The last monopile foundation, at the 487MW capacity SeaMade, landed on the seabed on January 2.
Installation works kicked off in September 2019 with DEME's offshore installation vessel ‘Innovation'. Turbine installation will start in spring 2020 with offshore installation vessel ‘Apollo' and with the port of Ostend as load-out port for the Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy 8.4MW turbines. DEME will also install all inter-array cables with cable lay vessel ‘Living Stone' after successfully having installed the export cable.
During foundation installation, a new monopile gripper, mounted on offshore installation vessel ‘Innovation', was deployed. The new pile gripper enables ‘Innovation' to install monopile foundations all year round. Furthermore, for ‘Innovation's' next project a noise mitigation system will be integrated for minimising subsea noise during installation activities.
"This is a major milestone in the construction of Belgium's largest windfarm. SeaMade is a significant step in the country's energy transition," said Bart De Poorter, GM DEME Offshore. "Thanks to the expertise of the teams involved we safely and efficiently completed this project phase. This was also the first successful installation project with the new innovative pile gripper. We now prepare for a successful inter-array cable and turbine installation campaign."
Before the end of 2020, SeaMade will provide renewable energy to 485,000 households in Belgium.
