JAN DE NUL ANNOUNCES OFFSHORE CONTRACTS IN BELGIUM AND FINLAND
In March of this year Jan De Nul (JDN) announced two important wind park contracts. One was the appointment by Nobelwind of JDN as Engineering-Procurement-Construction-Installation (EPCI) contractor to install all foundations and the 50 3.3 megawatt (MW) MHI Vestas wind turbines offshore at its fourth offshore wind farm in Belgian territorial waters. These turbines will have an installed capacity of 165 megawatt and will supply green power to 186000 Belgian households yearly. The first foundation components arrived in the harbor of Oostende on March 23. The first installation offshore started in May when the installation vessel Vole au vent picked up the foundation components and brought them to the site at sea. The installation of all foundations is expected to last until the beginning of September depending on weather conditions. Jan De Nul Group christened the newest offshore installation vessel Vole au vent on April 28 after which returned to a nearby quay in the port to resume the activities for the Nobelwind project. The 140-meter (459-foot) long vessel has a Liebherr crane on deck.
Secondly Finnish wind power producer Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy announced that it had chosen Jan De Nul NV as the main contractor of marine construction for the new offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea near the city of Pori Finland. Construction of the wind farm has be-gun with the seabed preparation works. Jan De Nul NV will be responsible for dredging seabed preparation work and the installation of foundations and wind turbines. The work will take place over the next two summer seasons. This marks the first time that a four-legged jack-up vessel more than 100 meters (109 yards) long will be used in Finland in the installation of the wind turbines.
Jan De Nul Group has worked in the Baltic Sea before building an offshore wind farm in Kårehamn Sweden in 2013 and thus has experience in working in extreme cold conditions. It will also be the first offshore wind farm in Finland and the world’s first offshore wind farm designed for icy condition. It should be ready for use in autumn 2017.
