Heerema Marine Contractors, headquartered in the Netherlands, was contracted by EnBW in April 2022 to install monopiles and transition pieces at the offshore wind farm.

According to our previous news, in order to achieve the highest level of noise reduction to protect life below water, the company used the double-walled noise mitigation template specifically designed for this project, the T-NMS-10000.

The first foundation was installed at the site, located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Borkum and about 110 kilometres west of Helgoland, in May this year.

Heerema’s Thialf, one of the world’s largest floating cranes, drove the monopile foundations into the seabed within approximately three months.

The 70-metre-long foundations, manufactured by Steelwind Nordenham, are 9.2 metres in diameter and weigh around 1,350 tonnes each.

Transition pieces, which were supplied by the joint venture Sif-Smulders, were placed on top of the monopiles.

At peak times, more than 500 people work on the site in the middle of the sea, with over 60 vessels involved, said EnBW.

The Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines will be installed on foundations starting in the spring of next year.

The He Dreiht offshore wind farm is scheduled to start operation in late 2025 with a total capacity of 960 MW, enough to supply approximately 1.1 million households with renewable energy, according to the developer.

EnBW is the majority owner (50.1 per cent) and the developer of He Dreiht. The consortium consisting of Allianz Capital Partners on behalf of Allianz insurance companies, AIP, and Norges Bank, holds the remaining 49.9 per cent in the wind farm.