After Van Oord’s heavy lift installation vessel Svanen completed installation of all fifty monopiles for Iberdrola Deutschland’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, Van Oord now continues installing transition pieces and starts cable installation. This week the inter-array cable loading onto Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel Nexus has commenced.

In total, Van Oord will install approximately 70 kilometres of 66kV inter-array cables, manufactured by subcontractor TKF. To protect the cables, Van Oord will deploy its trencher Dig-It later this year to bury them. This Tracked Remotely Operated Vehicle (TROV) drives unmanned over the seabed and creates a trench for the cables by liquefying the seabed.

To complete the foundations for the wind turbines, Van Oord is currently installing the transition pieces on the previously installed monopiles. The transition pieces were transported from the manufacturing yard in Aviles to the Van Oord storage facility in Mukran, Germany. At Van Oord’s facility the final preparations and equipment is installed to enable the installation.

Luis Pérez Portela, Baltic Eagle Director at Iberdrola: ‘Very key milestones are being completed in the construction site and we’re looking forward to completing all installation work before commissioning can begin. I’d like to thank all vendors, suppliers, partners and staff for their commitment and perseverance which is allowing us to deliver this important project.’

Henk Jan van Dijk, Project Director at Van Oord: ‘The installation of the monopiles marks a key milestone in the construction of the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm. The contours are now visible. Now that the transition pieces are being installed and our cable-laying vessel is ready to install the inter-array cables, construction is progressing well. A big thanks to the dedicated project team and all our partners driving this project.’

The Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm is located 30 kilometres northeast of the German island of Rügen and covers a 40 square kilometre area. With a production capacity of 476 MW, Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm will deliver renewable energy to 475,000 households while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 800,000 tonnes annually. It is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2024. Van Oord is responsible for the transport and installation of the wind turbine foundations and the supply, transport and installation of the inter-array cables.