Jan De Nul Group has completed the installation and burial of the export cables for DONG Energy’s Race Bank offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom.
Jan De Nul installed two export cables of 70 kilometres and linked the wind farm’s two offshore substations with a six kilometre interconnector.
To execute the nearshore works across the saltmarsh in the Wash, Jan De Nul developed and built low ground pressure cable installation and burial tools Sunfish and Moonfish. Both machines were deployed from Jan De Nul’s cable installation barge DN120.
Offshore cable installation vessel Isaac Newton played a key role in the cable installation and jointing works as well as in the cable burial works with onboard trencher UTV1200 across the shallow Docking Shoals, the company said.
David Summers senior project director for DONG Energy, said: “Race Bank has challenging seabed conditions along the offshore export route and the cable installation was identified as one of the key risks to project success. Jan De Nul rose to the challenge applying their considerable engineering capability to the problems, especially in the nearshore. They have done a done a really great job.”
The 573MW Race Bank offshore wind farm will comprise 91 Siemens 6MW wind turbines which are currently being installed some 17 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast, and a similar distance from the Lincolnshire coast at Chapel St. Leonards.
The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2018.