Last Jacket Installed by Van Oord on East Anglia ONE OWF

Van Oord has announced that they have installed the last jacket foundation for offshore wind farm East Anglia ONE and delivered it to client ScottishPower Renewables.

Under their contract with ScottishPower Renewables Van Oord was responsible for transporting and the installation of all 102 foundations, the largest number ever installed for an offshore wind farm.

To complete the installation work efficiently Van Oord utilised specifically designed tools which included a pile template for the three anchoring piles on the foundations and a lifting tool for the jackets.

Arnoud Kuis, Director of Offshore Wind at Van Oord, ” Thanks to our ingenious working methods, the expertise of our project team and close cooperation with our partners and our client, we succeeded in installing all jacket foundations for wind farm East Anglia One smoothly and safely. We are proud to contribute to the UK’s energy transition.”

Once the anchoring piles were in place the jacket could be installed from the vessel. Most of the work was carried out in seas deeper than 40m where the wind, current and sea state often produce challenges when lifting and placing the jackets.

For this work an innovative lifting tool was specifically designed by Temporary Works Design (TWD). The lightweight tool weighs less than 25t, but is capable of lifting jackets up to 1,600t. It is designed to be remotely operated, without the need for any personnel being on the top of the jacket for connecting or releasing. Two tools were delivered, the second one having a more developed design which included the ability to change the lift connection dimensions for use on other projects. All 102 foundations were lifted with one of the two tools.

TWD has vast experience in the design of offshore lifting tools, much of which was incorporated into the design of this lightweight Jacket Lifting Tool, in which operational safety, speed and redundancy were seen as the main objectives.

With a total of 102 Siemens 7 MW wind turbines the wind farm will eventually deliver a total of 714 MW, once the wind farm becomes operational in 2020. This is the equivalent of supplying to more than 630,000 British households with green electricity.

the Lightweight Jacket Lifting Tool

Sources:

• Van Oord for photograph on the final Jacket
• ScottishPower Renewables for photographs of the Bokalift 1
• TWD for the photograph of the the Lightweight Jacket Lifting Tool