Belgian dredger owner DEME has won three contracts worth €110m ($154m) to install foundations at three wind farms in Europe.

DEME has won three windfarm installation contracts
The work will be carried out by DEME subsidiary GeoSea, which specialises in the installation of offshore structures and offshore wind farms.

The first contract was signed with the Denmark’s DONG Energy and involves the installation of 102 foundations for the Walney wind farms in the Irish Sea.

The foundations consist of monopiles, in excess of 500 tons each, on top of which a 3.6MW Siemens turbine will be mounted.

GeoSea will assign its jack-up platforms Vagant and the newbuilding Goliath for the work, DEME said.

The work on Walney I is scheduled to start in April 2010 and to be completed by July 2011.

GeoSea has also obtained a letter of intent for the installation of foundations for the Ormonde offshore wind farm, also in the Irish Sea.

DEME says a different technique will be used on this project with four 80 ton monopiles per wind turbine.

On top of the monopiles a jacket will be constructed, on top of which the wind turbine is then installed.

GeoSea will execute this job together with Scaldis Salvage & Marine Contractors, a sister company in the DEME group.

The third contract is currently being carried out at the offshore wind farm of Alpha Ventus off the German island of Borkum.

GeoSea’s jack-up platform Buzzard is already on site installing the 80 ton monopolies.

It is due to be joined in August by the new jack-up platform Goliath for the installation of the turbines on top of the jacket foundation.