Wind Energy

RWE completes foundation installation of Thornton Bank 2 wind energy plant

In total, 25 jacket foundations for the wind turbines and one offshore transformer station have been installed 30 kilometers off Oostende in water depth between 12 and 25 meters. Every steel foundation is 50 meters high and weighs around 550 tons. Using a heavy duty crane, the foundations were placed on top of pre-installed piles on the seabed and attached to them.

The foundation structures were manufactured in Hoboken near Antwerp, and transported via pontoons through the Scheldt estuary to its final destination on high sea, the company said.

Prof. Martin Skiba, Head of Offshore Wind Power at RWE Innogy explains, "The expeditious construction progress of Thornton Bank 2 shows that we are advancing quite well in the construction of offshore wind farms in the meanwhile. Of course, we haven’t reached the end of the learning curve yet but we made good progress in each segment of this advancing technology sector."

By the end of this year, it is planned to complete the inter array cabling for Thornton Bank 2. At the beginning of next year, the wind turbines themselves will be installed as well as the offshore substation. Thornton Bank’s second construction phase will have 24 6-megawatt wind turbines on around 10 square kilometers. The total weight that the individual foundations will carry is around 700 tons.

The third construction phase will be from 2012 until 2013 on a 12 square kilometer area, also with 24 wind turbines. The laying of a second 150 kilovolt underwater cable, which will transport the generated electricity ashore to the feed-in station in Sas Slijkens is also planned in spring 2012.

On completion, Thornton Bank wind farm will have installed capacity of around 325 MW, which corresponds to an annual electricity supply to around 600,000 people.