The foundation was installed in a water depth of approximately 40m and consists of a monopile fitted with a transition piece. After completion, the offshore wind farm will consist of a total of 33 wind turbines, 31 on monopiles and two on Mono Buckets. The Mono Buckets will be installed in the second quarter of 2019.

"We are very pleased to have achieved this important milestone. Thanks to the committed Deutsche Bucht project team and our experienced general contractor, Van Oord, the offshore building phase of the wind farm started on schedule," said Jens Poulsen, project director of Northland Deutsche Bucht.

During the pile driving activities, Van Oord deploys its innovative FaunaGuard system. This in-house developed acoustic device safely and temporarily deters marine fauna species by using special underwater acoustics. To further minimise the impact on the environment and marine fauna, a multi-level noise mitigation system will be used during the installation of the monopiles. The system includes a hydro sound damper and a double big bubble curtain.

The Deutsche Bucht wind farm will have a grid connection capacity of approximately 269MW. That is sufficient to provide approximately 328,000 households with sustainable energy on an annual basis. Commissioning of the wind farm is expected to take place in the second half of 2019.