TenneT has completed 14 months of work at a beach site in Heemskerk for the Hollandse Kust West (Alpha) offshore wind connection.
After the official handover/survey by Rijkswaterstaat, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier and the municipality of Heemskerk, the work site on the beach was handed back empty by TenneT.
The highlight was the “largest sand castle in the Netherlands”, which was built last year on the beach at Heemskerk for drilling under the dunes.
This fortress allowed contractor NRG to continue working unhindered even during the storm season. As much as 41,000 cubic metres of sand were used by contractor NRG.
Between 130 and 170 dump trucks drove daily between Zuiderbad and the work site for the sand, which was brought over the beach, delivering between 2500 and 4000 cubic metres of beach sand daily.
After the four successful borings under the dunes and the withdrawal of the empty casing tubes, the sand was smoothed out at beach post 49 in Heemskerk in February this year.
The work sites (on either side of the dunes) were then handed over to Belgian contractor Jan de Nul for another special operation; the retraction and installation of the four sea cables for Hollandse Kust (North) and (West Alpha).
These cables were collected from South Korean manufacturer LS Cable & System.
In May the cable-laying machine Moonfish drove onto the beach at Heemskerk in the early hours of the morning. With its long water blade, this ‘futuristic water creature’ looked like it had been ridden straight out of a Jules Verne novel. The night before, the unmanned robotic vehicle was jettisoned from the lifting vessel MPI Adventure three kilometres off the coast.
With over sixty kilometres of marine cable on board, contractor Jan de Nul’s cable-laying vessel Connector appeared off the coast of Heemskerk/Wijk aan Zee this week.
This cable section will be used to make the first connection up to TenneT’s Hollandse Kust “socket” – West Alpha.
The second cable connection for the wind farm will follow in the first quarter of next year.
“The cable connections for ‘north’ have now been completed and tested,” project director Arjan Dams informed on behalf of TenneT.
“While work continues for west Alpha at sea, the beach has been cleared and delivered again.
“After 14 months of working in this special place, we are now handing the beach back to the environment and the competent authority.
“Together, we can look back on an exceptional project with major technical challenges. As the client, we are extremely pleased with that.”