The joint venture Equans – Iemants, a subsidiary of Smulders, and TenneT have cut the first steel for the topside of the offshore transformer station for the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) wind farm zone at the Equans yard in Hoboken, Belgium.
The initial construction blocks for the topside are the sections that were cut (nodes and plate girders). The Smulders‘ factories in Arendonk, Balen, and Hoboken will now keep producing steel.
After the contract was awarded, the joint venture began design work on the topside, jacket, and piles. The topside deck parts will be moved to the Equans yard in Hoboken when the topside assembly begins at the Smulders’ facilities in early 2023. They will be connected there, after which all auxiliary systems can be installed and the free given medium and high voltage equipment can be integrated. Between the second part of 2023 and the beginning of 2025, the topside will undergo its final outfitting, commissioning, and testing before being put offshore.
Along with the production of the tubulars, the jacket fabrication has already begun. It will be finished at the Smulders’ yards by the beginning of 2024. The jacket will be installed offshore in the first half of 2024. By the third quarter of 2025, the offshore substation for Hollandse Kust (west Beta) is expected to be completely operational. The contract for the offshore transformer substation Hollandse Kust (west Beta), with a start date of July 2022, was signed in 2021 by the joint venture Equans-Iemants and TenneT.
Hollandse Kust (noord) and (west Alpha)
The contract for the Hollandse Kust (noord) and (west Alpha) substations, of which the Hollandse Kust (noord) platform is already installed in the ocean and is presently being commissioned offshore, was previously given to the joint venture. At the Equans yard in Hoboken, Belgium, the Hollandse Kust (west Alpha) platform is now being finished. All contracts were the outcome of a European request for proposals that TenneT published in 2019. They cover the engineering, procurement, construction, offshore installation, connection, and testing of the offshore transformer substation.
Image source: Smulders
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