Nexans Details Beatrice Gig

French cable maker Nexans has disclosed its scope of works within the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind project which the company will carry out as part of a partnership with Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd.

As previously reported, Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd chose the two companies to supply a transmission system to connect its new wind farm off the coast of Scotland to the grid.

Nexans’ turnkey contract, worth approximately EUR 245 million, will see the company manufacture and deliver two complete 220 kV export cable circuits of 90 kilometres, with a total of 260 km of onshore and offshore cables.

The offshore cables will be laid by Nexans’ cable laying ship, C/S Nexans Skagerrak, and trenched for seabed protection by the company’s Capjet system.

Power will be carried by offshore and onshore cables to Blackhillock in Scotland to connect with the grid. Cables delivery will begin in summer 2016 with installation starting in autumn 2017. The wind farm will be operational by 2019.

Dirk Steinbrink, Senior Executive Vice President High Voltage & Underwater Cable Business Group at Nexans said: “This contract represents Nexans global commitment to meeting the growing energy demands and facilitate energy transition in Europe. It highlights our ability to deliver turnkey projects for connecting offshore wind farms to the grid.”

The Beatrice wind farm project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables Limited, SDIC Power of China and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

It is located 13.5 km from Caithness in northern Scotland and will be operated and controlled from a base at Wick. The wind farm will be made up of 84 Siemens 7 MW turbines.