(OE) Offshore installation company Jan De Nul has officially started the transportation and installation contract for the construction of Ørsted’s 242 MW Gode Wind 3 and 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in Germany.
The first batch of three monopile foundations has left Steelwind’s yard in Nordenham (Germany) to Eemshaven (The Netherlands), which is part of Groningen Seaports.
Jan De Nul’s scope includes the transport and installation of 106 wind turbine monopile foundations and one offshore substation foundation, including the associated topside.
Subcontractor Wagenborg has deployed its Wagenborg Barge 8 for the transport of the monopiles foundations from Steelwind’s yard in Germany to marshaling harbor Eemshaven in The Netherlands.
In the summer, Jan De Nul’s recently delivered heavy lift vessel Les Alizés will arrive on site and install the first monopile foundation offshore, in what Jan De Nul labeled “the baptism of fire” for the brand-new vessel.
Les Alizés was delivered by the CMHI Shipyard in China in January 2023 and is sailing to Eemshaven in The Netherlands. Jan De Nul said it had invested in the vessel as a response to the global trend within the offshore wind energy sector to design and install increasingly larger wind turbines.
Les Alizés will be able to load out, transport and install multiple units of the largest and heaviest wind turbine foundations. In addition, as a crane vessel that floats, she will be able to install heavier and larger foundations into deeper waters and in more challenging seabed conditions.
The vessel will mainly be used for the construction of offshore wind farms, but its crane is also suitable for decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms.
Orsted’s wind farms
Both wind farms will use 11-MW Siemens Gamesa turbines and are located in the German North Sea.
The Borkum Riffgrund 3 more particularly will be located adjacent to Ørsted’s existing offshore wind farms, Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2. Gode Wind 3 will be close to Ørsted’s Gode Wind 1 and 2.
For the first time, Ørsted will be using monopiles with secondary steel components instead of a transition piece for connecting turbine and foundation.
Delivery is foreseen to be completed in 2024. Once in full operation in 2024 and 2025, respectively, these wind farms will generate enough electricity to power approximately 1.2 million German households every year.
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