Normandy is becoming a major player in the energy transition. By 2025, a wind farm consisting of 62 turbines installed off the coast of Dieppe and Le Tréport will be able to supply some 850,000 people on the national grid with green, sustainable electricity, the equivalent of two-thirds of the population of Seine Maritime.

The project in a few linesAt

a time when it is becoming increasingly urgent to fight collectively against climate change, the company Éoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport (EMDT) is committed to the field by planning the creation of a wind farm off the Normandy coast. This project, one of the most important to date for Normandy in terms of renewable energy, is part of a desire to preserve the planet and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Located 15.5 km from Le Tréport and 17 km from Dieppe, the wind farm will be made up of 62 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 8 MW. It will allow to produce about 2000 GWh per year, that is to say the average annual electricity consumption of 850 000 people. A great way for the Normandy coast to put its wind to good use for the planet.

Wind turbines at sea: how does it work?

Wind turbines are one of the best mastered means of producing green energy to date, and also the most efficient. This is especially true in Normandy, where the wind is particularly abundant! Under the effect of the wind, the blades of the device turn and produce electricity, just like the mills. From 11 km/h onwards, the wind makes the blades turn and produce energy. From 108 km/h, the blades stop automatically to be safe. The wind turbines off the coast of Dieppe Le Tréport should turn more than 90% of the time.
Once the electricity is produced, it will then be transmitted to land via submarine cables. From the power station on land, the electricity will then be fed into the national grid.

A wind farm that respects marine biodiversity

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When an offshore wind farm is installed, it is a new technology that is implanted directly into the sea. This means that the local ecosystem is changed, just like when a house is built on a piece of land. However, before deciding on the location of each wind turbine, cables and other infrastructure, environmental studies are carried out on the ground to limit this impact. Since 2014 and the start of the project, many experts have travelled to study the impact of the future park on its environment.
This is how avoidance and reduction measures have been put in place, in order to reduce the potential impact of the wind turbines on seabirds and aquatic wildlife. Several decisions were made following these studies, such as orienting the wind farm in the direction of marine currents and the main flight paths, and avoiding the most noisy installation work during marine mammal breeding periods. In particular, the wind turbines have been raised to avoid the main bird migration routes.
In parallel, compensation measures will also be put in place.

For

example, a colony of herring gulls will be created to ensure the sustainability of the species in the region

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... and environmentally friendly: recycling of offshore wind turbinesOffshore

wind turbines have an average lifespan of 30 years, after which they must be dismantled and recycled. As soon as the project is implemented, Éoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport will make provision for the dismantling of each wind turbine. This provision represents a sort of guarantee, which will ensure dismantling, whatever the economic context, 30 years after the construction of the wind farm.
As for recycling, many efforts have been made in recent years. The PPE (Programmation Pluriannuelle de l'Energie, a tool for steering French energy policy) specifies that the recycling of the main components of wind turbines will be made compulsory by the year 2023. Already today, more than 90% of the weight of wind turbines is recyclable, including the mast and rotor. Companies have also recently specialised in recycling the fibreglass used in the construction of the blades, which has been very difficult until now.
If the wind turbines at Dieppe and Le Tréport are to be dismantled and recycled by 2055, it is a safe bet that the recycling rate, which is currently equivalent to more than 90%, will have reached new records!

Normandy, a pioneer in sustainable energyOn

the Normandy coast, where the wind blows in abundance throughout the year, wind power is considered an energy of the future. Thanks to its port infrastructures adapted to the reception of industrialists and logistics, to a high capacity electricity network and to a dense industrial fabric, the region has the natural assets necessary for the development of renewable marine energies.
When we know that 80% of the energy consumed throughout the world comes from fossil fuels, and that these are the first sources of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet, we realise to what extent the Norman wind, inexhaustible, represents a source of energy of inestimable value. In the context of climate change and the current environmental crisis, renewable energy produced by offshore wind power is a serious alternative.
Through the Dieppe Le Tréport Wind Turbine Project, Normandy is helping to reduce France's dependence on fossil fuels and provide green electricity to around 850,000 people thanks to its natural and local resources.

Calls for projects to support tourism

The EMDT is committed to supporting tourism and ensuring the best possible cohabitation between the offshore wind farm and existing and future tourism activities. This is why it is launching a call for projects, co-constructed with the local authorities of the Normandy-Picardy coastline, which is aimed at all legal entities wishing to propose a tourism and/or leisure project at sea. The geographical specificity is to be located on the territory of one of the communities concerned (i.e. the Communauté d'Agglomération Baie de Somme, Communautés de communes des Villes Sœurs and Falaises du Talou) and within a 10 km radius of the coast. To take part, the process is simple: you just have to submit an application on the EMDT website

, taking care to detail the project and the desired funding. The opening of applications is between December 10, 2021 and March 10, 2021. A steering committee, made up of representatives of the territory and the wind farm, will then meet to select the winning projects, which will be awarded a total amount of around €165,000. It should be noted that the first call for tourism projects of the EMDT park was launched nearly two years ago, and that it enabled the financing of 4 tourism projects to the tune of €330 000, including the reconstruction of the Estacade of the Port of Le Tréport, the installation of interactive tourist terminals on the Communauté de communes des Villes Soeurs and the extension and refurbishment of the premises of the sailing school of Le Tréport

In order to give more visibility to this scheme and in accordance with the requests expressed by the communities, these calls for projects should become annual from next year.

This scheme is an example of the many commitments made by Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport to ensure that the wind farm fits in as well as possible with the local area.

Find more information on their website