The official handover/survey by Rijkswaterstaat, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier and the municipality of Heemskerk, formally brought an end to 14 months of work at a specially created site on the beach of Heemskerk for the connection of offshore wind farms by TenneT.
The work site was built last year on the beach at Heemskerk to carry out four drilling under the dunes. The site 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. After the successful drillings and the withdrawal of the empty casing tubes, the sand was smoothed out in February this year.
Cable pull-in and installation
The work sites (on either side of the dunes) were then handed over to Belgian contractor Jan de Nul Group for the cable pull-in and installation of the four export cables from South Korean manufacturer LS Cable & System for Hollandse Kust (noord) and (west Alpha), using the intertidal trenching vehicle Moonfish.
Offshore activities
The activities have now moved offshore with Jan de Nul’s cable-laying vessel Connector laying completing the first cable 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,” Dams said.
West Beta
TenneT and contractor NRG will be taking the lessons learned to work on Hollandse Kust (west Beta). The work for this connection will start next autumn on the beach south of Wijk aan Zee. Similarly, a temporary ‘sand castle’ will also be erected on the beach in the municipality of Velsen. However, this construction will be half the size, as it will only involve two sea cables to be drilled under the dunes.
Arjan Dams: “The fact that we were able to carry out our work well, safely and on schedule in recent months is partly thanks to the good cooperation with the surrounding area. I want to thank the residents, beach operators, beach house owners, municipalities, KNRM and other authorities enormously for the way in which we successfully worked together.”
TenneT will return in the spring to organise a festivity as a token of their appreciation. MOre info will foolow, the company said. Source: TenneT Photo: Flying Focus
