Heavy-lifting and transport specialist Mammoet has signed a support contract with Seatrium to carry out the load-out of three offshore substations for TenneT’s 2 GW offshore grid connection program in the North Sea.
Under the agreement, Mammoet will execute the movement and load-out of the three substations, which are among the heaviest structures in the program and are destined for offshore installation in the North Sea.
TenneT’s 2GW program involves the installation of 15 high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore grid connection systems in the North Sea by 2032, including eight in the Netherlands and seven in Germany. The system are designed to connect large-scale offshore wind farms to the European mainland.
Seatrium will undertake fabrication of the substation topsides across its international yard network under its One Seatrium Global Delivery model. Each topside is expected to weigh more than 30,000 tonnes.
Mammoet will deploy specialist skidding systems to transfer the substations between land and sea-going transport vessels. Hydraulically compensated skidding equipment will be used to control movement and limit structural deflection during load-out operations.
“We are proud to partner with Seatrium for this innovative offshore wind program, which will support Europe’s net-zero and energy independent ambitions. Our work is redefining the scale at which these key energy projects can be built.
“We look forward to using our innovative engineered solutions to load these colossal structures onto transport vessels in a safe and controlled manner,” said Richard Verhoeff, Global Sales Director at Mammoet.