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Alpha Ventus Success for Norwind
NorWind has successfully built and installed the world’s first jackets for the offshore wind industry based on the concept of pre-installed piles. The Alpha Ventus Project is Germany’s first offshore wind farm situated 45 km to the north of the Borkum Island in the German Bight.
The pioneering Alpha Ventus project is being installed on an average of 30 meters depth and is a major milestone project in the offshore wind energy sector supported by the German government.
The project is a co-operation between the utilities Vattenfall, E.ON and EWE, which forms the Deutsche Offshore Testfeld und Infrastruktur GmbH & Co. KG (DOTI) consortium. DOTI contracted in 2008 NorWind for building and installing 6 of the foundations for the Alpha Ventus project, and in September 2009 the installation work was finalised.
- We were very pleased to be awarded the Alpha Ventus contract and it is exceptionally gratifying now the jackets have been successfully installed. This is a huge step forward for offshore wind energy, and will be a substantial reference project for NorWind. The experience gained from this project is an important prerequisite for designing a new type of installation vessel, Trygve Arnesen, CEO of NorWind said.
OWEC Tower in Bergen, Norway, has designed the jackets that have been built by Burntisland Fabricators (BiFab) in Scotland all subcontracted by NorWind.
NorWind has, in addition to being the leading contractor, managed the offshore logistics and installation work utilizing a range of vessels in the market. The contract had a total value of about EUR 34 million.
The jacket design has been based on pre-installed piles, and this project is the world’s first of it’s kind in the offshore wind industry. It forms a major milestone for NorWind as a company to be able to report that the project has been a technical and operational success.
The piles were installed in the seabed during July and August 2009, whereas the jackets were installed onto the piles the first week of September. The jackets will be the foundations for the Repower 5M turbines due for installation later this fall.
So far some 300 offshore turbines have been installed in Europe, mainly in shallow waters (less than 15 m water depth). Within the next decade the installed capacity is expected to grow rapidly. Based on a combination of the experience gained from the Alpha Ventus project as well as the NorWind employees’ experience from Norwegian oil, gas and shipping industry, NorWind plans to build and operate new vessels specially designed for installation of piles and jackets.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Trygve Arnesen, CEO NorWind, phone + 47 90 18 19 66
NorWind was established in 2007 and is owned by Scatec and the Grieg Group. NorWind’s strategy is to combine a portfolio of shareholdings in the offshore wind value chain with a further capacity to provide dedicated vessels for offshore wind installation services. |
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