Eemshaven base port for world’s largest offshore windfarm
From May on Buss Terminal in Eemshaven (Groningen Seaports, the Netherlands) will serve as the base port for the installation of foundation structures for the Hornsea Two offshore windfarm. Approximately 140,000m² of the 250,000m² heavy lift terminal will be used for this project.
The windfarm will be located approximately 89km off the Yorkshire Coast in the North Sea. “We are delighted to have won a project of this size in UK waters. This underlines the combined strength of our project team in Hamburg and our terminal in Eemshaven”, Martin Schulz, Managing Director of the Buss Energy Group, comments the upcoming project.
The windfarm which is owned by the Danish energy group Ørsted will consist of 165 Siemens Gamesa 8MWturbines. With a total capacity of almost 1.4GW, it will supply about 1.3 million households with green energy. The Hornsea Two windfarm will span an offshore area of 462km² and when fully operational in 2022 be the largest offshore windfarm in the world. Buss Terminal Eemshaven has won the tender issued by DEME Offshore in February and is now responsible for handling, storage and terminal logistics of the 165 monopiles and transition pieces at its own terminal site. The monopile foundations of the wind turbines each weigh up to 1,230t. This equals the weight of around three fully loaded Boeing 747-400 aircrafts.
Groningen Seaports’ CEO Cas König, full of pride states, “We are delighted that DEME has once again chosen Eemshaven as the base port for this enormous project. Hornsea Two is the seventeenth offshore windfarm to be installed via Eemshaven. Not only is this the largest windfarm off the English coast, it is also the largest windfarm ever built via Eemshaven. And of course it’s a great achievement for Buss Terminal Eemshaven, which has already proven its ability to handle this kind of gigantic projects. It’s also good for the activities in the seaport and for employment. It shows that Eemshaven really has grown into one of the North Sea’s most important offshore wind ports.”
Since 2009 Eemshaven plays an important role regarding assembly and shipping activities of wind turbines. The port has become a base, marshalling and service port of note for offshore windfarms especially in the German part of the North Sea. Eemshaven is geographically well-situated for the offshore wind activities. Moreover, Eemshaven meets all maritime requirements and has the facilities regarding the assembly and shipping of wind turbines. Eemshaven has already been involved in the construction of sixteen windfarms and is home to the maintenance bases for four windfarms.