Boralex brings live 18-MW repowered wind farm in France

Canadian renewable energy company Boralex Inc (TSE:BLX) has kicked off commercial operations at the 18-MW Bougainville wind farm in France after completing a repowering at the site.

The wind park in Somme department, in the French region Hauts-de-France, was initially brought online in 2005 with six smaller turbines and a capacity of 12 MW. The plant was operated by Boralex since 2018.

Following the repowering, Bougainville is now powered by six V126 turbines by Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems and is running at 18 MW. The initiative has lifted the annual output at the site by more than 50%, with the production seen to be enough to cover the consumption of more than 16,000 homes per year.

Bougainville is the first wind farm in Somme department that has been repowered. Boralex noted that the plant’s old machines have a recyclability rate of over 90% and will be used in the European second-hand market. All material recovered from the foundations will be recycled and reused in the construction and public works sector.

At present, Boralex has 2.5 GW of installed capacity and is developing close to 4 GW of wind and solar and 800 MW of energy storage projects.

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