The Paimpol–Bréhat tidal farm is a tidal stream turbine demonstration site, located northeast of

Île-de-Bréhat Bréhat (, ; ) is an island and ''commune'' located near Paimpol, a mile off the northern coast of Brittany. Administratively, it is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. Bréhat is actually an archipelago compos ...

near

Paimpol Paimpol (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwest France. It is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months when people are attracted by its port and beaches. Geography The town is located in t ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France. It was initially developed by

Électricité de France Électricité de France SA (; ), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational corporation, multinational electric utility company owned by the government of France. Headquartered in Paris, with €139.7 billion in sales in 2023, EDF ope ...

(EdF), initiated in 2004 and construction work began in 2008, but the project was subsequently cancelled by EdF in 2018. This project was to use OpenHydro turbines, with two briefly installed in 2016, but they were later removed. Paimpol–Bréhat is now used as a test site, owned by EdF and managed with support from Seeneoh and Bretagne Ocean Power. In September 2022, the 2 MW

three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...

AC grid connection was upgraded, allowing devices to be connected above the water without the need for divers. The test site is about 10 km offshore and covers a rectangular area approximately 140 m × 250 m. Water depths vary across the site at 26 m to 42 m below LAT, with a tidal range of about 11.5 m. Telemac 2D modelling gives a depth averaged velocity on a medium

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

peaks at around 2.1–2.8 m/s. French developer

HydroQuest HydroQuest SAS is a French developer of vertical-axis turbines, generating electricity from river and tidal currents. The company was founded in 2010, in Meylan, Grenoble, and is based in the Inovallée science park. They have installed seve ...

tested a 1 MW turbine called OceanQuest at Paimpol–Bréhat between April 2019 and December 2021.

EdF OpenHydro project (2004–2018)

The Paimpol–Bréhat tidal farm was initially developed by

(EdF), starting in 2004. According to EdF, when completed it would be the world's largest tidal array and the world's first grid-connected tidal energy farm. A 250 kW OpenHydro turbine called ''L’Arcouest'' was tested at the site between December 2013 and April 2014. This turbine was never planned to be grid connected. The tidal farm was proposed to consist of four OpenHydro turbines, 16 m diameter and rated at 2 MW each, a total of 8 MW. The turbines were assembled by DCNS in

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

and installed by OpenHydro. The first turbine was tested at sea for commissioning trials in August 2011. The first two turbines (of a planned four) were installed in January and May 2016, but did not get connected to the grid. A 15 km long 8 MW DC export cable operating at ±5 kV was installed in 2012. To protect it from the strong currents, it is surrounded by articulated cast-iron pipe sections, with concrete mattresses added in some locations. The two turbines were retrieved from the seabed in 2017 for replacement of components that threatened the turbine's resistance to corrosion. These turbines were never redeployed as the project was cancelled.

References

Energy infrastructure completed in 2012 Tidal power stations in France Électricité de France 21st-century architecture in France {{Renewable-power-plant-stub