Van Oord has selected Universal Foundation to support it during the installation of two Mono Bucket foundations at the 269MW Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm, which will be located in German North Sea.
Image: Van Oord selects Universal Foundation to support in Deutsche Bucht offshor wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of Darren Coleshill/Unsplash.
Van Oord and Universal Foundation have signed the contract, after achieving financial close on the Mono Bucket pilot demonstrator project by Northland Deutsche Bucht in July this year.
Universal Foundation project manager Jesper Uhre Larsen said: “Having delivered the certified design of the two Mono Buckets to Northland Power, we are naturally pleased to see the project taking FID on the pilot. We are excited to continue our efforts on the project working with a professional marine contractor like Van Oord.
“The project teams are working towards the same end goal: a successful installation of the Mono Bucket foundations in 2019, which will enable further opportunities to lower the cost of offshore wind energy.”
Consequently, Van Oord’s Balance of Plant project was also extended with two additional pilot foundations. Financial close for the pilot project was achieved after DNV GL certified the Mono Bucket design in April and with the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (BSH) granting the project the permit needed to install two additional pilot wind turbines in May.
Van Oord Mono Bucket Pilot package manager Holger Miara said: “Van Oord is passionate about innovation, marine ingenuity and improving the standards and the environmental impact of the industry. It is exciting to be part of the realization of this pilot and jointly with universal Foundations and our employer demonstrate the technology in the context of a full-scale commercial project.
“The best part of it is that this installation will result in significantly reduced environmental impact in comparison to usually applied construction methodologies.”
Deutsche Bucht is claimed to be the first offshore wind farm to showcase Mono Bucket technology under commercial operating conditions. The wind farm will include 33 of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind V164-8.4MW wind turbines, each with 8.4MW of generating capacity. Out of the 33, 31 turbines will be installed on monopoles and two on Mono Buckets. The wind farm will have a grid capacity of almost 269MW.
Once operational, the wind farm is expected to supply enough renewable energy to about 328,000 households annually. The Mono Bucket foundations will be installed in the second quarter of next year. The wind farm’s commissioning could take place in the second half of next year.