Two weeks after the successful load out, the steel topside for the Hollandse Kust (west Beta) substation platform is ready to leave the port of Hoboken near Antwerp in the Netherlands for its final North Sea destination.
The topside is schedule to leave the Dutch port on May 17, on a floating pontoon via the Scheldt and the Western Scheldt towards the North Sea.
As soon as Heerema Marine Contractors’ installation vessel Sleipnir has completed its current job in British waters, it will sail to the coast of North Holland to start the installation operation.
The superstructure of the transformer platform, weighing over 3,500 tonnes, will be installed 50 kilometers off the coast of Egmond aan Zee.
As part of the job, Sleipnir will lift the 45-metre long, 20-metre wide and 25-metre-high structure from the floating pontoon and place it on the jacket, which has been firmly anchored to the seabed since May 2024.
The topside and jacket will then be welded together and connected to the electricity grid in the coming months.
Through this connection, the electricity from the 700 MW project, operated by RWE/OranjeWind, 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.
