DEME has finished installing 85 kilometres of subsea export cable for Elia’s Modular Offshore Grid. The Belgian dredging and offshore contractor's new cable installation vessel Living Stone completed the job using its innovative dual-lane cable installation system.
The Modular Offshore Grid (MOG) is the first grid project of its kind in Belgium. The MOG will group and connect the offshore produced energy of four new wind farms (Rentel, Seastar, Mermaid and Northwester 2), so that it can be injected in the Belgian onshore grid via fewer sea cables. The cable DEME installed connects an Offshore Switchyard Platform, the transmissions systems on the Rentel platform and the platforms with the Stevin 380 kV-substation in Zeebrugge. The MOG is to be operational this September.
Dual-lane Cable Installation System
The Living Stone collected the cable at the manufacturer Hellenic Cable in Greece, transported it to the site in Belgium and performed cable installation, offshore jointing and four pull-ins. With the innovative cable installation system on board the Living Stone, works have been completed in record time and ahead of schedule. The unique dual-lane cable installation system, consisting of two cable highways, can install one cable while the next can be simultaneously prepared on deck, including the installation of the cable protection system (CPS).
DEME also deployed its newest trailing suction hopper dredger Bonny River on the project to backfill 45 kilometres of trenches.
