The 500MW Yeu-Noirmoutier wind farm is built off the Pays-de-la-Loire coast of France by Éoliennes en Mer Îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier (EMYN).
The €2.5bn ($2.88bn) project is owned by the Ocean Winds joint venture between Engie and EDPR (40%), Sumitomo (29.5%), Allianz Global Investors (20.25%), Banque des Territoires (9.75%), and Vendée Énergie (0.5%). The wind farm operations are managed by EMYN’s affiliate Les Eoliennes en Mer Services (LEMS).
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EMYN won the bid to develop the Yeu-Noirmoutier wind project, as well as the Dieppe-Le Tréport offshore wind farm, in June 2014.
The project reached final investment decision in April 2023. Turbine installation began in May 2025, and the wind farm started producing clean energy in June 2025.
The wind farm was completed in April 2026 and has an estimated lifespan of 25 years. It has an average annual production capacity of 1,900GWh, sufficient to meet the annual electricity demands of 800,000 people.
The project created 2,400 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase and supports 80 long-term direct jobs for the operation and maintenance phase.
Location of the Yeu-Noirmoutier wind farm
The Yeu-Noirmoutier wind farm is developed over an area of 83km², at a depth ranging between 19m and 36m, off the Pays-de-la-Loire coast.
Located 11.7km from Yeu and 16.5km from Noirmoutier, the project site witnesses strong winds, making it a prime location for offshore wind energy.
Yeu-Noirmoutier plant make-up
The offshore wind farm comprises 61 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 offshore wind turbines with a capacity of 8.4MW each, spaced 1,000m and 1,600m apart. The turbine is based on the company’s proven offshore direct drive platform. Each turbine stands 202m tall.
The turbines are installed on XL monopiles. Each monopile has a diameter of 7m to provide deepwater stability and a length of 45-68m based on the site depth.
Each transition piece of the wind farm measures 29.5m high, weighs more than 360t and has a diameter of 6m.
The project infrastructure also includes an offshore high-voltage station (OHVS). The topside weighs 2,500t and measures 39m in length, 25.5m in width and 18m in height.
Grid connection
The offshore wind grid connection involved submarine and land-based cables. The produced electricity is exported from the offshore substation through a 27km-long submarine cable route, followed by a 30km-long underground route. The cables can export 500MW of clean, renewable energy.
The submarine section consists of two 225kV high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) three-core extruded export submarine cables with single-wire armouring that makes landfall at La Barre-de-Monts beach.
The land section includes two 225kV HVAC extruded land cable circuits connecting the landfall area to the substation at Soullans. The electricity is transmitted through the national grid.
The electricity generated is supplied to Électricité de France, a state-owned electric utility company, under a long-term fixed-price power purchase agreement.
Financing details for the Yeu-Noirmoutier wind farm
The project partners secured €2.2bn ($2.41bn) in financing for the wind farm in April 2023.
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation provided €1.1bn ($1.2bn) while the remaining portion was co-financed by a consortium of 16 banks, including private financial institutions, French public investment bank Bpifrance and French postal bank La Banque Postale. Société Générale acted as financial adviser for the project.
Contractors involved
Global architecture, engineering and consulting company Ramboll performed the initial phase of basic design and front-end engineering design (FEED) for jacket foundation structures for the project. The contract package also included services related to asset management, geotechnics, low-voltage design and corrosion protection.
Netherlands-based engineering consultant Primo Marine conducted a feasibility study for a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) crossing for the submarine cable section.
International engineering and consultancy company IMDC provided interpretation of the offshore geotechnical campaign of the wind farm, including laboratory testing.
Empire Engineering managed the foundations and offshore substation packages for Yeu-Noirmoutier.
Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), the French transmission system operator, was responsible for the design, construction, management and operation of the 225kV submarine and land cables.
RTE awarded a contract worth more than €150m ($167m) to Prysmian Group (Prysmian) to develop the submarine and land export power cable systems for the project’s grid connection.
Prysmian was responsible for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the submarine cables, as well as the supply and jointing of the land cables circuits.
A consortium comprising DORIS Engineering and its subsidiary ODE was appointed to operate as the owner’s engineer for the wind farm. The management of marine construction and installation of wind turbine generators (WTGs) was included in the contractual scope.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy provided WTGs for the project.
Multi-disciplinary engineering and project management company Artelia managed the electrical connection of the wind farm. The contract package included technical assistance related to cable landfall works, detailed studies, support for contract award, and supervising designs and works.
Chantiers de l’Atlantique was responsible for the design and topside manufacturing of the offshore electrical substation.
Navantia Seanergies/Windar Renovables were responsible for the fabrication of the steel jackets for the offshore substation.
DEME installed foundations and monopiles, and contracted Allseas to oversee the transport and marine installation of the substation jacket and topsides using the Pioneering Spirit vessel.
Sarens, Rollix, Smulders (Eiffage Métal’s Belgian subsidiary), Jan De Nul, SGRE, Industeel (a ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions business division), Voltiq, Herrenknecht, Louis Dreyfus Armateur, TSM, STO Logistique, AMS, Ridgeway Rockbags, Menck, LD Travocean and Alka Marina are some of the other contractors involved in the project.
