Windpark Fryslân Awards Export Cable Installation Contract

Dutch contractor Visser & Smit Hanab, part of Volker-Wessels, has won a contract to install power cables that will link the Fryslân offshore wind farm in the IJsselmeer to the Dutch grid.

Under the EUR 30 million contract, Visser & Smit Hanab will install two cable sections 25km in length in total to establish a connection to the high-voltage grid operated by TenneT TSO.

The cables will follow a route through the Afsluitdijk and along the A7 motorway towards Bolsward. The first section along the Afsluitdijk will be installed in 2019, while the second section crossing the province of Friesland will be installed in 2020.

Fryslân wind farm is being built in the Frisian part of the IJsselmeer and has an installed capacity of at least 316MW. The wind farm will comprise 89 turbines which are expected to be commissioned in 2021.

The infield cables from the wind farm first come to shore at Fryslân’s own transformer station at Breezanddijk on the artificial island of Breezand. From there, the two cable circuits will be installed and run to Bolsward, where the energy from the wind farm will be delivered to TenneT’s Frisian high-voltage grid.

The section along the Afsluitdijk is 15km in length and the section running through the province stretches for 10km. The full section from Breezanddijk to Bolsward will be connected with underground cable sections of 1.5km each. Due to the large amount of power produced by the wind farm, the use of two cable circuits of 110kV each is necessary, the developer said.

Wiertsema, a soil specialist company from Tolbert, began soil investigations to prepare for the installation of these power cables in 2017. The cables will be the property of Fryslân wind farm.

“This project dovetails neatly with our ambition – also in relation to battle climate change and to accelerate energy transition – to actively contribute to sustainable projects. In the next few years a total amount of 130,500 man-hours will be spent in this project on behalf of Fryslân Wind farm,” Kenneth de Wit, general manager of Visser & Smit Hanab, said.

Earlier this month, Fryslân wind farm was cleared to proceed after the Council of State dismissed objections against the project.

The wind farm is being developed by Ventolines BV on behalf of Windpark Friesland BV.