Work was scheduled to begin on the Mermaid concession, which is located 54km off the Belgian coast, by the end of March

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EDS HV Group completes testing and termination project for Hellenic Cables at North Sea wind farm during COVID-19. (Credit: EDS HV Group.)

EDS HV Group secured the contract to complete the termination and testing of the Export Cables on behalf of Hellenic Cables for SeaMade Offshore Wind Farm, prior to the Coronavirus outbreak. Work was scheduled to begin on the Mermaid concession, which is located 54km off the Belgian coast, by the end of March.

Therefore, when the UK government announced the Covid-19 restrictions, the project team at EDS HV Group together with Hellenic Cables and SeaMade’s project team acted swiftly to ensure the first phase of the project was completed to the agreed schedule, and posed no risk to the EDS HV team or the personnel already located on the platform.

Lee Glendening, Termination and Testing Business Manager at EDS HV Group said;

“Although the Coronavirus pandemic presented a number of operational challenges, our engineers are used to working in challenging environments and within small teams. In addition to that our project management processes and systems are robust and we were able to adapt to ensure the safety of our team wasn’t compromised at any point, without impacting quality or timescales.

A big factor in our ability to perform under pressure is our people. Our Team Leaders aren’t just chosen for technical knowledge; they are also there to motivate. Our people are built for this type of work; they have the experience, expertise and mindset.”

Pre-flight preparations included individually isolating the team of seven engineers and their supervisor prior to the start of the project. Health and safety risk factors were reevaluated and adapted to reflect COVID-19. To minimise any risk during the helitransfer, the helicopter company were contacted to request that air filters were changed and a thorough deep clean of the helicopter was made prior to transfer. The flight was scheduled directly from Norwich to the jack-up platform in order to avoid hub airports and further minimise contact.

On the platform itself additional living quarters modules were built so that the EDS HV team could be fully segregated from the personnel on the platform, including food being delivered separately. Work was arranged in shift patterns to keep contact minimal with work areas fully disinfected after each action. Over the course of approximately 13 days, the project was completed and the team flew back.

Kostas Papathanasiou, Project Manager at Hellenic Cables said:

“EDS HV are well respected in the sector and are a safe pair of hands for this type of work, we had faith in them when we awarded the contract.

Despite the global pandemic we worked in close cooperation with them and together with our in-house resources and external subcontractors, we assembled the best team to complete the project, ensuring no downtime, delays, or safety concerns.  We are looking forward to the completion of the final phase of the project.”

The level of knowledge, experience and qualifications the engineers have at EDS HV Group means that they have an ever growing number of terminations completed without fault, over 8,500 to date.

Source: Company Press Release