The first of two offshore substations for the SeaMade offshore wind farm left the construction yard in Hoboken for its final destination in the Belgian North Sea. The 1200-tonne substation has four decks, is fourteen metres high and has an output capacity of 235 megawatts.
With a 487-megawatt (MW) capacity, SeaMade is the largest offshore wind farm in Belgium. SeaMade originates from the merger of two offshore wind projects, previously known as Mermaid (235 MW) and Seastar (252 MW). The SeaMade wind turbines are expected to produce green energy from mid-2020 onwards.
High voltage substations
ENGIE Fabricom, Tractebel, Smulders and DEME Offshore are responsible for the full EPCI scope (engineering, procurement, construction, transport, installation and commissioning) of SeaMade’s high voltage substations. The substation is the beating heart of the offshore wind farm. It transforms the wind energy that is produced to 225 kilovolt (kV), which in turn allows the electricity to transfer to shore via Elia’s Modular Offshore Grid (MOG).
Installation of the foundations, subsea cables and 58 wind turbine generator foundations has already been completed.