Steelwind Monopile Foundations for Parkwind's Baltic Sea Wind Farm

German construction company Steelwind will build monopile foundations for Parkwind's the Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, offshore Germany.

Under the contract, signed earlier this month, Steelwind will deliver 27 WTG and one OSS next-generation XXL-Monopile units.

Arcadis Ost 1 Project Manager, Clément Helbig de Balzac from Parkwind commented: “We believe the signature of this agreement sends a strong positive message during a difficult COVID-19 context. The impact generated by this contract fits into EU’s Green Deal initiative and demonstrates the offshore industry’s role in helping Germany reach its ambitious CO2 reduction targets as well as in stimulating the economy and local employment during a particularly difficult COVID-19 context. ”

Dr. Ralf Hubo and Alexander Morber, managing directors of Steelwind added: “These single-piece monopile foundations beyond XXL will be the biggest monopiles so far for German wind farms. The integration of some parts of the transition piece into the monopiles offers a new chance to reduce costs although the dimensions are really large. Our fabrication technology is very well adapted to these kind of monopiles and we are very proud that we have got this innovative order from Parkwind.

The monopile production will start in 2021. Dillinger will supply the heavy steel plates for the monopolies.

Image Credit: Parkwind

According to Belgium-based Parkwind, the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm will have a capacity of about 247 MW. It is located in the Baltic Sea, northeast of the island of Rügen, within the 12-nautical mile zone of the Federal State Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany.  

Danish offshore construction company Bladt will build a substation for the project. Offshore wind turbines for Arcadis Ost 1 will be built by MHI Vestas. The wind farm will feature 27 MHI Vestas V174-9.5MW turbines mounted on monopile foundations and one offshore substation.

Interestingly, Arcadis Ost 1 project is expected to be the first offshore wind farm that will make use of a floating vessel for the installation of Wind Turbine Generators. 

Parkwind, together with Heerema Marine Contractors and MHI Vestas developed the floating installation method, as an alternative to traditional jack-up vessel usage, due to the challenging soil conditions at the Arcadis Ost 1 site.

Parkwind expects the method will allow for a reduced installation time and contribute to the further reduction of the levelized cost of offshore wind energy.

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