DEME bags cable installation work on Dutch offshore wind farm

Belgian marine contractor DEME has won a contract to carry out transport and installation works for the inter-array cables and secondary steel for the OranjeWind offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

The wind farm is being developed by a joint venture of leading energy companies RWE and TotalEnergies and will have an installed capacity of nearly 800MW.

DEME will transport and install a total of 114 km of inter-array cables, which will connect all 53 foundations to the offshore substation in the Dutch North Sea. The scope includes all the engineering, preparation and supporting activities.

Pre-sweeping will be conducted at the wind farm before cable installation in areas with significant sand waves to ensure the cable is buried at the required target depth. At the offshore substation and crossings of existing assets, the cables will be stabilised with rock.

The secondary steel scope includes the transport and installation of boat landings, access platforms, and internal platforms at the monopile foundations.

Scheduled to start in the second half of 2026, DEME will deploy offshore and cable installation vessels, a hopper dredger, and fallpipe vessel, as well as additional supporting equipment.

No precise financial details were given but the contract was said to be ‘substantial’ which for the Belgium company is between €150m and €300m ($162m and $325m)