Boskalis’ cable-laying barge Giant 7 has started the installation of the second and final nearshore export cable for the 700 MW offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust (west Beta), being built offshore the Netherlands.
The works on the second cable follow the successful installation of the first, also performed by Boskalis’ Giant 7 barge.
Giant 7, with the help of the specialist burial sledge tool BSSIII, will repeat the same operation to bring and connect the second cable to the shore.
The two 220kV AC export cables are needed to connect the offshore wind farm to the onshore power grid, via the existing onshore high voltage substation at Wijk aan Zee.
About four kilometers offshore, Boskalis’ cable-laying vessel Ndurance will take over the installation of the export cable. The trenches for this export cable in the seabed are dredged by the company’s trailing suction hopper dredger Gateway.
Boskalis is in charge of the Hollandse Kust West Beta wind farm export cable installation in consortium with consortium with Orient Cables (NBO).
Following the installation of the export cables, Boskalis will install a 9-kilometer-long 66kV interconnector cable between the TenneT projects Hollandse Kust (west Alpha) and Hollandse Kust (west Beta) offshore connector platforms, the company said earlier.
The 700 MW Hollandse Kust West Beta offshore wind farm is expected to enter service in 2025.
In May, Heerema Marine Contractors installed the jacket for the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) offshore substation on the seabed off the North Holland coast on behalf of the grid operator TenneT.