Offshore Wind & Assistance (OWA) and EWE Offshore Services & Solutions (EWE-OSS) have been selected to provide operations and maintenance services at the 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.
The five-year contract is due to commence in 2016. OWA will operate and maintain the balance of plant at the under construction 150-turbine project.
The company will maintain all foundations above and below water as well as the cable and scour protection.
EWE-OSS will operate, maintain and monitor two transformer stations at sea and one transformer station in Eemshaven.
It will also carry out the network management of the two 220kV export cables that will transport the energy to land and a 380kV stretch of cable on land that will link the electricity to the transmission network.
Northland Power holds a 60% stake in the Gemini project, which is expected to be commissioned in 2017.
Siemens Wind Power owns a 20% interest, while Van Oord and HVC each hold 10% stakes respectively.
It will feature 150 Siemens 4MW offshore wind turbines that will provide enough energy for 1.5 million people in the Netherlands.
Upon completion, the facility will yield 2.6TWh of electricity a year and reduce 1.25 million tons of CO2 emissions.
Image: The Gemini offshore wind farm is being constructed on two locations close to each other, Buitengaats and ZeeEnergie. Photo: courtesy of DEME.