Bladt, Semco to Build Belwind 2 Substation

Belgian wind farm developer Nobelwind has awarded Bladt Industries and Semco Maritime a new EPCI contract for the manufacturing of the Offshore Substation (OSS) for the upcoming Belwind 2 Offshore Wind Farm.

The substation is to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2016 – only 16 months after the signing of the contract.

Bladt Industries will construct the Substation  with Semco Maritime, while ISC Consulting Engineers is responsible for the structural design.

The first phase of the project has already been initiated.

As the main contractor, Bladt Industries is responsible for the steel construction work at the top side of the substation as well as the overall engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the Substation.

“We believe that the keywords for our success within this field are knowledge, experience and cooperation. Not only cooperation between Bladt Industries and Semco Maritime, but also a very strong cooperation with our client,” says Jan Kjærsgaard, CEO, Bladt Industries.

Semco Maritime’s assignment includes design, onshore construction and offshore commissioning of the high voltage electrical systems and all other technical systems.

“Bladt and Semco form a strong team within this highly specialized field of engineering ensuring benefits for our client and businesses alike. We are seeing significant growth in the wind power segment these years, and the wind power business plays an increasingly important role for us,” says Steen Brødbæk, CEO, Semco Maritime.

The Belwind 2 wind farm will be situated in the North Sea, 45 kilometers off the coast of Zeebrugge, Belgium. After completion, 50 wind turbines will provide a total output of 165 megawatts. The 1,100 tons substation converts the 33 kV voltage provided by the wind turbines into 220 kV voltage. The power is subsequently transported ashore via an already existing sea cable shared with neighbour wind field North Wind, to which the Bladt/Semco-team supplied a substation last year.

The Belwind 2 order adds to a number of offshore substation projects in which Bladt Industries and Semco Maritime have been jointly involved. Such projects include Northwind, Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Nordsee Ost. The partnership is currently working on design and construction of substations for two other wind farms, Sandbank and NordSee 1.