Van Oord installed the final monopile for CrossWind’s Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm this week, bringing the total to seventy. The offshore wind farm is located 18.5 kilometres off the coast of the Netherlands, near the seaside resort of Egmond aan Zee.
Once finished, it will have a total installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year. This is enough renewable electricity to meet 2.8 per cent of the Netherlands’ electricity demand. The monopiles are the foundations for the wind turbines. The first monopile was installed less than four months ago, on 17 October 2022. Watch a video of the installation work below.
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‘After an extensive period of preparations, it’s great to now actually see the outlines of the offshore wind farm,’ says Roeland Ris, Project Director Van Oord. ‘With the supply of secondary steel and inter array cables on target and our offshore installation vessels fully operational, the construction of the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm is progressing well on schedule.’
Wybren de Vries, Balance of Plant Package Manager at CrossWind, adds: ‘The installation of the monopiles was an immense operation, with the monopiles weighing between 788 tonnes and 960 tonnes each.’
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Seventy monopiles with turbines to follow
Van Oord installed all seventy monopiles in a short period of time despite strong wind and cold weather. As a Balance of Plant contractor of CrossWind, Van Oord activities encompass the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the wind turbine foundations. Van Oord engaged DEME to deploy the jack-up vessel Innovation to install the monopiles.
Van Oord is also involved in the design, engineering, procurement and installation of the inter array cables, as well as the transport and installation of the wind turbines themselves. Van Oord will deploy cable-laying vessel Nexus to install the cables starting in March this year.
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Meanwhile Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel MPI Resolution is installing secondary steel to complete the foundations. The secondary steel sets consist of boat landings, main access platforms (with davit cranes) and internal platforms. The platforms will be used for maintenance activities once the wind farm is operational.
Picture: Offshore installation vessel MPI Resolution installing secondary steel.
