Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel Aeolus has successfully completed the installation of all 77 MHI Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines at the Borssele III & IV offshore wind farm, the company said in its release.
As the Balance of Plant contractor for the Borssele III & IV offshore wind farm, Van Oord was responsible for the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the foundations and inter array cables. In addition the Aeolus was deployed for the transport and installation of the wind turbines. In April, Van Oord installed the last of 77 monopiles. Cable installation vessel Nexus and trencher Dig-It completed the installation and burial of more than 170 kilometres of inter array cables.
Good project execution starts with great preparation and planning; the start date of turbine installation was picked in 2017 and happened precisely on that day in May this year. Overcoming many additional challenges in this extraordinary year required even more collaboration between all key parties, and led to a successful completion of the installation phase.
The Borssele III & IV wind farm, which is situated 22 kilometres off the coast of the Province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, is being developed by the Blauwwind consortium, consisting of Partners Group, Shell, Eneco, Diamond Generating Europe and Van Oord. The first turbines have been delivering power since the beginning of August. The final set of turbines will now undergo commissioning and testing in preparation for full power generation. Upon completion of the project, the 731.5 MW wind farm will supply renewable energy accounting for up to 2.3% of total Dutch electricity demand.