News
07-14-2008
Important Components for Offshore Foundation Structure arrived
Nearshore WEC at Aussenjade receives approval
Cuxhaven / Hooksiel. On Monday evening, a coastal freighter delivered two additional box sections for offshore foundation structures to Cuxhaven Steel Construction GmbH (CSC).The two parts from Tallin in Estonia weigh around 71 tons each. The first section was already supplied on June 26th, 2008, and is currently in the process of being assembled to the central tube. Three of those box sections will connect the central tube – which will hold the tower – with the pins, which in turn will fit onto the foundation piles. After unloading, the 12.8 meter long steel sections were hauled to the CSC site by an SPMT. Immediately upon checking the measurements, the welders and steelworkers began preparing for the completion of the transition piece, since the first “BARD Tripile” offshore foundation structure is about to be deployed.
In August, work will commence on a nearshore WEC at Aussenjade near Wilhelmshaven. According to Andree Krüger, Managing Director at Emden-based BARD Building GmbH & Co KG, the approval was granted at the end of June by the relevant authority in Oldenburg. The WEC will be installed in the water. The foundation structure is more or less identical to the ones that were designed for the actual offshore-deployment. So, the BARD team and its supporting partners can train to co-operate for the offshore-installation job during a complete installation cycle under life-like conditions. The WEC will be installed between Hooksiel’s outer harbour and the Ineos loading gantry, about 400 meters away from the seawall, where the water depth is between two and eight meters – depending on the tide. The “BARD VM” will be assembled and installed using a DEMAG heavy-duty crane CC-6800 operating from a semi-submersible transportation barge. The piles will be rammed to a depth of 44 meters.
Krüger: “Throughout the installation works, the thresholds for noise levels will be strictly adhered to.” Ramming shall be completed within a mere few days, with assembly being completed by October. At hub level, the BARD VM measures approx. 90 meters, with a rotor diameter of 122 meters.
The demonstrator plant at Hooksiel is more or less identical with the 80 WECs waiting to be installed beginning in spring of 2009 at the already-approved windfarm “BARD Offshore 1” about 100 km north of the island of Borkum. A 20 kV cable will connect it to the public grid, which interconnects with Wilhelmshaven Gas and Electricity Works. The generator turns out five megawatts, sufficient to supply 5.000 family households. The nearshore WEC at Hooksiel shall also serve as a training facility for the BARD Service crews.