The Rentel offshore wind project announced the landfall of its export cable in Zebbruges located on the Belgian coast of the North Sea. The cable, with a length of 40 kilometers, will be placed within a dredged trench on the seabed by a cable laying vessel. A cable laying barge will take over in the shallow waters 6 kilometer before the coast and bring the cable ashore in Zeebruges. The installation of the last 450 meters of cable on the beach will be done by means of mobile cranes. Dredgers will fill the trench, thus burying the cable in the seabed. As from 1 km before the coast, a mechanical trenching machine on caterpillars will carry out these works. With the landfall of this export cable, Rentel will be the first windfarm connected to the new high voltage station “Stevin”, in Zeebruges.
Rentel is a 309 MW offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea. Located approximately 40 km from Ostend, in front of the Belgian coast. The headquarters are located in the harbour of Ostend, where the operational management of the wind farm will be based as well.
The wind farm will comprise 42 Siemens turbines with an individual peak capacity of 7,35 MW, producing nearly 309 MW at peak conditions. The turbines are connected to the offshore transformer station. This offshore substation is connected by a 220kV submarine cable to an onshore substation in Zeebrugge, named Stevin. Rentel has reached its financial close in October 2016 and construction of the site has started since. (Source: Rentel)