Marine Coordination Services Scores Norther Contract

Van Oord has contracted Marine Coordination Services to provide a team to support the construction of the Norther offshore wind farm in Belgium.

Under the contract, Marine Coordination Services is currently deploying a team of four professionals to support the marine coordination center.

According to the Dutch company, the team, which can be deployed 24/7, will operate from Ostend.

As the Balance of Plant contractor, Van Oord is responsible for the engineering, procurement, supply and installation of turbine foundations, the Offshore High Voltage Station (OHVS), inter-array and export cables, as well as the installation of turbines.

Offshore works began in May with the installation of scour protection at the project site some 23km off the port of Zeebrugge. Van Oord’s vessel Aeolus started installing the monopile foundations in August, the same month in which the OHVS was installed.

The Norther offshore wind farm will comprise a total of 44 MHI Vestas V164-8.0 MW turbines optimized to deliver a maximum output of 8.4MW. The project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of the year.