Honoring D-Day’s 80th anniversary on the beaches of Normandy

Turbines at the Courseulles-sur-Mer (Calvados) Offshore Wind Farm named after Allied vessels from Operation Overlord

Months of planning and deception.

Painstaking calculations based on the moon and the tides.

Terrible weather when the fateful day arrived.

It all culminated in the turning point of the Second World War—6:30 a.m. local time on June 6, 1944.

With substantial aerial support, nearly 160,000 Allied troops made a daring amphibious landing on five German-occupied beaches along an 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of the Normandy coast in France.

Codenamed Operation Overlord, it was the largest seaborne invasion in wartime history—the Americans at Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, the Canadians at Juno—and it ultimately led to the liberation of France and the rest of northwest Europe from Nazi occupation.

On June 6, French President Emmanuel Macron; the United Kingdom’s William, Prince of Wales; U.S. President Joe Biden; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a commemoration ceremony at Omaha Beach to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy and the D-Day landings.

Enbridge’s Matthew Akman, EVP of Corporate Strategy and President of Power, and George Walley, VP and Head of Offshore Wind, were also present to honour this historic event.

“It was an honour to be in attendance at the 80th anniversary commemoration ceremony of the Battle of Normandy and the D-Day landings, remembering and paying respect to those who risked their lives to liberate Europe. We are committed to preserving their legacy and ensuring future generations understand the significance of their sacrifices,” said Akman.

Each wind turbine named after a Battle of Normandy ship

To honor the memory of D-Day, each wind turbine at the Calvados Offshore Wind Farm will be named after a ship that participated in Operation Overlord. The wind project is located about 10 km north of Juno Beach, where the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landed.

Canadian ships HMCS Huron and HMCS Regina, and American ships Jeremiah O’Brien and USS Satterlee, are just four of the more than 5,000 vessels that arrived to aid the Allied forces in this operation.

As part of the stakeholder engagement process conducted over 10 years, the Calvados project team collaborated with historians, Veterans’ associations, museum representatives, and the Calvados National Office of Veterans and War Victims. The final vessel names and placement aligned iconography, anecdotes, historical research, geographical balance and the vessels’ role that day.

About the wind project

The Calvados offshore wind farm is the second offshore wind farm under construction in Normandy. It consists of 64 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 450 MW.

The project will provide enough energy to power nearly 300,000 homes in the Normandy region when it enters service in 2025.

The project is owned by Enbridge and its partners—EDF Renewables, CPP Investments and Skyborn Renewables.