Balance of Plant Contractor Van Oord has installed the first foundation at the 269MW Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm, located nearly 95km northwest of the island of Borkum, Germany.
Image: The Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2019. Photo: Courtesy of xedos4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Van Oord said that the installation marks the beginning of the construction phase at sea for the project.
Comprising a monopile fitted with a transition piece, the first foundation for the offshore wind farm is installed in a water depth of nearly 40 metres.
The offshore wind farm will feature a total of 33 wind turbines, with 31 on monopiles and two on Mono Buckets. Installation of the mono buckets is planned to be carried out in the second quarter of 2019.
Northland Deutsche Bucht project director Jens Poulsen said: “We are very pleased to have achieved this important milestone. Thanks to the committed Deutsche Bucht project team and our experienced general contractor, Van Oord, the offshore building phase of the wind farm started on schedule.”
During the pile driving activities, Van Oord will deploy its innovative FaunaGuard system, which uses special underwater acoustics in order to deter marine fauna species.
Besides, the company intends to use a multi-level noise mitigation system during the installation of the monopiles for a further reduction in impact on the environment and marine fauna.
Built by the Northland Deutsche Bucht project company, the Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm will have a grid connection capacity of approximately 269 MW.
The electricity produced by the wind farm sufficient to provide approximately 328,000 households with sustainable energy on an annual basis.
The Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2019.
In 2017, Van Oord secured a balance of plant contract for the wind farm. Under the contract, the company is responsible for the design engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the foundations, inter array cables and offshore substation, and the transport of the wind turbines.