VolkerWessels Boskalis Marine Solutions (VBMS) has won a contract to support installation of export cables at the 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

Dredging and marine contractor Van Oord is the lead contractor for the project, which is located in the Dutch part of the North Sea, 85km north of the Groningen coast.

The Netherlands-based VBMS will assist Van Oord for work on two cable sections having a total length of 11km in the transition area between shallow and deep waters.

Cable-laying vessel Stemat Spirit will be used for the work, which is likely to be mobilised by VBMS in mid-March 2015.

VBMS CEO Arno van Poppel: “After our successful cooperation for the Eneco Luchterduinen OWF last year, we are very pleased to install this export cable for Van Oord and contribute to one of the most productive offshore wind farms in the world.”

The Gemini wind project is owned by a consortium formed by Northland Power, Siemens Financial Services (SFS), Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors, and NV HVC.

The offshore facility will be equipped with 150 wind turbines from Siemens, which will each have a capacity of 4MW.

Once operational, the farm will generate 2.6TWh of electricity a year, which is enough to power around 785,000 households. The project is also expected to reduce 1.25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in a year.