Black Marlin, Boskalis’ semi-submersible heavy transport vessel, has loaded the first 11 monopiles for the Eoliennes en Mer Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier project at the Dajin Heavy Industry facility in China. The vessel is on its way to France, currently sailing in the Eastern China Sea. 

According to Dajin, each monopile, designed with a Shear Key and weighing approximately 700 tons, was meticulously loaded onto the vessel for transport to its final destination. This shipment is pivotal to the success of the Noirmoutier wind farm project.

The fabrication of the subsequent batches is underway, and Dajin is fully committed to completing the project with high quality and on schedule.

Early last year, DEME secured a contract to transport and install the foundations and the offshore substation for the Yeu and Noirmoutier islands’ offshore wind farm being developed by Éoliennes en Mer des Îles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier (EMYN), a consortium including Ocean Winds (an ENGIE and EDPR joint venture), Sumitomo Corporation, La Banque des Territoires and Vendée Energie.

Additionally, Allseas’ construction behemoth, Pioneering Spirit has been picked to install the offshore substation for the Yeu and Noirmoutier islands’ offshore wind farm development off France’s Pays-de-la-Loire coast.

Yeu-Noirmoutier is situated 16 km off the Atlantic Coast, where waters are up to 36 m deep. When complete, the development will have a total capacity of 496 MW and produce enough energy to meet the annual electricity demands of 800,000 people.