The installation of the Norther offshore substation in Belgium, carried out on 22 August , was the first task of this kind for Gulliver, the new heavy lift vessel in Scaldis’ fleet, the vessel owner said.
Gulliver placed the offshore high-voltage station (OHVS) on top of its monopile foundation that was installed earlier at the project site located some 23km off the port of Zeebrugge.
The OHVS, built by a consortium comprising ENGIE Fabricom, Smulders and CG, is 32 metres long, 21 metres tall and weighs 1,300 tons.
The power generated by the 44 MHI Vestas 8.4MW wind turbines (33kV) at the Norther offshore wind farm will be transported to the substation, converted to a voltage of 220kV and then delivered to the shore through the export cable.
According to Scaldis, Gulliver has all the key assets of its other heavy lift vessel, Rambiz, with the addition of upgraded workability, increased lifting capacity and lifting height, fully self-propelled DP2 features, skidding cranes to allow greater flexibility to deck spaces, enlarged deck space, and a helideck.
Scaldis designed the vessel in cooperation with Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam, part of Royal IHC. The vessel was built at the ROC shipyard in Qidong, China, under full responsibility and coordination of Royal IHC.
Scaldis – a subsidiary of of DEME, Jan de Nul and Herbosch-Kiere – took over the new vessel in April 2018 .
Offshore WIND Staff