The foundation has been installed for the offshore substation at Northland Power’s and RWE’s 332MW Nordsee 1 offshore wind farm, located some 40km north off the island of Juist in the German North Sea.
The Bladt-fabricated foundation, which weighs more than 1400 tonnes, was transported from Aalborg in Denmark on a five-day journey to the port of Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
After loading the piling hammer, the foundation was transported to the Nordsee 1 construction site, where Scaldis’ heavy lift vessel Rambiz 3000 placed it on the seabed.
The 50-metre tall foundation was anchored with four piles on four pedestals. Each pile weighs over 240 tonnes and is more than 67 metres in length.
Nordsee 1 executive Pierre Lestienne said: “In June, we will begin the installation of the inter-array cables, and this summer we will install the heart of the wind farm, the substation topside.”
The installation of the Senvion 6MW wind turbines is expected to start in early 2017.
Full commissioning of the wind farm is slated for 2017.
Northland Power owns 85% of Nordsee 1, while RWE International SE holds the remaining 15%.
Image: Nordsee 1 offshore substation foundation (RWE Innogy)
