Ballast Nedam's heavy lift vessel Svanen left the port of Rotterdam last weekend. The Svanen has been commissioned by Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors to drive 56 steel piles for the foundations of the Belwind offshore wind farm off the coast of Zeebrugge (Belgium). This is the first phase of the Belwind project, which will eventually encompass a total of 110 wind turbines.
Once the project is completed the 110 wind turbines will supply power to approximately 350,000 households, meaning a reduction of 540,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The offshore wind farm is located on Bligh Bank, a sand bank 46 kilometres from the Belgian coast where the sea has a depth of 15 to 37 meters. This makes Belwind the furthest offshore wind farm which is also being constructed in the deepest water. The heavy lift vessel Svanen has everything it takes to operate under these conditions.
Ballast Nedam previously received an order from the German energy company EnBW for the design and installation of 22 foundations for the Baltic I offshore wind farm. Ballast Nedam sees good opportunities for further work in the offshore wind turbine market in 2010.