Belgian transmission system operator Elia has awarded Dredging International, part of the DEME Group, with a contract for the subsea cable installation for the Modular Offshore Grid (MOG) in the Belgian part of the North Sea.
The installation scope includes the supply, installation and maintenance of the submarine power cables. The contract has been valued to approximately EUR 130 million.
DEME will deploy its new fleet of vessels to carry out the works, including hoppers Minerva and Scheldt River, and DP3 cable installation vessel Living Stone, entering the DEME fleet in 2017 and operated by Tideway.
The cables will be produced by Hellenic Cables, a Greek manufacturer, as a subcontractor for DEME.
Elia’s Modular Offshore Grid, or so-called electricity plug, includes an Offshore Switchyard Platform (OSY) located about 40 kilometres off the Zeebrugge coast, to which four wind farms will be connected. Submarine cables will link the platform with a substation in Belgium, where produced wind energy will be fed to the Belgian onshore grid.
One 220kV power cable will be installed along a 4,5 km route between the Offshore Switchyard Platform and the first wind farm’s platform. Also, two 220kV submarine power cables of approximately 39 km each will be installed from the Offshore Switchyard Platform to the onshore connection point located on the beach in Zeebrugge.
The Modular Offshore Grid is scheduled to be operational in the third quarter of 2019.