Smulders to Assemble Innovative Suction Bucket Foundations
A contract for assembling pioneering suction bucket foundations for Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) has been awarded to Smulders Projects. The company is to carry out the work on the eleven foundations for the ground-breaking 92.4MW EOWDC, off Aberdeen Bay. It is believed to be one of the first UK offshore wind projects where suction buckets will be deployed on a large scale. Through being paired with eleven of the world’s most powerful turbines, the suction buckets will also create an industry first.
Smulders was awarded the EOWDC contract by Boskalis which is the overall Tier 1 supplier of the scheme’s offshore balance of plant (BoP) work for the construction and installation (EPCI) of the offshore infrastructure including the foundations and cabling. The contract for the foundations is the latest in a series that have been awarded over the past six months for the project.
Other Tier 1 contractors appointed were MHI Vestas to supply the turbines and which is fabricating the 80m blades at its Isle of Wight factory while J Murphy and Sons is providing the onshore substation and associated cabling work. JDR is to deliver the 66kV inter-array and export cables, representing the first deployment of this innovative technology, and Babcock is deploying its floating LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to provide offshore wind data to the EOWDC. Vattenfall has also signed leases totalling 24 years with Aberdeen Harbour Board, becoming the first offshore wind operator to invest long term in the port’s facilities.