The substation project is worth around €320 million, said French transmission system operator RTE, which awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract to Chantiers following an international tender.
All the essential components for the substation will be manufactured in France, RTE said. The assembly of the topside will be carried out in Saint-Nazaire, while the foundation will be manufactured in Fos-sur-Mer.
Over the next few weeks, RTE will finalise the contract for the supply of underground and submarine cables that will complete the infrastructure needed to connect the 600MW Dunkirk offshore project. The wind farm is being developed by EDF Renewables and RWE and is due online in 2028.
In May this year, RTE signed a €4.5 billion contract with Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Hitachi for the manufacture of three new-generation offshore substation platforms and three onshore converter stations for the Normandy and Oléron offshore wind farms.
In October, the French government announced plans to auction up to 9.2GW of offshore wind across four maritime areas, including three designated for floating offshore wind.
The under-development Dunkirk is one of the French offshore substations planned in the English Channel to transport wind energy (image credit: RTE)
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