Offshore installation at innogy’s 857-MW Triton Knoll offshore windfarm in the UK is due to get underway shortly
Work will begin with the installation of 90 monopile foundations and transition pieces, along with two offshore substation platforms and their foundations, and more than 600 km of subsea export and array cables.
innogy said the fleet of vessels that will carry out installation has already begun to mobilise and monopile installation will begin as soon as weather conditions are favourable.
Triton Knoll project director Julian Garnsey said, “We are looking forward to a busy year installing Triton Knoll’s innovative foundations and offshore substation platforms.”
A fleet of vessels, many operating out of Grimsby’s Royal Dock, will support the windfarm’s construction. The offshore fleet will be dominated during 2020 by the 183-m installation vessel Seaway Strashnov and service operation vessel Esvagt Froude. The SOV will support the project’s specialist construction team and will regularly enter the port to change crews and re-stock supplies.
East coast and UK firms such as Specialist Marine Consultancy, Seacat, Hull’s Precision Marine Survey Ltd and Carlbom Shipping Ltd will also play key roles in supporting the offshore activities in 2020.
Construction of a multi-million pound turbine pre-assembly base at Teesside’s Able Seaton Port will get underway shortly, equipping the port to host the assembly and installation of turbines, with first components due to arrive the later this year.
Onshore, significant progress was made during 2019 to construct the project’s onshore electrical system, which consists of a 57-km underground onshore export cable, a new landfall connection and purpose-built Triton Knoll onshore substation. Construction is due to finish in 2020 and will ensure the project is all set to transmit power via the offshore substation platforms, which were mechanically completed in 2019.
In 2021, the focus of construction will shift to installing the powerful 9.5-MW turbines chosen for the project, with first electricity due to flow from the windfarm into the UK grid later that year.
Installation of the foundations for the offshore substations and Siemens topsides will be undertaken later in 2020. Esvagt Froude is due to begin work in February. Triton Knoll’s teams will live for two weeks at a time on board the SOV.
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