The company will supply nine 400-megavolt ampere (MVA) booster transformers to help regulate the voltage of power transmitted from four large-scale offshore wind projects being built at various points along the Atlantic coast of France. Deliveries are scheduled from 2017 to 2020.

Each of the offshore wind plants can produce 500-megawatt (MW), and the French government plans to add 6,000 MW of offshore generation capacity by 2020. The energy produced would represent 3.5 percent of the country’s national energy consumption, and will help to fulfil the country’s overall goal for 23 percent of energy to come from a mix of renewable energy sources by 2020.

The specialty transformers with their cutting-edge design and engineering technologies will help to maximise reliability and efficiency in the grid connections, said Markus Heimbach, head of ABB’s Transformers business, a part of the company’s Power Products division. “We are pleased to support RTE’s efforts to integrate more renewable energy into the French grid, contributing to a more sustainable world.”