Bilfinger Lands $133 Mln Sandbank Foundation Job

The engineering and services group Bilfinger has won an order for the installation of a total of 72 foundations for the new Sandbank Offshore Windpark.

Sandbank is a joint partnership of Vattenfall (51 percent) and the city of Munich’s public utility company (49 percent). The foundation elements will be installed in the seabed with the help of an installation ship in waters that are up to 34 meters deep and 90 kilometers west of Sylt in the German North Sea. The contract has a volume of more than $133.6 million (€100 million). Work has already begun and will continue until February 2016.

The Hydro Sound Damper, a sound protection system that Bilfinger played a key role in developing, is being used at the Sandbank Offshore Windpark. The system helps to reduce the noise pollution that marine fauna is exposed to during the construction phase. The plastic material used for this system, a sheathing of the foundation pile, is specifically designed for the frequencies that are generated and retains its effectiveness over the entire water depth even in strong currents. Initial testing revealed a significant reduction in noise emissions.

“Bilfinger is a specialist in the manufacture, transport and installation of offshore foundations on the high seas and has proven its extensive competence in a large number of offshore projects”, explains Member of the Executive Board Joachim Enenkel. “The order will be carried out by our newly-formed Offshore Systems and Grids division, in which we have brought together our marine engineering and grid construction activities within the Power business segment.”

Bilfinger just recently won the order for the testing of steel foundations for the Wikinger Windpark in the Baltic Sea. From fall 2014, the group will manufacture several test piles, drive them into the seabed and subsequently conduct a comprehensive range of tests to optimize the foundations for the wind turbines from a technical and economic perspective.