PNA starts E40m MRE-driven port expansion at Cherbourg
The Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA) has begun construction at Cherbourg (north-western France) in order to expand part of the harbour area and its capacity: this is in connection with offshore wind-power and other marine-renewable-energy (MRE) developments, in the Channel.
- (1888PressRelease) May 30, 2013 - The quay-expansion project, at a total cost of E40 million, will include the construction of a public wharf, together with the redirection of the railway lines and roadways serving the port of Cherbourg.
At the end of 2011, Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA), which owns the ports of Caen-Ouistreham and Cherbourg, in north-western France, entered into an agreement with international engineering group Alstom and Eolien Maritime France (EMF) to free up 38 hectares of real estate in the port area, in Cherbourg. EMF is a wind-energy consortium that is an industrial partner of Alstom and is made up of EDF Energies Nouvelles, DONG Energy Wind Power and WPD.
Thanks to Cherbourg's advantages, such as the port's proximity to future French and British wind- and tidal-energy farms, this agreement will allow PNA to accommodate companies involved in marine renewable energy (MRE) in the English Channel.
Jean-Michel Sévin, Managing Director of PNA, explains, "The quay's extension will allow for the handling of different kinds of maritime traffic, making it possible to accommodate concurrently ships of various sizes, such as MRE ships, carriers and service vessels."
PNA will maximise Cherbourg's advantages by building a public wharf adjacent to the renewable-energy platforms to be located in the Channel. The construction project, which will also include redirecting the railway network and roadways serving the port, has begun and is expected to reach a total cost of €40 million.
Undertaken by building specialist Soletanche Bachy, the development project began in February 2013, in line with commitments to prepare for the installation of Alstom's blade-manufacturing plant and tower-preparation site in the port area, as well as the arrival of EMF's assembly hub at Cherbourg.
The first phase of the works, which is expected to be completed by August 2013, include underwater blasting, rock excavation and dredging. This stage is the preparation phase for the extension of the Quai des Flamands terminal by 320 metres to the south of the site. Perpendicular to the Quai, a 100-metre-long terminal (being included in the 320-metre extension) will be added to the Quai des Flamands, therefore providing a total quay length of 680 metres.
The extension of the terminal itself will begin in the summer of this year and the terminal is set for completion at the end of 2014.
Thanks to its load capacity of 15 tonnes per square metre - a capacity that is two to three times higher than standard terminals - the expansion will permit the frequent handling and shipping of heavy loads. PNA is confident that the port of Cherbourg will have the right facilities to meet the challenge of a higher level of operational and manufacturing activity resulting from renewable-energy projects in the Channel.
Moreover, with a 14-metre sinking basin alongside the new terminal, the port will improve its capacity in order to accommodate easily large ships, such as those vessels designed for deploying wind- and tidal-energy farms at sea. The compact nature of the seabed in the harbour area, at Cherbourg, is a significant advantage in this respect, since it creates a physically stable environment.
The second phase of construction at the port of Cherbourg will begin in 2014. This stage in the process will focus on redirecting roadway networks and the port's railway lines - an operation that is essential to creating consistent use of the terminal's land, which will be handed over to Alstom at the end of 2014.
PNA has also begun preparing for tidal-energy operations by building an additional 39-hectare platform at the port of Cherbourg. The port is ideally located for tidal energy thanks to its proximity to the Raz Blanchard (known in English as the Race of Alderney) and to the sea currents around Barfleur, in the Channel.
With a co-ordinated and cohesive construction project that includes a terminal with rare Channel-facing durability, as well as almost 100 hectares of dedicated real estate and improved marine facilities, the Port of Cherbourg is getting ready for an expansion in wind energy that is bound to be a hallmark of the 21st century.
Photo credits: top picture, Vincent Laisney; middle picture, PNA.
About Eolien Maritime France (EMF)
Eolien Maritime France (EMF) is a wind-energy consortium made up of green-electricity specialist EDF Energies Nouvelles, DONG Energy Wind Power and WPD. The consortium was successful in its bid to operate the energy park Courseulles sur Mer / Fécamp / Guérande energy park (north-western France), among other projects. Alstom provides EMF with wind turbines.
For further information about EDF Energies Nouvelles, please go to:
http://www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com/index.php/fr
For further information about DONG Energy, please go to: http://www.dongenergy.co.uk/Pages/landing.html
For further information about WPD, please got to: http://www.wpd-offshore.fr/
For further information about Alstom, please go to: http://www.alstom.com/
About PNA
The ports of Caen-Ouistreham and Cherbourg are owned and run by Ports Normands Associés, known in English as the Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA). PNA's head office is in Caen (Normandy), in north-western France.
For further information about MRE in relation to PNA, please go to: http://www.pna-emr.fr/
For further information about PNA, please go to: http://www.pna-ports.fr/web/index.php
For further information, please contact :
Quote ref. : FTPB3856
Ms Katherine WOODS - Press Officer
UBIFRANCE Press Office in London
Tel: +44 (0) 207 024 3640
katherine.woods ( @ ) ubifrance dot fr
View other press releases at :
http://www.ubifrance.com/uk/
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