The installation of the offshore transformer substation topside for the 309MW Rentel offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea has been postponed, DEME Group told Offshore WIND.
According to DEME, the installation of the topside, initially scheduled for mid-January, has been delayed due to the weather conditions, with the structure likely to be installed at the end of the week.
The topside consists of a large steel building with four deck levels, weighs 1,200 tonnes and is designed to endure the extreme weather conditions in the North Sea. It will be put on the foundation that GeoSea installed in September.
The topside was loaded onto a barge at STX France’s assembly yard in Saint Nazaire and started its journey towards the installation site on 11 January.
DEME, with its subsidiaries GeoSea and Tideway, is the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contractor for the 309MW project and one of the shareholders in the Rentel NV consortium.
Rentel is expected to deliver first power to the Belgian grid by mid-2018, with the entire wind farm planned to become fully operational by the end of 2018.