Dredging International, part of the DEME Group, will deploy the company’s LNG-powered fleet for its contract with the Belgian transmission system operator Elia.
The company will perform the submarine power cable installation for the modular offshore grid (MOG) in the North Sea, and deploy its fleet of LNG-powered vessels, the two trailing suction hopper dredgers, Minerva and Scheldt River and DP3 cable installation vessel Living Stone.
Elia’s MOD, or so-called electricity plug, includes an offshore switchyard platform (OSY) located about 40 kilometers off the Zeebrugge coast, to which four wind farms will be connected. Submarine cables will link the platform with a substation in Belgium, where produced wind energy will be injected into the Belgian onshore grid.
The installation scope includes the supply, installation and maintenance of the submarine power cables.
The world’s first LNG-powered dredgers will carry out the seabed preparations. Cables will be installed by multi purpose vessel Living Stone, entering the DEME fleet in 2017 and operated by Tideway.
The vessel features DP3 capability and has been equipped with dual fuel engines with LNG being its prime fuel. Two turntables below deck, each having a 5,000 tons cable capacity, can carry, transport and install more than 200 km of cable in a single trip.
The modular offshore grid is scheduled to be taken into use in the third quarter of 2019.