Van Oord installed the first foundation at Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm, using the jack-up vessel Seajacks Scylla. De installation marks the start of the offshore construction period.
The 252 MW wind farm, located approximately 95 kilometres northwest of the island of Borkum, is a project by Northland Deutsche Bucht. Van Oord was awarded the Balance of Plant contract in 2017 and is responsible for the design engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the foundations, inter array cables and offshore substation, and the transport of the 33 Vestas 8 MW wind turbines.
The foundations will be installed at a water depth of approximately 40 metres and consist of 31 monopiles and transition pieces and 2 on innovative Mono Buckets. The monopiles will be installed first, followed by the Mono Buckets in the second quarter of 2019. Upon completion, planned for the second half of 2019, the wind farm will provide electricity to approximately 328,000 German households.
To minimize the impact on the environment and marine fauna during the installation works, Van Oord uses an innovative, in-house developed acoustic device, the FaunaGuard system, and a multi-level noise mitigation system which includes a Hydro Sound Damper (HSD) and a double Big Bubble Curtain.
Read a full interview with Arnoud Kuis, Area Director Offshore Wind at Van Oord in the next edition of Wind Energy Magazine, available at the Dutch Village at WindEnergy Hamburg.
