The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €350 million credit line to a consortium made up of EDF Renouvelables, Enbridge and wpd to co-finance the construction of the Calvados wind farm off the coast of Courseulles-sur-Mer in France.
This financing will be guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
Totalling an estimated €2 billion, the project involves the construction of 64 wind turbines located over 10 km off the French coast. With a capacity of 450 MW, it is expected to produce the equivalent of the annual electricity use of 630,000 people, i.e. over 90% of the population of Calvados. It is expected to enter service in 2024.
Construction is anticipated to last three and a half years and will create over 1 000 direct jobs in Normandy, particularly in Le Havre where the wind turbines will be manufactured and assembled in a Siemens Gamesa factory currently being built.