Van Oord wins Walney Extension installation deal

UK: Van Oord has been awarded the contract to install 87 foundations at Dong Energy's 649MW Walney Extension in the Irish Sea.

Van Oord's Aeolus vessel installing monopiles at a Dutch offshore project

Van Oord will transport the monopiles and transition pieces to the project site 19km off England's west coast. The foundation components are being manufactured in Germany, Denmark and the UK.

Installation work will begin in spring 2017, according to Van Oord, with the project due online in 2018.

Dong gave its final investment decision on what will be the world's largest offshore project at the end of October.

The 649MW site will comprise 40 MHI-Vestas V164 8MW turbines and 47 Siemens 7MW turbines across two phases.

In June, Van Oord was contracted by Dong to install the foundations at the nearby 256MW Burbo Bank Extension project in 2016.