Construction works for the seventh offshore wind farm off the Belgian coast have started. Developer Parkwind and marine contractor Jan De Nul Group announce that offshore seabed preparation works have commenced for the 219MW offshore wind farm Northwester 2.
The Northwester 2 wind farm will count 23 V164-9.5MW MHI Vestas wind turbines. The Northwester 2 project will introduce a new design for the external access platforms on the foundations: the box platform. The platform has a design developed and patented by Parkwind that consists only of steel plate material.
Jan De Nul Group has just finished the offshore scour protection works on the different wind turbine locations. At each location, Jan De Nul Group’s subsea rock installation vessel Simon Stevin has installed a 32 m diameter wide and 700 mm thick rock layer to stabilise the seabed around the foundation. Jan De Nul Group is now gearing up to install the first foundation in the coming days. The monopile foundations for the wind turbines will be hammered directly through the rock layer into the seabed.