Core new Dutch offshore wind farm installed
Installation OHVS
Around 9.30 this morning, the Offshore High Voltage Station (OHVS) of the new Dutch offshore wind farm Eneco Luchterduinen was installed at sea. With a capacity of 129 Megawatt, Luchterduinen will be the largest wind farm at the Dutch North Sea. The heavy lift vessel Rambiz of the Belgian company Scaldis was used to carry out this spectacular operation. With its 80-metre-high booms, this floating crane picked up the station in IJmuiden yesterday.
The OHVS weighs the same as four Boeing 747s (close to 900 tons), is four storeys high and has a length of 24 metres, a width of 23 metres and a height of 16 metres. It contains transformers and switch gear as well as computers used for safety and control purposes, an auxiliary power system and an air-conditioning system. Sleeping quarters and emergency rations are available for the crew in case of an emergency. The transformer station shall collect the electricity that will be generated by the 43 wind turbines and transform it from 33 kV to 150kV. It is also the point from which the electricity shall be transported to the mainland via a power cable with a length of 25 kilometres.
Van Oord
Van Oord is the main contractor for the Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm. Van Oord contracted the FICG consortium for the design, construction and installation of the platform. FICG is a partnership between Cofely Fabricom, Iemants and CG, with Cofely Fabricom taking the lead. The overall design and assembly was carried out by Cofely Fabricom in Hoboken near Antwerp. Iemants, located in Arendonk in Belgium, was responsible for the design of the steel structure and the manufacture of the steel components for the platform. CG was responsible for the design, the delivery and the installation of the high-voltage components.
Planning
The realisation of Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm is well under way. The 44 foundation piles were installed last fall. In April, Van Oord will start with the installation of the 43 Vestas wind turbines. Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm will be operational by the end of 2015, when it will start to produce green electricity for approximately 150,000 households. The wind farm is a joint project between Japanese company Mitsubishi Corporation and Eneco Group.
