DONG Energy has reported that 292 kilometres north west of Esbjerg, the support structure for Hejre platform is now well planted in the North Sea.
The first physical signs of a new platform in the North Sea are there. The 8.400-tonne steel structure, called a jacket, which is the support structure of the Hejre platform, arrived at its location in the Danish sector of the North Sea on 22 May, and the last steel pile for fastening the legs of the support structure were rammed into the subsoil on Friday 30 May. Now, drilling of the production wells will start.
”Our people on the project and our suppliers have done a fantastic job in delivering and installing the jacket in the North Sea. Now, we enter a new project phase. where we will be drilling the production wells, installing the oil and gas pipelines and modify the Gorm E platform from which the oil will be transported to shore,” says Flemming Horn Nielsen, head of DONG Energy’s Danish oil and gas business.
Launched in less than one minute
The launch of the jacket from a barge into the North Sea took less than one minute. The ballast tanks of the barge were filled with water, making it tilt slightly, so that the giant steel construction slid into the sea. The fitted floating tanks and compartments in the construction kept it floating, before it was erected to a vertical position in a controlled process and lowered onto the seabed.
Next year’s milestone is the installation of the topsides which is currently being built at a yard in South Korea.