Cable-laying vessel Isaac Newton, multipurpose vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant and a remotely-controlled cable burying vehicle of consortium Jan De Nul Group-LS Cable & System have completed the installation of the second marine cable for the offshore wind farm 'west Alpha', according to the company's release. In recent weeks, more than 60 kilometres of cable was laid and buried in the seabed between Heemskerk beach and the 'socket' that grid operator TenneT is having built at sea.
Last summer, Jan De Nul pulled four sea cables from Heemskerk beach in jacket pipes below the dunes. After the installation of the two sea cables for the Hollandse Kust (noord) wind farm, the first kilometres of the two cables for 'west Alpha' were laid under the seabed. Following the successful installation of the first ‘west Alpha’ sea cable earlier this year, Jan De Nul brought the free end of the second cable for 'west Alpha' to the surface in April - some five kilometres from the beach.
After jointing by the team from partner LS Cable & System, the cable was placed back on the seabed. At the same time, the multipurpose vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant arrived on site with the unmanned cable-laying vehicle UTV1200 on board. As soon as the Isaac Newton set sail, the cable slowly unwound from the large turntable on board; later followed by the Adhémar de Saint-Venant to control the UTV1200, which then buried the cable in the seabed. Adhémar de Saint-Venant also installed scour protection where the cable crossed other submarine connections.