Statoil has shared a timelapse of the 1,500-tonne jacket for the Dudgeon substation being loaded onto a barge in Lowestoft yesterday.
The jacket, built by Sembmarine SLP, will be towed around 100 kilometres to the offshore construction site located some 32 kilometres off the coast of North Norfolk, where nine of sixty-seven turbine foundations have already been installed.
The jacket structure will be sunk into the seabed using suction bucket technology for the first time on an offshore substation in the UK.
Four suction buckets, weighing around 110 tonnes each, were welded on to the legs of the jacket in Sembmarine SLP’s yard at Hamilton Dock.
The four-deck topside which will be lifted onto the jacket is currently being completed and will be ready for sail-away in August.
The 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm, owned by Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar, will comprise 67 Siemens 6MW turbines, and is expected to be commissioned by early 2017.
Video: Statoil/Youtube