The first inter-array cable installation campaign at the Beatrice offshore wind farm started today, 10 November, as the cable laying vessel Siem Aimery, supported by CSV Siem Stingray, is set to install up to 24 cables in the south part of the project site.
The cables will be laid and buried between the foundations, with the burial work to be carried out by a tracked jet trencher launched from the CLV Siem Aimery. So far, Seaway Heavy Lifting’s vessel Oleg Strashnov installed 24 jacket foundations at the site, and Stanislav Yudin will soon continue the installation after finishing the piling works.
Before the start of inter-array cable installation operations – performed by Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) and Siem Offshore Services – the jet trencher will be trialled at 3 locations adjacent to the cable routes within the wind farm boundary, according to the project’s Notice to Mariners.
The cable support vessel (CSV) Siem Stingray will assist with the inter-array cable installation activities by providing personnel transfer to wind turbine foundations with Ampelmann Gangway, as well as crane operations to transfer equipment to and from the foundations.
The CSV will also be in charge of work class ROV activities at the seabed in the vicinity of the foundations, and survey activities along the planned inter-array cable routes linking the foundations.
Beatrice will comprise 84 Siemens 7MW turbines and two Siemens Offshore Transformer Modules (OTMs), all placed on top of jacket foundations. The first wind turbines are scheduled to be installed in summer 2018, with the wind farm expected to be commissioned by the end of 2019.
Offshore WIND Staff