A "hydraulic fluid spill" was observed Wednesday morning on a ship, the Aeolus, in charge of drilling for the construction of the wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc and the drilling was "stopped", announced the carrier on Wednesday evening. project manager, Ailes Marines, a subsidiary of the Spanish group Iberdrola.
"During the recovery of the tool (editor's note), it was observed an effusion of hydraulic fluid on the deck of the ship and in the marine environment," Ailes Marines said in a statement.
This incident comes after a previous leak last June.
"The work is suspended pending a presentation to the maritime prefecture of an analysis of the cause of this incident and the corrective measures taken as a result to avoid its renewal," announced the maritime prefecture in the evening. "Three surveillance vessels have been deployed in the area", including two to look for any traces of iridescence on the surface or to take samples of seawater near the Aeolus, according to Ailes Marines. In addition, these two ships, one "equipped with absorbent socks" and the second "with a floating boom, intervened in prevention near" the Aeolus, said the company.
“Ailes Marines conducted two helicopter overflights of the area.
The teams did not observe the presence of iridescence or the formation of slicks in the marine environment.
For their part, the maritime authorities also carried out an overflight of the area.
The nautical and air resources mobilized by Ailes Marines will continue their surveillance mission for several days in collaboration with the maritime authorities ”, indicates Ailes Marines.
No pollution detected
A naval patrol and an aerial “did not (not) visually detect pollution around or near the Aeolus. A second overflight carried out at the end of the afternoon confirmed the absence of visible discharge ”, according to the maritime prefecture, which maintains nautical and aerial surveillance in the area. "In connection with the maritime prosecutor's office of Brest, a team of investigators from the maritime gendarmerie went aboard the Aeolus in the afternoon to carry out the first investigations", specifies the maritime prefecture.
Owned by the Dutch company Van Oord, the Aeolus had already experienced a leak estimated at 170 liters of hydraulic oil in mid-June.
The vessel then returned to its home port in the Netherlands for repair and verification work.
He resumed drilling in the bay of Saint-Brieuc two weeks ago.
During this incident, Ailes Marines had mentioned a "technical problem" having "caused the flow of hydraulic fluid (…) used in the guidance systems of the drills".
This time, Marines wings reported “a technical incident (…) observed on one of the ship's three drills”.
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In addition to the maritime authorities, Cedre (Center for Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) was notified of the incident.
The latter "provided the technical teams of Ailes Marines with the modeling of the incident and the map of the areas to be controlled by air and water means", specifies the press release from Ailes Marines.
The wind farm of the bay of Saint-Brieuc, which arouses strong opposition from coastal fishermen, must be erected 16.3 km from the coast.
With a total capacity of 496 MW, with 62 wind turbines, it is supposed to produce 1,820 GWh per year, the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants, according to Ailes Marines.
Its commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2023.
