Arcadis Ost 1 Readies for Wind Turbine Installation

DEME has completed the installation of the secondary steel on all the XXL monopiles at Parkwind’s Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm in the German part of the Baltic Sea, with the project now ready to enter the next stage of construction.

The offshore construction specialist installed the final XXL monopile, manufactured by Steelwind, at the 257 MW offshore wind farm in July using its new DP3 floating installation vessel, Orion.

The secondary steel components, as well as the transition piece for the offshore substation, were delivered by the Polish company Energomontaż-Północ Gdynia (EPG) under a contract with DEME. This includes boat landings, platforms and corrosion protection systems, and represents a total of 3,700 tonnes of steel and 30 kilometres of electrical cables.

The secondary steel structures were installed by employing a floating installation method engineered by DEME’s team. The work involved deploying specialised, project-specific tools since jack-up operations cannot be carried out in the area due to challenging soil conditions.

Arcadis Ost 1 now moves to the next phase of construction, the cable installation and burial, and now that the foundations are being prepared for the wind turbines, this installation work can start next month, according to Parkwind.

The installation of the offshore wind farm’s 27 Vestas 9.5 MW wind turbines, to be carried out by Heerema Marine Contractors, will also involve a new method. Namely, Heerema will employ its novel Rotor Nacelle Assembly (RNA) installation method for the first time on Parkwind’s Arcadis Ost 1.

The method involves assembling and installing XXL wind turbines onboard a floating, dynamically positioned (DP) vessel and was tested in the Dutch North Sea last year onboard the crane vessel Sleipnir.

For Arcadis Ost 1’s wind turbines, the company will use its crane vessel Thialf, which entered the Baltic Sea for the first time ever last month.

Once fully commissioned in 2023, the offshore wind farm is expected to provide enough electricity to cover the needs of up to 300,000 German households.

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