Offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul will this week complete the installation for the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust (west Alpha) to TenneT's substation 50 km off the coast of Egmond aan Zee, offshore the Netherlands.
This will be the second cable connection for this wind farm, after the first was completed earlier this year.
"With over sixty kilometers of sea cable on board, the cable-laying vessel Isaac Newton will appear off the coast of Heemskerk/Wijk aan Zee this week. With this cable section, the contractor combination Jan de Nul Group/LS Cable & System is realizing the second connection," TenneT said Thursday.
About five kilometres from the beach, Jan de Nul will bring the first part of the second cable for 'west Alpha' to the surface. This cable was already pulled under the dunes last year, after which the first kilometers were laid in the seabed. On board the Isaac Newton, the end (currently still capped) will be connected to the cable on board by means of a so-called sleeve connection.
Once the connection has been made, the cable will be placed back on the seabed.
"At the same time, the work vessel Symphony from the Belgian contractor's fleet appears off the coast. On board is the unmanned cable-laying vehicle Swordfish. Once the Isaac Newton sets sail, the sea cable will slowly unwind from the large turntable on board. The Symphony sails behind it to control the Swordfish, which then lays the cable into the seabed," TenneT said.
The cable will be installed up to the site where TenneT is having the offshore transformer platform for the 'west Alpha' wind farm built.
For this, at a distance of some 50 kilometers off the coast of Egmond aan Zee, the undercarriage is already on the seabed.
"This summer, the ready-made superstructure will be placed on top of it. Through this grid connection, TenneT will soon bring energy from the sea to land," TenneT said.
According to TenneT, the 'west Alpha' wind farm, which will be realized and operated by Ecowende - a joint venture between Shell and Eneco - will soon consist of 54 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 756 megawatts.
"That is enough renewable energy to meet about 3% of the current Dutch electricity demand. That corresponds to the consumption of one million households. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2026," TenneT said.