Orsted and suppliers have begun testing installation methods for cable systems and secondary steel for foundations that will feature at the 2.9GW Hornsea 3 wind farm off east England.
The trials are being carried out at the Port of Tyne in South Shields using a 435-tonne mock-up monopile that was built by CS Wind and delivered from Portugal in October.
Orsted said the tests which include lowering high voltage cables that will come from Siemens Gamesa turbines had been designed to practice and resolve potential risks before Cadeler starts a campaign to hammer in 197 bases this spring.
“This is to make sure everything will 100% work as planned when we go offshore,” said Orsted Offshore Installation Manager Mads Jørgensen.
The developer has leased up to 100,000 square metres at the port facility to marshal secondary steel components that are being fabricated and supplied by Severfield and Smulders, which both have facilities on the River Tyne.
The mock-up base will stay in place until next month at the Port of Tyne which has outlined £150m proposals to build a 400-metre deepwater quay and convert 230 acres at the site to support further offshore wind and advanced manufacturing.