The first tower parts for the 487MW Seamade offshore wind project have arrived in the Belgian port of Ostend.
The six tower components were produced in northern Spain, before being shipped from the port of Aviles on special purpose vessel Rotra Vente.
Developer Otary said it is working with its contractors “working around the clock”, despite the COVID-19 crisis, to keep Seamade’s construction on schedule, taking “rigorous precautionary measures”, including social distancing in the execution of the project’s works.
Over the coming months, Rotra Vente and sister vessel Rotra Mare will ship all Siemens Gamesa wind turbine components, comprising 58 nacelles, 174 tower parts and 174 blades, for Seamade from various sites, to the REBO site in Ostend.
The main activity on the REBO site will be the storage of parts, the pre-assembly of the tower parts to complete towers, and loading of the installation vessel ‘Apollo’.
All foundations, installed by DEME Group, and the two offshore substations are now in place, said Otary.
Otary chief executive Mathias Verkest said: “We are aiming for a timely completion of Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm, despite the current Coronavirus crisis, as this is an important step in the country’s energy transition.
“SeaMade contributes significantly to Belgium’s binding goal of having 13% of our energy produced out of renewable energy sources by 2020. Half of this renewable energy production will come from offshore wind energy. SeaMade will contribute to almost one quarter of the required offshore energy production.”