Norther Substation Heads Home

The Norther Offshore High Voltage Station (OHVS) built at the Hoboken yard of ENGIE Fabricom by the consortium partners ENGIE Fabricom, Smulders and CG, has set sail towards its destination in the Belgian North Sea.

The 370MW Norther offshore wind farm, a project by Elicio, Eneco & Diamond Generating Europe, is being built 23 kilometres off the coast of Zeebrugge.

The OHVS is one of the key elements in the functioning of an offshore wind farm because it connects the individual wind turbines, ENGIE Fabricom said. The power generated by the wind turbines (33kV) is transported to this substation where it is converted to a voltage of 220kV and then delivered to the shore through one cable. Onshore it will connect to the Belgian grid through Elia’s Stevin high-voltage station.

ENGIE Fabricom was responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the substation. The works also included the installation of low voltage equipment, the transport and installation. Smulders was responsible for the steel construction of the OHVS and its transition piece (TP) foundation. CG designed, fabricated, installed and commissioned the high and medium voltage systems including the control and security systems of the platform.

With its 32 metres length and 21 metres height, 1,300 tons and a transformer capacity of 410MV, the Norther OHVS is the most compact substation out of the 22 substations built so far in Hoboken, ENGIE Fabricom said.

Norther offshore wind farm will comprise 44 MHI Vestas 8.4MW wind turbines and the OHVS installed on 45 monopile foundations.

As the main contractor, Van Oord is responsible for the engineering, procurement, delivery and installation of the foundations for the wind turbines, the offshore high-voltage station and the entire electrical infrastructure. Van Oord will also install the wind turbines.

Earlier this month, Van Oord’s Aeolus started installing the monopile foundations at the site.

Once commissioned in 2019, it will become the largest offshore wind farm in Belgian waters.