DCNS, EDF Energies awarded tidal project off Normandy
The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has selected DCNS, the parent company of OpenHydro, and EDF Energies Nouvelles for the development of pilot tidal turbine arrays off the French coast of Normandy.
By Heba Hashem on Dec 12, 2014
The Normandie Hydro project will see the installation of seven OpenHydro tidal turbines off the coast of Cherbourg in Raz Blanchard, with a total installed power of 14 MW, and will be connected to the power grid in 2018.
The project is set to build on the deployment of the pilot Paimpol-Bréhat tidal array in northern Brittany, which for OpenHydro and EDF, will comprise the installation of two tidal turbines off the coast of Paimpol in 2015, thus proving the technology before the start of the Normandie Hydro pre-commercial project.
DCNS and EDF Energies Nouvelles have been collaborating since entering a partnership in 2009.
The installation off Normandy, expected to operate for 20 years, will allow the team to demonstrate the feasibility of the installation systems and methods.