STX France has cut the first steel for the Arkona electrical offshore substation, thus launching the first production works for the project after a year of detailed design phase.
The structure will be built by the end of 2016, followed by upending and painting, with hundred people mobilized for the works.
Under the EPCI contract signed with AWE Arkona Windpark Entwicklungs GmbH (50% E.ON and 50% Statoil), STX will provide the jacket foundation, piles, substation topside, as well as the transportation and installation at sea. The contract also includes a one-year maintenance period.
STX France has selected Schneider Electric for the supply of the full electrical package and ABB for the electrical transformers. Seaway Heavy Lifting will be in charge of the transport and installation operations.
“This will be the biggest single-lift AC substation ever installed and a point of reference for the sector,” said STX Offshore Energy Business Unit Director, Frédéric Grizaud . “This project shows that we are now an established offshore wind EPCI market player.”
Arkona is situated in the German part of the Baltic Sea and will comprise 60 6MW Siemens turbines scheduled for commissioning in 2019.