EOWDC Foundations Start Falling Into Place

The floating crane Asian Hercules III has installed the first of eleven suction bucket jacket foundations on Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in the Aberdeen Bay, Scotland.

The first jacket foundation was installed on Sunday, 25 March, in just 15 hours, Vattenfall said. It is the first suction bucket jacket foundation to be installed on a UK offshore wind farm, the developer said.

The 25,000-tonne Asian Hercules III is transferring the 77-metre high, 1,800-tonne steel jacket foundations from Peterhead Port and installing them some three kilometres off Aberdeen.

The floating crane has a lifting capacity of up to 5,000 tonnes and a hook height of at least 120 metres.

The 92.4MW EOWDC, also known as Aberdeen offshore wind farm, will comprise eleven MHI Vestas 8.4MW turbines.

The wind farm is expected to generate first power in the summer of 2018 and operate for 20 years. Apart from generating electricity, it will also be a centre for testing and developing new technologies for offshore wind power.

Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s Senior Vice President of Business Area Wind, said: “The EOWDC is a cornerstone of Vattenfall’s and the industry’s drive for innovative cost reduction in offshore wind. To be fossil free within one generation a climate smart offshore wind programme embracing science and technology is really important for Vattenfall. Where appropriate, we are keen to see the EOWDC’s novel approach to foundations – along with all its other innovations – rolled out to the rest of the industry.”

NOTE: The original article was updated to say that the installation of the first foundation was completed on Sunday, 25 March.