Heerema Marine Contractors has installed the jacket for the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) offshore substation, placing it on the seabed off the North Holland coast on behalf of the grid operator TenneT.
The ready-made topside will be installed next year to enable wind farm operator RWE/OranjeWind to connect the project which will be built at sea in a few years to the so-called 'socket at sea'.
The jacked sailed on a floating pontoon from the port of Vlissingen to its final destination about 53 kilometers off the coast of Egmond aan Zee.
The steel structure, 49 meters high and weighing more than 2,100 tonnes, was lifted from the floating pontoon by the lifting vessel Sleipnir by Heerema Marine Contractors and placed on the seabed.
The jacket is firmly anchored at the four corner points using piles driven more than 50 meters into the seabed.
These piles are placed in large tubes of 10 meters that are welded to the feet of the chassis. Prior to installation, the soil conditions on site were carefully examined.
The contractors Boskalis and Orient Cables are currently installing the sea cables that will connect the socket to the electricity grid in 2025.
These cables (220 kilovolts) are laid at a safe depth and connected to the land cables behind the dunes.
Through this connection, the electricity from the 700 MW project will be fed to the high-voltage grid via the transformer station in Wijk aan Zee.
The Hollandse Kust West Beta offshore wind farm is expected to enter service in 2025.
