DEME completes the installation of 58 monopile foundations at Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm
DEME has successfully completed the installation of 58 monopile foundations and two offshore substation foundations at the SeaMade offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea. The last monopile foundation landed on the seabed on January 2. With a 487 MW capacity SeaMade is the largest offshore wind farm in Belgium, the company said in its release.
Installation works kicked off in September 2019 with DEME’s offshore installation vessel ‘Innovation’. Turbine installation will start in spring 2020 with offshore installation vessel ‘Apollo’ and with the port of Ostend as load-out port for the Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy 8,4 MW turbines. DEME will also install all inter-array cables with cable lay vessel ‘Living Stone’ after successfully having installed the export cable.
During foundation installation a new monopile gripper, mounted on offshore installation vessel ‘Innovation’, has been deployed. This new pile gripper excels in safety, versatility and piling accuracy, enabling ‘Innovation’ to install monopile foundations all year round. Furthermore, for ‘Innovation’s’ next project a noise mitigation system will be integrated for minimising subsea noise during installation activities.
Before the end of 2020, SeaMade will provide renewable energy to 485,000 households in Belgium.
About DEME
DEME is a world leader in the highly specialised fields of dredging, marine engineering and environmental remediation. The company can build on more than 140 years of know-how and experience and has fostered a pioneering approach throughout its history, being a front runner in innovation and new technologies.
DEME’s vision is to work towards a sustainable future by offering solutions for global challenges: a rising sea level, a growing population, reduction of CO2 emissions, polluted rivers and soils and the scarcity of natural resources. Although DEME’s activities originated with the core dredging business, the portfolio diversified substantially over the decades, including dredging and land reclamation, solutions for the offshore energy market, infra marine solutions and environmental solutions.
