For this specific job, Van Oord designed and built the Deep Dig-It trencher, a gigantic and remotely controlled trencher. Van Oord, being part of the Van Oord-Hellenic Cables consortium, is conducting final tests with this enormous machine in the Alexiahaven (harbour) today, in preparation for the actual installation of the sea cables in July.
The Deep Dig-It is a so-called “Tracked Remotely Operated Vehicle” (TROV), which drives unmanned over the seabed, creating a deep trench for the cables, while simultaneously inserting the cables and then closing the trench again. Special about this new trencher is that it is the largest and most powerful machine in its’ class. The trencher weighs 125.000 kilos, is more than 17 metres long, well over 8 metres high, and 11 metres wide. The installed power is unrivalled and matches the equivalent of two Leopard tanks (2,500 HP), making it possible to bury cables into very hard soils. Next to the large power installed, the depth of burial that can be achieved by the trencher is unmatched: well over 5 metres. A lot of marine ingenuity has been put into the Deep Dig-It, with the development of this new trencher Van Oord responds to a changing offshore wind market and its’ latest demands. The Deep Dig-It will be controlled from Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel MPI Adventure, which is equipped with a crane that launches and recovers the Deep Dig-It into the sea.
Hollandse Kust (South) offshore grid project
TenneT awarded the Van Oord-Hellenic Cables consortium in 2018, to build the connection from land to sea for the Hollandse Kust (South) offshore grid project. The consortium is installing and burying the sea cables crossing the entrance to Europe’s busiest freight port, the port of Rotterdam. The 1,400 MW project will be completed in 2022: Alpha (700MW) in 2021 and Beta (700MW) in 2022, to deliver electricity for 1.6 million households. This offshore wind farm will thereby contribute significantly to the Dutch government’s target of having a total of 4.5 GW of installed offshore wind energy power by 2023. The Hollandse Kust (South) offshore wind farm is 22 kilometres off the coast of the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland. The sea cables connect the two offshore platforms with the Maasvlakte high voltage substation and the Randstad 380 kV South ring. Wind energy is then transported to electricity consumers across the country through the national high voltage grid.
About Van Oord
Van Oord is a Dutch family-owned company with 150 years of experience as an international marine contractor. The focus is on dredging, oil & gas infrastructure and offshore wind. Its head office is in Rotterdam. Van Oord employs 5,000 staff, who worked in 2018 on 190 projects in 46 countries. The fleet consists of more than one hundred vessels. Marine ingenuity is characteristic of Van Oord. By using innovative, smart and sustainable solutions, it wishes to contribute to a better world for future generations.
About TenneT
TenneT is a leading European grid operator (Transmission System Operator (TSO)) with its most important activities in the Netherlands and Germany. With more than 23,000 kilometres of high-voltage lines, we ensure a reliable and secure electricity supply to 41 million end users. With almost 5,000 employees, we achieve a turnover of EUR 4.2 billion, and a total asset value of more than EUR 22 billion. TenneT is one of the largest investors in national and international onshore and offshore power grids. Our focus is on developing an integrated North-West European energy market and facilitating the energy transition. TenneT makes every effort to meet the needs of society by being responsible, involved and committed.
