The topside for the offshore substation for the Merkur Offshore Wind Farm was installed over the weekend and is the result of a close cooperation between Belgian companies that are also major players in the international offshore wind energy market. The companies involved in the project include Tractebel, ENGIE-Fabricom, Iemants and GeoSea.
GeoSea is undertaking the EPCI contract for the balance of plant, including the design, procurement, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of the foundation structures, cables and offshore substation as well as the installation of the turbines.
The joint venture ENGIE Fabricom-Tractebel and Iemants was awarded with the contract for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of the offshore substation and associated jacket foundation.
The topside structure has 4 decks, is 20 metres tall, weighs 2,500 tonnes and has an output capacity of 396 MW.
“The installation of the topside is a major milestone for GeoSea in the construction of the Merkur Offshore Wind Farm” said Bert Ariën, Project Director Merkur at GeoSea. “It is the first time GeoSea provides the complete Balance of Plant scope of Work, including the EPCI scope of the substation. This comprehensive project is an opportunity for us and our partners to demonstrate our capabilities in offering integrated solutions to offshore wind customers. The extensive know-how and collaborative approach adopted by the Engie Fabricom–Tractebel and Iemants joint venture, combined with GeoSea’s leading expertise in providing tailored solutions for the offshore wind industry enabled us to successfully execute this challenging package of the project in a record time of 14 months after financial close.”
Johan Mostmans, Project Manager at Tractebel, described the managing of the entire engineering process, from the detailed design and procurement up to the programming, testing and offshore commissioning within the tight deadline as a masterpiece
The owner and developer of the Merkur wind farm is Merkur Offshore GmbH, a joint venture between its shareholders Partners Group, InfraRed Capital Partners, DEME Concessions and Coriolis. The 396 MW wind farm is scheduled for commissioning in 2018.
Image: DEME Group/GeoSea
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