Jan De Nul’s heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés has successfully installed the first of 72 monopiles at RWE’s 1.1 GW Thor offshore wind farm in the Danish North Sea.
The monopiles were transported from the heavy-lift terminal in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, to the Thor construction site, approximately 22 kilometers off Jutland’s west coast.
In 2023, RWE contracted Dajin Offshore and EEW SPC to supply 36 TP-less monopiles each, along with secondary structures, for the 72-turbine project in Denmark.
The monopiles measure around 100 meters in length and weigh up to 1,500 tonnes each.
The units are installed by Jan De Nul’s vessel Les Alizés under a contract signed in June 2023. The vessel can load five monopiles per shipment.
“This is a significant step in advancing the energy transition, executing multiple scopes of work: installing inter-array and export cables, scour protection, and monopile foundations. For these tasks, we are deploying various vessels from our fleet,” said Philippe Hutse, CEO Offshore Energy at Jan De Nul.
Reused hard covers will be installed to protect the monopiles from harsh sea conditions until the turbine towers are mounted.
Secondary steel structures for the foundations are managed from the Danish Port of Thyborøn, serving as the offshore construction base and home port for service vessels. The port also hosts the control center managing marine logistics during the offshore construction phase.
Thor, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm, will feature 72 Siemens Gamesa’s SG 14-236 DD turbines installed by a Fred. Olsen Windcarrier jack-up vessel. Of these, 40 turbines will have recyclable rotor blades.
The turbine installation is slated to start from the Port of Esbjerg, Denmark, in 2026.
Once completed in 2027, Thor is anticipated to generate enough renewable energy to power over one million Danish households.
Original Story at www.offshorewind.biz