GEOxyz has won a contract to provide service and maintenance, in particular mechanical services, for the Offshore High Voltage Substation (OHVS) and the foundations at the Belgian Norther offshore wind farm.
Under the five-year contract, the company’s scope of services will comprise troubleshooting, unscheduled corrective maintenance, scheduled inspections and maintenance, and statutory inspections.
The mechanical services to be provided through this contract will include work such as inspection and, if necessary tensioning of the bolts monopile-transition flange; overall bolts inspection and tensioning including OHVS topside; paint, grating, and weld inspection on both the foundation and the topside, as well as cleaning campaigns.
The company will also work on latchways and tether lines, but only on OHVS topside; Avanti fall protection system on all foundations, ICCP system, and lighting systems.
Norther, the owner and developer of the project, issued two calls for tenders for service and maintenance of the OHVS in July 2020.
Located approximately 25 kilometres from the port of Zeebrugge, the Norther offshore substation was installed at the 370 MW offshore wind farm site in 2018. The OHVS was built by Engie Fabricom (topside), Smulders, Sif, and CG under a contract with the Balance of Plant contractor Van Oord.
The offshore wind farm, which became fully operational in May 2020, is the first wind farm in Belgian territorial waters to feature turbines with a capacity of 8 MW and above.