Peter Madsen Rederi Wraps Up Boulder Clearance on Arkona Offshore Wind Farm

Danish marine contractor Peter Madsen Rederi A/S (PMR) has completed the removal of boulders at the 385MW Arkona offshore wind farm in the German Baltic.

The project was finalized on budget and ahead of schedule, PMR said.

Working directly for the wind farm developer Arkona-Windpark-Entwicklungs GmbH (AWE), owned by E.ON and Statoil, PMR was awarded the contract last year.

The task was to remove boulders from the turbine positions and some of the cable routes prior to installation of the wind turbine foundations, which is due to commence later this year.

Apart from the actual boulder removal, PMR provided high resolution multi beam surveys before and after the clearance as well as Blueview sonar scanning.

PMR used its own vessel, M/V Aase Madsen, for the project which was handled out of the ports of Sassnitz in Germany and Rønne on the island of Bornholm.

The vessel also worked as the survey platform during the project.

The boulders at Arkona were all removed under water without visual identification using PMR’s advanced positioning and survey equipment in combination with the vessel’s crane and boulder grab, the company said.

The Arkona offshore wind farm will feature sixty Siemens 6MW wind turbines, expected to be fully commissioned in 2019. The turbine towers will be mounted on monopile foundations installed at depths of 23 to 37 meters.

The EUR 1.2 billion wind farm is equally owned by E.ON and Statoil. The project represents Statoil’s first investment into German offshore wind market.

E.ON is responsible for the construction and subsequent operation of the wind farm.