Gunfleet Sands Offshore Windfarm
Gunfleet Sands
As principal contractor for the drilling works on both phase 1 and phae 2 of the Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm Project,VolkerInfra, working in conjunction with sister company Visser & Smit Hanab, installed a 14km, 132kV cable connection from a transformer platform 9km offshore, to an onshore substation.
The onshore cable route stretched 5km and involved three horizontal directionally drilled crossings across a railway, a river and a site of special scientific interest.
A temporary 500m safety zone was established around the Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm site during construction. When the construction phase was finished both fishing and leisure craft were permitted to pass through the wind farm site.
This high profile project consists of 48 wind turbines, each with a capacity of producing 3.6MW, giving a total windfarm capacity of 172MW. The rotor diameter of the turbines is 107m, with a maximum height of 129m from blade tip to sea level.
Key challenges
- Three horizontal directionally drilled crossings
- Collection of the offshore cable from a factory in Italy
- Manouvering the pipe to offshore from onshore
- Weather and tidal conditions
Project sheets
Facts and figures
- Type of works:
Horizontal directional drilling/marine cable installation/onshore cable installation - Client:
DONG Energy - Value:
£1.4m - Duration:
Seven weeks - Roles and responsibilities:
Main contractor - Project categories
Marine
Energy
Cable and pipeline installation
