Offshore staff
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands – Van Oord has installed more than 40 km (25 mi) of inter array cables for the 269-MW Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.
These cables form the connection between the turbines and the offshore substation.
The cable laying vessel Nexus installed the cables in 40 m (131 ft) water depth. The vessel installed at a rate of up to three cables per 24 hours. The inter array grid was designed to guarantee reliable and safe transmission of the generated electricity, the company said.
To protect the cables, the company’s trencher Dig-It has been deployed to bury the previously laid cables to the required depth of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) below the seabed. The remote-controlled trencher uses the jetting module. By injecting a high-water flow, the soil is liquified enabling lowering of the cable.
In addition, Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel Aeolus has started turbine installation. Each turbine has three 80-m (262-ft) rotor blades and a rated output of 8.4 MW. Commissioning of the wind farm is expected in the second half of 2019.
As the Balance of Plant contractor for the Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm, Van Oord is responsible for the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the foundations, inter array cables and offshore substation, and the transport of the wind turbines.
Owned by Canada-based independent power producer Northland Power, the wind farm is expected to supply enough renewable energy to meet the needs of about 328,000 households per year.
06/07/2019
