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First SeaMade substation departs Hoboken

By: Tom Russell 03/03/2020 SeaMade NV

Cables General Substations Windfarms

The first of two offshore substations for the SeaMade offshore wind farm left the construction yard in Hoboken for its final destination in the Belgian North Sea. The 1,200 tonne substation has four decks, is 14 metres high and has an output capacity of 235 MW.

ENGIE Fabricom, Tractebel, Smulders and DEME Offshore joined forces for the full EPCI scope (engineering, procurement, construction, transport, installation and commissioning) of SeaMade’s high voltage substations. The platforms will transform the wind energy that is produced to 225 kV, which in turn allows the electricity to transfer to shore via Elia’s Modular Offshore Grid (MOG).

Mathias Verkest, CEO at SeaMade Offshore Wind Farm, commented: “It is really exciting to witness the load-out of this massive 1,200 tonne steel construction at the Fabricom assembly yard. We are happy that the first out of two offshore substations is heading to the Mermaid concession area and are grateful for the tremendous hours of work spent by the combined teams to bring this to a success. Thanks to a close collaboration and the enormous commitment of a dedicated team and our contractors, we will be able to deliver green energy to 485,000 Belgian households.”

Philippe Van Troeye, CEO of ENGIE Benelux, said: “ENGIE’s participation in the SeaMade offshore wind farm strengthens both our position as the country’s largest green energy producer and our ambition to lead the zero carbon transition. We are proud to be involved in SeaMade on several levels. On the one hand, ENGIE has always been a partner of this important renewable energy project in Belgium, and the combined expertise of our subsidiaries ENGIE Fabricom and Tractebel have contributed to the successful construction of the high-voltage substations on the other hand.”

Bart de Poorter, General Manager of DEME Offshore, emphasised: “After the successful installation of the foundations and subsea cables we have accomplished yet another major milestone at the SeaMade offshore wind farm. This achievement highlights our knowledge and extensive expertise in offering innovative solutions for complex offshore wind projects. Thanks to our country being at the forefront of offshore renewable energy, we had the opportunity to develop a leading cluster of Belgian companies involved in the construction of offshore wind farms globally. The combined knowledge and experience of our highly skilled engineers can be applied to the most challenging projects. This is particularly important nowadays as the offshore wind industry extends its reach beyond Northern European waters.”

Raf Iemants, Managing Director of Smulders, added: “We’re very pleased that we could participate in the construction of the new Belgian offshore windfarms Mermaid and Seastar. The substations will join the already installed substations foundations and the 58 WTG foundations, which were also supplied by Smulders. Next step is the offshore installation of the Mermaid OSS and its commissioning to enable it to provide green power to Belgian households.”

The SeaMade project comprises two wind farms, Mermaid and Seastar, and is located in Belgian waters approximately 40-50 km off the coast of Ostend, Belgium, in water depths ranging between 22 metres and 38 metres. The project is being developed by project company SeaMade NV, a joint venture of the Otary group (70%), Electrabel (Engie) (17.5%), and Eneco Wind Belgium (12.5%).

The two projects will have a combined capacity of 487 MW and will comprise of 58 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines each with an individual installed capacity of 8.4 MW mounted on monopile foundations. The wind turbines each have a hub height of 109 m and a rotor diameter of 167 m and are expected to power around 500,000 households annually. Once constructed and operational, it is expected to offset 700,000 t of CO2 emissions a year.

Installation of the project's monopile foundations was completed last month by marine contractor DEME Group, using its jack-up installation vessel DP2 Innovation.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here. You can also view projects worldwide on 4C Offshore's interactive map.

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First SeaMade substation departs Hoboken

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