innogy SE has made the final investment decision for the construction of the 342 MW Kaskasi offshore wind farm, set to be built 35 km north of the German island of Heligoland.
In preparation for construction, contracts for all major components have been signed. The contract value for wind turbines and foundations, the offshore transformer substation and the cabling for the wind farm is approximately €500 million.
“Offshore wind is an important pillar to reach Germany’s climate protection goals by supplying green electricity from a reliable source,” says Christoph Radke, COO of renewables at innogy. “I am delighted to announce the construction of our Kaskasi offshore wind project, which will become our third offshore wind farm off the German coast. Our investment in this project underlines our ambitions to further grow in offshore wind in Europe and around the globe.”
innogy has signed a contract with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A. for the supply of 38 SG 8.0-167 DD Flex offshore wind turbines. Each turbine will have a capacity of close to 9 MW, a rotor diameter of 167 m, and a total height of 191 m. The wind turbines, as well as the substation, will be installed on monopile foundations built by Bladt Industries A/S. Seaway 7 will commence the installation of the foundations using a new installation method in the third quarter of 2021 in moderate water depths of 18 to 25 m.
Vibro pile driving is an efficient alternative to the conventional method of hammering monopiles into the seabed. A research project led by innogy has shown that this improved installation method could deliver reduced installation times and noise emissions during construction. Kaskasi will be the first wind farm in the world using the vibro driving technique to install all monopile foundations to target penetration. In preparation for the offshore construction work, seismic analyses have already been carried out.
innogy has contracted Bladt to construct, deliver and commission the offshore transformer substation. Installation of approximately 50 km of cable will be carried out by Seaway 7. The cables will be manufactured by Dutch company Twentsche Kabel Fabriek (TKF).
It is expected that the wind farm will start operations in summer 2022; the final date will be set in coordination with the offshore grid operator TenneT. Kaskasi offshore wind farm is to be connected to the same grid connection cluster as innogy’s nearby Nordsee Ost wind farm.
