At the Afsluitdijk dike in the north of Holland, activities are being performed to prepare for the installation of the power cables that connect the future 382.7 MW nearshore wind farm Fryslân with the 110 kV-high voltage station in Bolsward. Two power cables of each around 25 km will have to be installed.
The preparation activities started early August. Cable provider Prysmian already delivered 3 cable drums with the high voltage cables earlier this month. The first cable was installed that same day. In total, it concerns 90 cable sections of each around 1,600 m.
These activities take place at the same time as the Department of Waterways and Public Works is performing dike reinforcement works. Since the end of July the traffic situation between Breezanddijk and Kornwerderzand has been altered to allow construction work to take place. Traffic in both directions can temporarily only make use of 2 lanes.
To install the cable, horizontal boreholes will have to be drilled in the area surrounding a small beach at Kornwerderzand. Visser & Smit Hanab, contracted by main contractor Zuiderzeewind, will start with these boreholes in September. The cable sections will be placed along the cable route. Parts of the area will be closed off from public to facilitate these activities that are expected to last till the end of this year.
Also starting in September are the preparations for the wind farm’s transformer station at Breezanddijk. A trial installation of the facade was done in early July. The facade will comprise matt aluminium elements that move with the wind.
Wind Farm Fryslân
Wind Farm Fryslân is being built in the Frysian part of the IJsselmeer lake, near Breezanddijk. It will comprise 89 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy with each a rated power of 4.3 MW. The wind turbines will be arranged in a cluster. The wind farm is planned for completion in 2021. The rated power production is 1,500 Gwh/year, the equivalent of the annual power consumption of around 500,000 households. Image credit: Joachim de Ruijter
