FoundOcean has successfully completed the grouting of foundations at Gemini Wind Farm on behalf of the main contractor, Van Oord.
The offshore wind farm, situated 85 kilometres north of the Dutch province of Groningen, is made up of 150 wind turbines spanning across 2 sites. The 600 MW wind farm will provide 785,000 homes with renewable energy from 2017 onwards.
The Gemini wind farm project was the first to utilise BASF’s new grouting material, MasterFlow 9800. Van Oord, who led the installation of foundations for the Gemini project, chose MasterFlow 9800 for its reported productivity and safety enhancing qualities.
Having considered operational challenges, which are frequently encountered during offshore operations, FoundOcean says it became clear that there was a significant market requirement for an alternative material. For large scale projects, such as Gemini, there was a need for engineered grouts that could be supplied in bulk rather than bags, and effectively mixed to ensure a consistent quality, according to the company.
”FoundOcean recognized a need amongst its customers for a material that could provide high early strength development and low temperature performance, yet also offered increased efficiency, safety and cleanliness,” Jim Bell, the Managing Director of FoundOcean, said.