Hollandse Kust Noord & West Alpha export cables installation coming up

Jan De Nul is getting ready to start cabling work on the Hollandse Kust Noord and West Alpha offshore wind farm grid connections in the Netherlands, developed by the transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT.

The cable laying vessel (CLV) Isaac Newton loaded the first batch of subsea cables at the LS Cable & System fabrication site in Donghae, South Korea, and will soon head off to the Netherlands to start the first cable installation campaign, the company said via social media.

Meanwhile, Jan De Nul has prepared its in-house cable trenching machine Moonfish for the work. Moonfish was recently customised for this project and is now ready to kick off after successful trials at the Maasvlakte, the offshore contractor said.

TenneT awarded Jan De Nul and LS Cable & System contracts for Hollandse Kust Noord and West Alpha in 2020, with Jan De Nul Group being responsible for the transportation, laying, and protection of the cables designed and manufactured by LS Cable & System.

The Hollandse Kust Noord and Hollandse Kust West Alpha export cable systems will each consist of two 220kV AC cable systems. The four cable systems will cover a total length of 210 kilometres, connecting the wind farms to the Dutch power grid onshore near Beverwijk, north of the port of IJmuiden.

The offshore substations will be delivered by the ENGIE Solutions – Iemants joint venture, which signed contracts for the two projects with TenneT in 2020.

Located 18.5 kilometres off the west coast, near the town of Egmond aan Zee, the 759 MW Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm will feature 69 Siemens Gamesa 11 MW wind turbines set to be fully operational in 2023.

The West Alpha project is also located in the North Sea along the Dutch coast and, when completed, will contribute to over 40 per cent of the Netherlands household energy needs.

The Hollandse Kust Noord grid connection is scheduled to be commissioned in 2023, and Hollandse Kust West Alpha is expected to follow suit in 2024.