Contractor NRG will start preparatory works for TenneT’s connection of the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) this coming Monday at the Vliegerpad in Velsen.
Hollandse Kust wind farm (west Beta) will be located 50 kilometres off the coast of Egmond aan Zee. The electricity cables that will soon transport the green power will come ashore via Velsen beach. To be able to carry out the drilling under the dunes safely, contractor NRG will start as early as possible in the storm season.
To drill under the dunes, a working area will be set up both on Velsen beach and in the Een Zee van Staal sculpture garden. Both sites will feature drilling machines that will drill GPS-controlled underground towards each other. Before both work sites can be set up, NRG is preparing the Vliegerpad for the supply of equipment.
“All transport for the supply of the equipment to the beach goes via the Tata Steel site, then a stretch of Reyndersweg and the final stretch along Vliegerpad,” Patrick Bakelaar, environment manager for NRG, explains. “On the part of the Vliegerpad we need, we will remove the stelcon plates and, in consultation with the Velsen municipality, temporarily lay a rubble pavement.”
Work areas
The car park at the Vliegerpad will be closed during the works over the next few weeks until autumn 2024. This area will be used once again for storage and as a transfer point. In addition, two work areas on either side of the dunes will be laid out from September. Work site 1 (WKT1) will be realised on the beach of Velsen and work site 2 (WKT2) is located in the Sculpture Garden a Sea of Steel on the other side of the dunes. A third work area (WKT3) will be on the Tata Steel site and a fourth (WKT4) will be set up within the fences of the transformer station on Zeestraat.
Temporary sand castle
As for the landfall of the sea cables for Hollandse Kust (north) and (west Alpha) at Heemskerk, contractor NRG is creating a raised working area on the beach at Velsen. Bakelaar: “This is necessary to eliminate the difference in height on either side of the dunes in view of the drilling. Because it now involves not four, but two sea cables, the temporary ‘sand castle’ on Velsen beach is reduced.”
The sand needed will be extracted a little further away at Zuiderbad and transported by dump trucks. NRG will start the excavations in September.
Alignment
According to Bakelaar, both the work plans and the schedule were drawn up in close consultation with the surrounding area, Rijkswaterstaat, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier and the municipality of Velsen. “In cooperation with TenneT, we held information meetings earlier this year and beach house owners have also already received an explanatory letter with a brochure about the work.”
According to Manon Raats, stakeholder manager at TenneT, this letter will also arrive in Wijk aan Zee one of these days. Those who are interested to follow the project can download the free TenneT constructionApp, More information on the activities can be obtained in the Information Centre at Zeestraat 250 in Wijk aan Zee. Image: Drilling machine from contractor NRG that will be used to make the underground directional drilling
