Final Borssele III & IV foundation in place
Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel Aeolus has successfully completed the installation of 77 foundations for the Borssele III & IV windfarm.
For the last six months, the Aeolus has been deployed for the transport and installation of the foundations. Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel Nexus has also installed four out of twelve cable strings. The project will shortly start with the installation of the 9.5MW wind turbines supplied by MHI Vestas. As the Balance of Plant contractor, Van Oord is responsible for the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the foundations and inter array cables. “The Borssele III & IV project reached a milestone with the installation of the 77 foundations”, Roeland Borsboom, Poject Director of Blauwwind says. “The work was executed within planning in six months. Despite the extra precautions in connection with the coronavirus, we were able to continue the project, taking necessary measures and complying with governmental guidelines. We are proud of the Blauwwind project team and their partners, including Van Oord, for their contribution to the rapid construction of the wind farm.”
The Borssele III & IV windfarm is being built 22km off the coast of the Province of Zeeland and will be one of the largest offshore Dutch windfarms. It will have a total installed capacity of 731.5MW, providing sufficient power for approximately 825,000 Dutch households. The windfarm is part of the offshore wind roadmap drawn up by the Dutch government. The roadmap details the areas designated in the North Sea where offshore wind farms can be built. At the end of December 2016, the Blauwwind consortium won the tender to build the Borssele III & IV offshore windfarm. Blauwwind consists of Partners Group (45%), Shell (20%), DGE (15%), Eneco Group (10%) and Van Oord (10%). The consortium has signed Power Purchase Agreements with Shell and Eneco Group, which stipulate that they will both purchase 50% of the energy generated by the windfarms for a period of fifteen years.