First SeaMade turbine towers arrive in Ostend – 4C Offshore

On Tuesday 24 March 2020 the first six tower parts for the SeaMade offshorewind farm arrived in the port of Ostend. These parts were produced in theNorth of Spain, and shipped from the port of Aviles on board the specialpurpose vessel RotraVente.

Project developer Otary stated that, despite the COVID-19 crisis, its contractorsare working round the clock to keep the construction of the SeaMade offshorewind farm on schedule, taking precautionary measures, including respectingsocial distancing in the execution of the works.

Over the coming months, RotraVente andsister vessel RotraMarewill ship all wind turbine components (58 nacelles, 174 tower parts and174 blades) for the SeaMade offshore wind farm, from various sites, tothe REBO site in Ostend.

The main activity on the REBO site will be the storage of parts, the pre-assemblyof the tower parts to complete towers, and loading of the jack-up installationvessel Apollothat will sail from Ostend to the SeaMade offshore sites to install thewind turbines on the foundations. All foundations and the two offshoresubstations were put in place in the preceding months.

Mathias Verkest - CEO of Otary, the developer of the SeaMade offshore windfarm - stated: We are aiming for a timely completion of Belgiumslargest offshore wind farm, despite the current Corona crisis, as thisis an important step in the countrys energy transition. 58 8 MW windturbines should produce enough electricity to provide 485.000 Belgian householdsof green energy thanks to a close collaboration and extreme commitmentof a dedicated and highly experienced team and contractors. SeaMade contributessignificantly to Belgiums binding goal of having 13% of our energy producedout of renewable energy sources by 2020. Half of this renewable energyproduction will come from offshore wind energy. SeaMade will contributeto almost one quarter of the required offshore energy production

The SeaMade project comprises two wind farms, Mermaidand Seastar,and is located in Belgian waters approximately 40-50 km off the coast ofOstend, Belgium, in water depths ranging between 22 metres and 38 metres.The project is being developed by project company SeaMade NV, a joint ventureof the Otary group (70%), Electrabel (Engie) (17.5%), and Eneco Wind Belgium(12.5%).

The two projects will have a combined capacity of 487 MW and will consistof 58 Siemens Gamesa SG8.0-167 DDturbines, each with an individual installed capacity of 8.4 MW mountedon monopile foundations. Each wind turbine has a hub height of 109 metresand a rotor diameter of 167 metres, and they are expected to power around500,000 households annually. Once constructed and operational, theproject is expected to offset 700,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide,clickhere.You can alsoview projects worldwide on 4C Offshore's interactivemap.

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First SeaMade turbine towers arrive in Ostend - 4C Offshore