wiredinUSA May 2019

Calling a halt on wind development

Repairs contract

The cable laying vessel Willem de Vlamingh Photograph courtesy of Jan De Nul

Photo by Bence Balla-Schottner on Unsplash

Dutch and German transmission system operator TenneT has signed a 24-month agreement with Jan De Nul Group to carry out repairs on high voltage offshore cables in the German Bight area. Under the contract Jan De Nul will conduct repairs to TenneT’s existing HVAC and HVDC cable systems, and to any future connections commissioned during the life of the contract. In the event of a failure, Jan De Nul will utilise its cable laying vessels, Isaac Newton and Willem de Vlamingh . In 2018 the Willem de Vlamingh installed cables to connect the Trianel Windpark Borkum and Borkum Riffgrund II wind farms to TenneT’s DolWin Gamma and Alpha offshore convertor stations. These cables are among those covered by the agreement.

The Estonian government has refused, on national security grounds, to issue a building permit to the developer of a 600MW offshore wind farm in the Estonian Baltic Sea. The 600MW Saaremaa offshore wind farm is being developed by Saare Wind Energy OU. The company proposes to erect 100 turbines off the west coast of the Saaremaa Island. The project was initially valued at around €1.7 billion, but has now been lowered to €1.3 billion due to advances in technology and lower construction costs. In February 2019, Estonia’s minister of justice, Urmas Reinsalu, announced the government’s decision to refuse the building permit for the project: “Because, according to the internal security service, the offshore farm may bring with it a risk for Estonia’s security.” The developer is expected to challenge the government’s decision in court.

wiredInUSA - May 2019

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