The rock emplacement campaign for the installation of the first of two export cables in the Beatrice offshore wind farm export corridors and construction site started on 25 December, Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) said in a construction update report.
The estimated duration of the works is four to five working days and the vessel carrying out the works is Boskalis’ fallpipe vessel (FPV) Rockpiper, supported by guard vessels Artemis and the Morning Dawn, BOWL said.
The guard vessel within the wind farm array will remain until the start of the pull-in operations at the exposed wet stored cable-end, close to the Offshore Transmission Module (OTM), scheduled for January 2018.
Earlier this month, Nexans’ cable laying vessel Nexans Skagerrak completed the laying and burial of the first 70-kilometer 220kV export cable which will connect the wind farm to the Scottish grid. Nexans Skagerrak has now completed trenching the second section of the export cable to the wet store loop, BOWL said.
In May 2016, Nexans won a contract for cable works on the wind farm together with Siemens, who is in charge of supplying, installing and commissioning the wind farm’s turbines.
Located in the Outer Moray Firth off Scotland, the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm is scheduled for commissioning in 2019.