RWE Innogy has announced that an offshore installation vessel, dubbed ‘Victoria Mathias,’ will be used for the construction of the Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm, a 295 MW project that will be built approximately 30 km north of the island of Heligoland.
According to RWE Innogy, the installation vessel can transport up to four offshore wind turbines of the multi-megawatt class at the same time and then install them at a depth of more than 40 meters.
The vessel is more than 100 meters long and 40 meters wide, and features a satellite-controlled navigation system that can position the vessel precisely for the construction works at sea. It has extendible steel beams that fix it securely to the seabed, as well as a crane with 1,000 tons of lifting capacity.
On the building site, the vessel turns into a jack-up rig, from which foundations and wind turbines can be installed. The vessel will transport two foundation structures every two weeks and later transport and install all 48 6 MW wind turbines.
In addition to the Victoria Mathias, RWE Innogy also had an identical vessel built – "Friedrich Ernestine" – which will be used in the construction of the 576 MW Gwynt y Mor wind farm being built off the coast of Wales.
