French utility EDF said the 450-megawatt (MW) Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind farm will now begin operations in the second half of 2027, more than two years later than originally planned.
The project, located about 10 kilometres off the Bessin coast in Normandy, is being developed in partnership with Skyborn Renewables, Enbridge, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Initially scheduled for commissioning in 2024, the timeline had already been revised to 2025 before being pushed back again due to technical delays and adverse weather conditions affecting drilling operations.
An EDF spokesperson told ReNews that “operations at the farm will begin gradually in the second half of 2027.”
Drilling work, carried out by Italian engineering firm Saipem, began in October 2024 but progressed slower than expected. The company cited the need for “fine-tuning” a new boring machine and weather disruptions as key reasons for the delay.
Saipem CEO Alessandro Puliti said earlier this year that the Saipem 7000 vessel had drilled four sockets and installed two of the site’s 64 planned monopile foundations. However, operations were temporarily paused to transfer the drilling machine from Jan De Nul’s Vole au Vent vessel to Fred Olsen’s Bold Tern.
EDF confirmed that the drilling campaign is expected to resume next month.
The Courseulles-sur-Mer wind farm is part of France’s broader push to scale up offshore wind capacity as it targets a more diversified and resilient energy mix.
