EDS has established a connection between the MOG’s offshore submarine cables and the onshore cables at Elia’s Stevin 380kV onshore substation in Zeebrugge

Elia

Image: EDS HV Group completes testing of Elia’s MOG. Photo: Courtesy of Hellenic Cables.

EDS HV Group, a high-voltage engineering services provider for the renewable industry, has completed testing, jointing and termination works at Elia’s modular offshore grid (MOG) in the Belgian waters of the North Sea.

EDS Group secured a sub-contract from the project cables manufacturer, Hellenic Cables, to perform the work on behalf of the EPC contractor, Dredging International, a DEME Group company.

The company helped in establishing a connection between the MOG’s offshore submarine cables and the onshore cables at Elia’s Stevin 380kV onshore substation in Zeebrugge.

The MOG will help Belgium achieve its target of 4GW in renewable energy by 2028

The works performed by EDS will help in contributing to Belgium’s target of 4GW to be installed by 2028.

By acting as a central hub, the MOG is claimed to reduce the number of exports needed to connect several new wind farms to the Belgian onshore grid to just three, offering cost benefits and a greater security of power supply.

As a fail-safe feature, if one of the cables fails or is faulty, the wind farms will still be able to supply energy to the Belgian grid.

EDS claims that its experience has helped in completing the project easily, which could otherwise have been a complex process.

EDS group managing director Ken Ritson said: “We have relished the opportunity to work on ELIA’s innovative modular offshore grid, and it’s great to have the chance to see first-hand how the industry is working to make the installation of new sites more sustainable and efficient. Once again, we’re pleased to say EDS teams worked successfully to the highest industry standards.”

Hellenic Cables senior project manager Ioannis Stergiou said: “I would like to thank EDS and its team for their commitment, hard work and determination. For both the clients, and Hellenic Cables, this result is of high importance as the MOG project plays a vital role for Belgium’s energy plan.”

EDS HV Group completed a range of services including the preparation of two onshore transition joint bays with clean working habitats to help connect specialised 245kV cable joints with integrated fibre-optics.

Later, the group completed the safe connection of three 245kV HV and FO cable end terminations to MOG and one to the substation of the Rentel offshore wind farm.

As a strategically important project for Belgium, Elia MOG is the first step towards an offshore super-grid. The project will initially connect four new offshore wind farms, Rentel, Seastar, Mermaid and Northwester 2, when it begins operations next year.

The modular design also pre-empts an objective to connect to more sites in the future.