Paris, July 27, 2017

Development of tomorrow's energy: BOURBON completes the mooring installation of the first floating wind turbine in France

Earlier this month, BOURBON completed the mooring installation of the first floating wind turbine in France for Ecole Centrale de Nantes (ECN) as part of the European project FLOATGEN* at the SEM-REV experimental test site, off Le Croisic.

The innovative mooring system using synthetic mooring lines was designed and developed by Ideol team. Significant resources, including an Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessel with a WROV, were required for its installation conditioned by high tensions. The project was successfully delivered to ECN due to the professionalism and great cooperation between the teams.

Responsible for the overall management of the project's implementation, BOURBON performed the engineering, the operations preparation and the execution of the mooring system installation.

"The BOURBON team is extremely proud of this successful operation, which confirms once again our ability to deliver integrated projects, our expertise in offshore engineering services and our adaptability to demanding environments for the entire energy sector," comments Patrick Belenfant, BOURBON Corporation's Senior Vice President Subsea Services.

"One of the FLOATGEN project challenges was to install an innovative mooring system that needs to meet the production conditions criteria of the floating wind turbine. This demonstrates the value of an experimental site to test innovative technological developments, their implementation and project management when in production. Competent and dedicated teams from BOURBON, Ideol and Centrale Nantes have highly contributed to the success of the operation", adds Christian Berhault, Head of SEM-REV at Centrale Nantes.

* FLOATGEN is a wind turbine with concrete float designed by Ideol and currently under construction at Saint-Nazaire port by Bouygues Travaux Publics. Its installation is scheduled for the end of 2017 on the SEM-REV site.

Among the market leaders in marine services for offshore oil & gas, BOURBON offers the most demanding oil & gas companies a wide range of marine services, both surface and sub-surface, for offshore oil & gas fields and wind farms. These extensive services rely on a broad range of the latest-generation vessels and the expertise of more than 9,300 skilled employees. Through its 37 operating subsidiaries the group provides local services as close as possible to customers and their operations throughout the world, of the highest standards of service and safety.

BOURBON provides two operating Activities (Marine Services and Subsea Services) and also protects the French coastline for the French Navy.

In 2016, BOURBON'S revenue came to €1,102.6 million and the company operated a fleet of 514 vessels.

Placed by ICB (Industry Classification Benchmark) in the "Oil Services" sector, BOURBON is listed on the Euronext Paris, Compartment B.

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