Offshore staff
SCHIEDAM, the Netherlands — A joint venture between HSM Offshore Energy, Smulders and Iv has won an EPCIC contract for the Modular Offshore Grid 2 (MOG2) project offshore Belgium in the North Sea.
This is said to be the world's first artificial energy island. Elia is the transmission system operator.
The work scope covers design and construction of four high-voltage AC substations (2 x 1,050 MW, 2 x 700 MW) a facility module and a "garage."
Engineering, which will include development of the layout and 3D model of all the MOG2 transmission facilities on the energy island, will take place at Iv’s offices in Papendrecht, the Netherlands.
For prefabrication, Smulders will use its Belgian yards and HSM its Schiedam complex north of Rotterdam. Final assembly of the modules will take place at the HSM yard in Schiedam and at the Smulders yard in Vlissingen.
Princess Elisabeth Island, 45 m offshore and covering a 12-ha area above the waterline, will combine both high-voltage direct current (HVDC) and alternating current (HVAC). The area set aside for installation of the electrical infrastructure is roughly 6 ha.
The high-voltage infrastructure on the island will bundle the export cables of the wind farms of the Princess Elisabeth zone while also serving as a hub for future interconnectors with neighboring countries. The project is also said to be key to connecting Belgium's future offshore wind farms to the national grid.
Construction of the substations will begin in May 2025 and continue until first-quarter 2029, with installation on the island starting in 2027. Elia aims to have the installations ready for operation in 2030.
06.21.2024
