Loadout of TenneT´s Hollandse Kust transformer platform
The topsides for TenneT’s Hollandse Kust (North) transformer platform in the Dutch North Sea has been loaded out from Equans’ fabrication hall in Antwerp and transferred to a floating barge.
The 3,500-metric ton steel structure was due to be secured and prepared for transport to the offshore location. During the load-out operation, the structure was steered on self-propelled trailers past a similar structure built for the German offshore wind farm Baltic Eagle, then driven from the quay to the barge. Sailaway should take place in late September or early October.
After a two-day sea voyage, the topsides, measuring 47m long, 35m wide and 25m high, will be placed by the Orion vessel 18.5km off the coast of Egmond aan Zee on the jacket, which was anchored to the seabed last November.
This is the first of three topsides the Equans/Smulders venture has been building. The next two to be delivered will be West Alpha and West Berta. The Hollandse Kust (North) platform, connected to Crosswind’s wind turbines, should be fully operational next year.
Power cables for the project are already ready in the seabed and will be connected to further cables behind the dunes near Heemskerk/Wijk aan Zee, to feed power to an HV substation in Beverwijk.