At the end of 2018, EDF Renewables set up a 50-50 joint venture, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC, with Shell New Energies US LLC (Shell). The purpose of this joint venture is to develop offshore wind turbines on a site located off the coast of the New Jersey (WEA) under a lease issued by the US federal authorities. In June 2021, the joint venture was awarded a project to develop 1.5 GW of capacity(1).
In 2021, EDF Renewables continued the construction of the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in partnership with Irish electricity company ESB. This 450MW project is located in the Firth of Forth on the eastern coast of Scotland. The impact of the Covid pandemic on the global supply chain, as well as technical issues, caused delays in the projected project commissioning schedule.
EDF Renewables also entered into a partnership with the Malaysian company Tenaga for the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Limited (BODL) experimental wind farm with a total capacity of 100 MW. More than 40 MW are currently in operation. The Blyth II floating offshore wind farm project is currently under development.
EDF Renewables continued to expand in solar power. At end 2021, gross installed solar capacity was 4,703MWp (2,591 MWp net), up by 801MWp net i.e. 45%, compared to end 2020.
EDF Renewables also has a portfolio of solar projects under construction of 4,300 MWp gross.
EDF Renewables has structured its policy for contributing to the Solar Plan launched by the Group in December 2017.
EDF is implementing a strategy covering all market segments. Such strategy is based on an integrated development model for projects up to their operation, the quest for industrial excellence and continued investment in innovation. This strategy leverages EDF’s research and development and the territorial networking of EDF’steams dedicated to local authorities and businesses. The lands targeted as a priority are sites referred to as “damaged”, i.e. industrial wastelands, polluted, abandoned or former quarry sites, which can be rehabilitated with the development of photovoltaic projects. The company is also looking to develop agrivoltaic solar projects.
EDF Renewables commissioned 18 solar power plants in 2021, with total capacity of 100.6MW, and launched the construction of 30 solar power plants with 240MW net capacity. EDF’s portfolio of solar projects in France includes 532MWp of authorised projects by the end of 2021.
EDF Renewables was awarded a total of 153MWp of ground-mounted solar capacity under the CRE’s 2021 calls for tenders (“Innovation 3”, “CRE 4.9” and“CRE 4.10”) and is now the third most successful tenderer in these calls for tenders. In March 2021, EDF Renewables was awarded the 60MW solar power plant project at Deauville-Normandie airport (2).
Innovation also supports the development of solar power, notably in the form of:
Some projects include a crowdfunding campaign, enabling the inhabitants of the region to be involved with the funding of the projects in question. This was the case for 8 plants in 2021. Finally, EDF Renewables signed 2 power sales agreements (corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs)) for 2 solar plants for total capacity of 70 MW.
In September 2021, EDF Renewables and its partner, Pele Green Energy, were selected to build and operate a 100 MW solar power plant at the Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo province under a call for tenders launched by the mining company Anglo-American Platinum.
At end-2021, EDF Renewables North America was building solar projects with capacity of nearly 1.2 GW and, in particular, was nearing completion of the Maverick 6 and 7 solar plants in California with a total capacity of nearly 310 MW.
In July 2020, the consortium formed by EDF Renewables and Chinese company Jinko Power Technology Co. Ltd. won the call for tender for the Al Dhafra solar power project. The future solar power plant will be located 35 kilometres south of Abu Dhabi. With installed capacity of 2 GW, it will be the most powerful solar farm in the world, supplying electricity to the equivalent of 160,000 local households each year.
EDF Renewables is continuing its development in solar energy with the construction of two photovoltaic power plants with total capacity of 90 MW, of which 20 MW was commissioned in 2021.
EDF Renewables is developing its solar power business through EDEN Renewables India, a joint subsidiary created for this purpose in 2016 by EDF and Total EREN(3).
EDEN is completing construction of the SECI III photovoltaic plant (450 MW) in Rajasthan, northern India.
EDF Renewables is the leader in this market with more than 20 photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 427MWp. In June 2021, it commissioned the Timna solar power plant in the Arava Valley. Which has installed capacity of 60 MW. EDF Renewables is currently building nine ground-mounted solar projects with a total capacity of 120 MWp, including three floating solar projects on water reservoirs.
As an integrated operator, EDF Renewables operates and maintains most of its own facilities. Dedicated first and foremost to EDF group wind and solar assets, this activity is also carried out on behalf of third parties. Worldwide, EDF Renewables operates 17.5 GW at end-December 2021 with nearly 1,200 experts, engineers and technicians across nine countries. EDF Renewables has long been active in the operation-maintenance field in North America where it manages over 13GW. The business in Europe and the rest of the world exceeds 4 GW at the end 2021.
This activity is driven by commissioning new plants and choosing which facilities to operate on a case-by-case basis according to technology and region. The aim is to achieve maximum efficiency in every facility in conjunction with providers throughout the expected or extended useful life of equipment.
Accordingly, EDF Renewables recently set up a predictive maintenance oversight centre (e-Diagnostic Center) drawing on specific in-house expertise centralised and coordinated with the EDF group’s R&D Department. It complements the facility remote monitoring and control system made up of three real-time oversight centres in Colombiers (France), Emden (Germany) and San Diego (California).
Since 2017, EDF Renewables owns a subsidiary specialising in the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, the German firm Offshore Wind Solutions GmbH (OWS). OWS is working on the BARD Offshore 1 wind farm(400 MW) located 95 km off the German coast in the North Sea.
EDF Renewables owns several European maintenance centres: in Belgium, Greece, United Kingdom, Germany and France. These operation-maintenance units are designed to place technical teams as close to wind or solar farms as possible. In late 2021, EDF Renewables opened its first offshore wind maintenance centre in France at La Turballe. Some 100 maintenance technicians will work there in 2022 to operate the future Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farms.
(1) See EDF Renewables’ press release of 1 July 2021 “EDF group wins a 1.5GW offshore wind project in New Jersey, USA”.
(2) See EDF Renewables’ press release of 26 March 2021 “Launch of the photovoltaic plant project at the Deauville-Normandy airport”.
(3) Formerly EREN Renewable Energy.
