
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