From now on, the jack-up vessel Brave Tern from Fred. Olsen Windcarrier will work on the installation of wind turbines in the Global Tech I wind farm. This means, according to plan, a second vessel will supplement the installation work of towers and nacelles in addition to HOCHTIEF’s vessel Thor at the North Sea wind farm.
The vessel Vidar from HOCHTIEF will also start work shortly, to mount the turbine rotor stars.
Together, the three ships Thor, Brave Tern and Vidar will provide flexibility for the turbine installation. As further large vessels, the CS Sovereign and Cable Innovator are in the field for cable laying and cable burial activities plus the INNOVATION for tripod installation. Their works are assisted by a fleet of accommodation vessels, crew transfer and supply vessels.
The offshore North Sea wind farm is currently under construction and will be fully operational in summer 2014 according to the latest planning status. So far 76 of the 80 foundations have been constructed and most of these fully cabled. The imminent completion of commissioning of the transformer substation and a provisional grid connection via BorWin alpha means that as soon as the first turbine rotors are fitted, power from the AREVA turbines will begin to feed into the grid.
When complete and connected via the BorWin beta converter station to the grid, Global Tech I will then start to supply environmentally-friendly power for the equivalent needs of 445,000 households.
[mappress]
Press release, December 23, 2013; Image: globaltechone