Boskalis to wire Ørsted’s German offshore wind farms

Ørsted has awarded Boskalis with the inter-array cable installation contract for the Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.

The contract includes the transport, installation, and burial of a combined total of 106 inter-array cables, the Netherlands-based company said.

Prysmian will supply more than 150 kilometres of 66 kV XLPE–insulated cables that will connect the wind turbines of Gode Wind 3 to an offshore substation platform and Borkum Riffgrund 3 to to the Dolwin Epsilon converter station, where the voltage will be converted for transmission to the German mainland.

The installation project will be executed with the Boka Ocean cable laying vessel. This 136-metres-long vessel was acquired by Boskalis earlier this year and will be equipped with a 4,000-ton turntable.

Project preparations will commence shortly with cable installation activities scheduled for early 2024.

The Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farms will have a capacity of 900 MW and 242 MW, respectively.

Both wind farms are located off the northern coast of Germany in the North Sea. Combined, these two offshore wind farms are expected to deliver green renewable energy to approximately 1.2 million German households. The award of the contract is subject to a final investment decision by Ørsted.

Gode Wind 3 is expected to go into full commercial operation in 2024 and the commissioning of Borkum Riffgrund 3 would follow in 2025.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 will be connected to TenneT’s DolWin 5 offshore grid connection system and will not feature an offshore substation as the wind turbines will be connected directly to the DolWin epsilon platform via 66 kV cables.