The first of 50 monopiles for the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm has been placed by Van Oord’s heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen.
Van Oord is in charge of providing, transporting, and installing about 70 kilometers of inter-array cables in addition to the supply, transport, and installation of the wind turbine foundations.
The 40 square kilometer Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm is situated 30 kilometers northeast of the German island of Rügen. Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, with a 476 MW output capacity, will provide clean electricity to 475,000 homes while lowering carbon dioxide emissions by around 1 million tonnes yearly. By the end of 2024, it should be fully functioning.
Installation procedure
According to the feeder idea, the foundations are floated to the Svanen at the offshore installation site as part of the installation strategy for the foundations. The monopiles are being moved from EEW in Rostock, Germany, to the location. The Svanen raises them upright when they get there. The gripper places the pile precisely before pile-driving starts.
Beginning in March, Van Oord began shipping the transitional materials from the Spanish port of Aviles to the Van Oord location in Germany’s port of Mukran. The installation of the transitional items is planned for the second quarter. The inter-array cables will be installed and buried using Van Oord’s trencher Dig-It and cable-laying vessel Nexus later this year.
Offshore wind potential
In Europe, the Baltic Sea has enormous potential for offshore wind. Poland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Germany are among the nations looking into potential offshore wind opportunities. Conditions are difficult due to the diverse soil types that make up the Baltic seabed.
The Svanen is familiar with these circumstances as a result of its previous leadership in a number of other Baltic initiatives. More than 700 foundations have been erected by the ship throughout Europe, with the majority of them being monopiles in the Baltic Sea.
Image source: Van Oord
