SHL wins Dudgeon foundation task

UK: Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) has been awarded the contract to install the foundations for the Dudgeon wind farm, off the coast of east England.

The contract, which was awarded by project developers Statoil and Statkraft, covers storage, transportation and installation of monopiles for the turbines and one substation.

According to SHL, the monopiles will be installed in water depths of 60-78 metres. The work will begin between March and May 2016 and be completed in August the same year.

SHL performed the same role in the development of the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, which lies to the south of Dudgeon.

In July, UK sea bed manager the Crown Estate announced the number of turbines at the Dudgeon wind farm will be cut from 178 to a maximum of 78.

As a result, the project's site was expanded by 19 square kilometres to allow greater flexibility in the siting of the turbines.

At the time, a spokesman for the Crown Estate said: "The Dudgeon site consists of mobile sand waves and chalk seabed, both of which create engineering challenges in securing the turbine foundations.

In January, the project's developers handed Siemens the contract to supply, assemble, commission and service 67 of its 6MW turbines. Engineering work on the project started in December.