DEME's subsidiaries Dredging International, GeoSea and Tideway have secured contracts worth €500m for the 487MW SeaMade Offshore Wind Farm in Belgium.
Image: DEME selected by SeaMade for offshore wind farm EPCI contract. Photo: Courtesy of DEME.
DEME stated that the contract includes foundations, turbines and inter-array export for the offshore wind farm. SeaMade stands is a combination of two offshore wind projects.
Offshore works for the two wind farms are expected to begin in the summer of next year and the wind farms are planned to begin operations before the end of 2020.
Under an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract, Dredging International will be responsible for the 58 foundations and the inter-array cables of the wind farm.
The cables will connect each turbine to the relevant offshore substation. Monopile foundations have been selected for this wind farm. The hub height of the turbines will be 109m and a rotor diameter will be 167m.
DEME’s GeoSea, ENGIE and Smulders will be responsible for full engineering, procurement, construction, transport, installation and commissioning of the two high voltage substations. SeaMade’s two wind farms, Mermaid and Seastar will have their offshore substation, which will collect electricity generated from the turbines and will convert it from 33kV to 220kV and export it into the grid.
Export cables for the two wind farms will be connected through two 220kV submarine high voltage cables to the Belgian Modular Offshore Grid. A consortium of Hellenic Cables, Tideway has been given the responsibility of the design, manufacture and installation operations and for connecting the wind farms high voltage substations to the Belgian Modular Offshore Grid.
DEME director and CEO Alain Bernard said: “DEME and its subsidiaries are proud to contribute to a sustainable energy transition in Belgium. We are an early mover in the offshore wind market in our home country.
“We will deploy our specialised high-tech equipment, know-how and local experience to efficiently and safely carry out the SeaMade project, as well as export this valuable experience in many projects in Europe and beyond. After the successful cooperation for the Rentel project we will again use the REBO site in the port of Ostend as our base for wind turbine assembly, transport and installation.
“Also, we look forward to working with our strong partner network and all stakeholders on the SeaMade project, and are confident also in the future our combined expertise can play a major role in Belgium’s ambition to double offshore wind capacity to 4GW by 2025.”
Recently, SeaMade completed financial close for the wind farm and Siemens Gamesa has been selected as the wind turbine supplier for the project.