All 60 foundations have been installed in the seabed of the Baltic Sea ahead of schedule. The monopiles, which weigh around 1,200 tons, were tied up to 40 meters deep into the seabed. One success factor was the three-dimensional seismic investigation of the subsoil prior to installation.
It provided important data on the sediment structure of the individual foundation sites in the connection with boreholes, which was used for the first time in Germany. The locations were positioned on this basis, also to simplify installation and avoid the use of a drilling rig. The design of the steel foundations was then individually adapted to the soil conditions. The foundations are 81 meters long and have a diameter of up to 7.75 meters. The rapid construction progress allows an early start of the assembly of the transition pieces. This work is to be completed by the beginning of next year. In the spring of 2018, the offshore transformer station built in cooperation with the grid operator 50Hertz will be transported to the Arkona construction site and installed. The Arkona project is located 35 kilometres northeast of the island of Rügen and will have a capacity of 385MW.
