Alstom inaugurated the largest offshore wind turbine in the world, at Carnet in the Loire-Atlantique. The 6 MW Haliade 150 wind turbine has been developed in response to a call for tenders launched by the French government in July 2011 that aims to install 3 GW of wind turbine power off French shores by 2015. In preparation for its certification, the first Haliade 150 will undergo a series of year-long tests on land at the Carnet site, before a second turbine is placed in the sea off the Belgian coast in autumn 2012. Pre-series production is planned for 2013 with production in series due to start in 2014.
The Carnet site, located near Saint-Nazaire on the shores of the estuary, was chosen for its geological characteristics that are very similar to the submarine environment in which the wind turbines will eventually be installed. The 25m sub-structure (known as the jacket) was installed on pillars driven more than 30m into the ground on which the 75m high tower was then gradually mounted. The nacelle soars over the landscape 100m above the ground. The wind turbine and its support structure have a total combined weight of 1,500t.
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