newsflash
The topside for the offshore substation for the Merkur Offshore Wind Farm was installed over the weekend.
The topside is the result of a close cooperation between Belgian companies that are major players in the international offshore wind energy market. With companies like Tractebel (engineering), ENGIE-Fabricom (electromechanics), Smulders (steel constructions) and GeoSea (contracting) Flanders had developed a leading cluster of offshore wind energy experts, executing the most complex projects on the European market.
GeoSea, DEME’s specialist in complex offshore marine engineering projects, is undertaking the EPCI contract for the Balance of Plant (BoP) for Merkur, including the design, procurement, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of the foundation structures, cables and offshore substation as well as the installation of the Wind Energy Converters (WEC’s).
The joint venture ENGIE Fabricom-Tractebel and Smulders 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.
Bert Ariën, Project Director Merkur at GeoSea: “The installation of the topside is a major milestone for GeoSea in the construction of the Merkur Offshore Wind Farm. 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 Smulders 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: “Managing the entire engineering process, from the Detailed Design and Procurement up to the Programming, Testing and Offshore Commissioning within this tight deadline has really been a masterpiece”. Kristine Voet, Project Manager at ENGIE Fabricom continues: “This project illustrates the strong expertise of ENGIE and its subsidiaries in the field of wind offshore and its will to contribute to the success of the energy transition. The Merkur project is the 20th substation build by ENGIE Fabricom. It demonstrates our ability to propose a complete range of services to our customers for each type of modular project.”
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.
