ESS Clean Up On Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm Project

Subsea technology specialist, Ecosse Subsea Systems (ESS), has successfully completed a seabed clearance and trenching scope on the Wikinger offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea for the Prysmian Group.

The campaign over 116 days deployed ESS’s SCAR1 Seabed System and dealt with extremely varied seabed and shallow soil conditions.

The route preparation phase involved thousands of boulders being cleared over a total distance of 34km covering 45 inter array routes, followed by pre-cut trenching over a length of 83km in single and multi-pass modes.

ESS was awarded the contract by Prysmian Group, one of the key contractors for the Iberdrola-owned Wikinger offshore wind farm, the 70-turbine 350MW facility, located off the German coast, which will generate enough energy to power more than 350,000 homes.

ESS technical director, Michael Cowie, said: “We are pleased to have successfully completed another seabed clearance and trenching work scope and look forward to supporting Prysmian Group on further offshore wind projects. Our SCAR Seabed System is now a well-proven and versatile technology which is ideally suited to the requirements of the offshore wind sector. The Wikinger project adds another successful campaign to our credentials as a provider of cost-effective cable protection services which minimises disruption to the critical path of the overall project.”

The Wikinger offshore wind farm is an Iberdrola flagship project which represents a €1,400 million investment. Construction is well under way and Iberdrola has successfully installed 70 wind turbines on the open sea after laying the foundations, cables and installing the substation of the large-scale offshore complex.

David Rayner, Project Manager of Prysmian Group, said: “The cable laying phase of the Wikinger offshore wind farm project was completed ahead of schedule which is quite uncommon in the offshore wind market. This highlights our ability to manage turnkey inter-array projects and we appreciate the valuable contribution made by Ecosse Subsea Systems in achieving this important milestone as we progress towards project completion.”