The Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm, owned by Northland Power, is located approximately 95 kilometres northwest of the North Sea island Borkum, more than 100 kilometres off the coast. OFS worked in conjunction with Nexus power and Van Oord for the first time to consult on and undertake the fibre optic terminations and testing of the turbines and offshore substation.

 

The NSW cable used introduced some new challenges due to the stripping of the fibre optic package of the cable which we overcame by investing in some specialist stripping tools designed and built by Global Cable. Completion of the commissioning phase of the Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm is expected by the end of 2019. Deutsche Bucht is Northland Power’s third North Sea offshore wind farm.

 

In addition to the 31 monopile foundations, Van Oord will install two Mono Bucket foundations on the Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm. It will be the first wind farm worldwide to test this new type of foundation structure under commercial operating conditions. The new structure benefits the environment as it causes less disruption to the local porpoise population and can be completely decommissioned at the end of its lifetime.

 

The Mono Bucket foundation consists of a single steel cylinder, known as a ‘suction bucket’, upon which a shaft is mounted. A transition piece and an 8.4 MW wind turbine will be installed on this shaft. The suction bucket structure becomes firmly embedded in the sea floor by its own weight and vacuum pressure, eliminating the need for pile driving and, consequently, for noise mitigation measures such as big bubble curtains.

 

For any technical enquiries, questions or commendations, please call Mike Moss on +44 7557 914 104, or Dave Saxby on +44 7866 683 149.