A VAN LEEUWEN SPECIALS
C-VENTUS JOINT VENTURE COMPANY

ABOUT VLCV

VLCV BV, a specialist company THAT PROVIDES turnkey projects requiring a combination of marine subsea activities and trenchless technologies.

VL Specials BV and C-Ventus Offshore Windfarm Services BV is pleased to present their Joint Venture, VLCV BV.

VL Specials, part of Van Leeuwen Trenchless Technology BV, is a land-based drilling specialist and construction firm which specializes in trenchless installation of pipelines and cables and provides subsurface construction solutions for the installation of infrastructural networks, conduits which carry electric cables and pipelines for carrying (sewage) water, gas, oil and other products.

C-Ventus Offshore Windfarm Services BV, part of DISA International, is a dedicated service provider with specialist knowledge in offshore windfarm installation, operations and maintenance (O&M) and decommissioning.

VLCV BV, a specialist company which supplies turnkey projects requiring a combination of marine subsea activities and trenchless technologies.

FOUR HDPE CONDUITS SUCCESFULLY INSTALLED
AT GREENLINK LANDFALLS WALES AND IRELAND BY VLCV BV

In 2021 Jan De Nul Group secured the Greenlink interconnector cable installation contract for Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Electric).

Jan De Nul is responsible for the end-to-end subsea cable laying and cable protection works and the project involves the installation of a cable package consisting of two high-voltage cables and a fiber optic cable along a sea route of 160km between County Wexford in Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales Greenlink, one of Europe’s most important energy infrastructure projects,is a 500MW subsea and underground electricity interconnector linking the power markets in Ireland and Great Britain and due for commissioning in 2024.In addition to the cable installation and protection at sea, the project also includes infrastructure works on both land sides. The cables will come ashore (landfalls) through underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and will be connected to the electricity grids.

Specifically for these landfalls Jan De Nul awarded VLCV BV the HDD drilling scope, the HDPE installation (conduits), and the associated Marine scope. The HDPE installation consist of two HDPE conduits of 1250 metres at the Wales landfall site (Freshwater West ) and two HDPE conduits of 945 metres at the Irish landfall site (Baginbun Beach).

VLCV is proud to announce that the installation of the first two HDPE conduits in Freshwater West (Wales) were completed in February 2023, and subsequently the remaining two HDPE conduits installation in Baginbun Beach (Ireland) were installed in April 2023. The four HDPE conduits were installed successfully for Jan De Nul and are ready for cable installation.

VLCV BV is specialized in trenchless landfall projects and Marine-to-Marine Horizontal Directional Drill solutions and delighted to have contributed to the energy transition of the UK and Ireland.

By using the HDD method for installation of the conduits, and subsequent ower cables, the environmental impact on the Sites of Special Scientific Interest and at sea at Freshwater West are minimized.

The installation of the cables at sea is scheduled for 2023 and 2024. Jan De Nul will mobilize its cable installation vessel, the Connector, for this purpose.

Greenlink is a subsea and underground electricity interconnector cable (with associated converter stations) linking the existing electricity grids in Ireland and Great Britain (GB) and has a nominal capacity of 500MW. Greenlink will provide a new grid connection between EirGrid’s Great Island substation in County Wexford (Ireland) and National Grid’s Pembroke substation in Pembrokeshire (Wales). The power will be able to flow in either direction, depending on supply and demand in each country.

Greenlink has key strategic importance, as it will provide significant additional interconnection between Ireland and Great Britain, with onward connections to continental Europe. The construction and development of Greenlink will deliver increased energy security, regional investment and value for money to consumers, and will enable the further integration of low carbon renewable energy sources.

In September 2021 Greenlink announced that a consortium comprising Siemens Energy AG (Siemens Energy) and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd (Sumitomo Electric) had been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Greenlink.

Read more about the Greenlink Interconnector: https://www.greenlink.ie/

VLCV AWARDED CONTRACT FOR GREENLINK INTERCONNECTOR

VLCV BV has been awarded a contract from Jan de Nul for the HDD installation for the Greenlink interconnector.

Jan De Nul is responsible for the end-to-end subsea cable laying and cable protection works. Greenlink is a subsea and underground electricity interconnector linking the power markets in Ireland and Great Britain and due for commissioning in 2024. It is one of Europe’s most important energy infrastructure projects, transporting electricity equivalent to the consumption of approximately 380,000 homes and contributing to energy security, employment and the integration of low carbon energy sources.

Under this contract VLCV scope consists of 4 HDD Shore approaches - 2 HDPE ducts of 1210 meter into sandstone and mudstone will be installed at the Wales landfall site near Milford Heaven and 2 HDPE ducts of 925 meter into sandstone and mudstone will be installed at the Irish landfall site near Baginbun together with the required marine operations.

"We would like to thank Jan de Nul for this major opportunity, it proves trust in the renowned and reliable contractor VLCV and its combined capabilities, track record and dedicated personnel," said Didier de Graaff (Director VLCV BV) and Arvid de Groot (CTO VLCV BV).

VLCV, specialized in trenchless landfall projects and Marine-to-Marine Horizontal Directional Drill solution, is ready for the job and VLCV is proud to contribute to the energy transition of the UK and Ireland.

It is expected that the parties will start the offshore operations under the contract in September 2022.

DIRECT DRILL® PROJECT BORSSELE

VLCV BV is proud to announce its first project with the award of the Borssele Direct Drill® project on the 1st of October 2019.

Project description: The Borssele cable project consists of the design, manufacturing and installation of two Borssele Beta 220 kV 350 MW grid connections between the Borssele OWF offshore substation platform and the onshore substation at the town of Borssele. The site is situated in its entirety in Dutch territory and Dutch territorial waters. The contract for the performance of the scope of Works has been awarded to the consortium TenneT TSO B.V and NKT Cables GmbH & Co. KG and VBMS B.V. (“VBNK”).

Scope of Work: VLCV BV is contracted to install by Direct Drill technique two ducts including Bellmouth installation for TenneT and VBNK consortium. Two Direct Drill’s and duct installations of approximately 450m long will be made from a barge positioned on the mudflat towards the exit pit in the Western Scheldt seabed at ~50m of depth. This technique,is a single-step drill technique, consists of an onshore prefabricated pipeline that is directly connected with a drill head and installs in one pass after which the drill head is disconnected. VLCV BV has designed the drilling plan for this project considering the subsoil conditions, strength calculations and mud pressures which are implemented in the design. After drilling and installation of the duct, the drill head will be removed with a special disconnecting system. A DP2 vessel with a Work Class ROV recovers the drill head and installs the two Bellmouths with the use of special drill tools operated from the drill barge. The Bellmouth will be temporary closed with a special plug to seal the pipe ready for the cable pull-in works that will take place at a later stage.

Arvid de Groot, Project Manager at VLCV BV commented: “Today I can proudly announce that both ducts and Bellmouths have been successfully installed. Our teams have been working hard since October on the successful installation of both ducts. The successful completion of this EPC-project illustrates the capacities of VLCV BV on complex and challenging operations”.