Van Oord Testing New Trencher Ahead of Dutch Offshore Wind Work

Van Oord is conducting final tests with the Tracked Remotely Operated Vehicle (TROV) in the Alexiahaven harbor, the Netherlands, in preparation for the actual installation of the sea cables in July.

To remind, TenneT selected the Van Oord-Hellenic Cables consortium in September 2018 to connect the Hollandse Kust (South) Alpha and Beta offshore platforms to the Dutch onshore grid.

According to Van Oord, the Deep Dig-It trencher was specifically designed and built to the burry four cables more than 5m in the seabed for the first 10km of the offshore cable route, as to be able to cross the busy Rotterdam Maasmond shipping lane.

The TROV will be controlled from Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel MPI Adventure, which is equipped with a crane that launches and recovers the Deep Dig-It into the sea.

The trencher is more than 17m long, over 8m high, and has an installed power of 2,500 HP, making it possible to bury cables into very hard soils, the company said.

The Hollandse Kust (South) Alpha platform is expected to be completed in 2021 and Beta in 2022.