Turbine Installation Start

Turbine installation at the Sandbank offshore wind farm began in late July 2016. According to a Vattenfall press release dated 8 September 2016, erection of the 72 Siemens SWT‑4.0‑130 turbines had started in late July, and 21 turbines had been successfully erected by early September at the site 90 km west of Sylt. During the commissioning phase, the service operations vessel "Acergy Viking" was deployed as a walk‑to‑work vessel, enabling 24‑hour access to the turbines via a specialised gangway system and helping to accelerate the commissioning schedule. The start of turbine installation followed completion of the monopile foundations and initiation of inter-array cable laying, moving Sandbank into the final offshore construction and commissioning phase ahead of planned full operation in 2017.