DEME Offshore has successfully installed the offshore substation of the Fécamp offshore wind farm, deploying Orion, the newest member of the DEME fleet and the most innovative vessel in the offshore wind industry.

Orion has now installed the 1,300-tonne jacket and the 2,200-tonne topside, completing the project on schedule.

Just four months previously, DEME carried out the pre-installation of the offshore substation’s foundations utilising another member of the fleet, the DP2 jack-up vessel Sea Installer. DEME Offshore’s unique subsea template facilitated a seamless installation, although in challenging environmental and soil conditions.

In August 2021, DEME installed the very first offshore substation in France at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, deploying Allseas’ heavy lift vessel ‘Pioneering Spirit’. The Fécamp and Saint-Nazaire successful substation installations again demonstrate DEME Offshore’s capability to carry out technically demanding and pioneering projects.

Fécamp’s electrical substation was constructed by a consortium including Atlantique Offshore Energy, the business unit of Chantiers de l’Atlantique dedicated to renewable marine energies, GE Grid Solutions and DEME Group’s French subsidiary SDI.

The same consortium has also been selected to design, manufacture and install the electrical substations for the Saint-Nazaire and Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind farms in France.