Top News of the Week Apr 22 – 28, 2013

Zaratan: 3 Monopiles in 36 Hours (Germany)

Following the news that almost 60 monopiles had been completed on 18 March, specialised jack-up vessel Seajacks Zaratan continues installation at a rapid pace at the Meerwind Offshore Park, installing 3 monopiles in just under 1 and a half days.

VIDEO: Zaratan’s Installation of Final Meerwind OWF Monopile 

Seajacks Zaratan installed the final monopile at the Meerwind Offshore Wind Park on Sunday, April 22. The vessel also proved its great efficiency earlier this month by installing 3 monopiles in 35 hours. The following is a video of the vessel performing installation of 80th and final Meerwind monopile:

Germany: 40 Tripods Erected Off Borkum

In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, about ten months after the start of construction, the heavy load vessel Stanislav Yudin transported the last of the 40 tripods to the construction site of Trianel’s Borkum Offshore Wind Farm and anchored it in a water depth of approximately 30 meters in the German Bight.

Germany: First Submarine Cable Section Laid for Baltic 2

The work for the network connection of the second German offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, the EnBW Baltic 2, is in progress. The vessel Aura rinsed the first submarine cable section into the Baltic ground, on Saturday, 20 April 2013, for the connection of Baltic 2.

University of Stuttgart: Wind Turbines Learn How to Swim (Germany)

Scientists at the Stuttgart Chair of Wind Energy (SWE), University of Stuttgart are now doing research on floating offshore wind turbines that can be installed in water depths of more than 40 meters. This allows the use of wind energy in steep waters, for example in the Mediterranean in Spain, on the west coast of the USA or in Japan.