Offshore Wind Project and Vessel News

Cadeler has secured a reservation agreement with Baltic Power for installing more than 70 offshore wind turbine generators and a vessel reservation agreement for the transportation and installation of these. This will be the first time Cadeler operates in Poland, and the Oslo-listed company will use one of its two O-class installation vessels. The ship will by then feature a new crane with 1,600 tonnes lifting capacity at a radius of 40 metres. The wind turbine generators will be installed in the Polish Baltic Sea and be part of the Baltic Power offshore wind farm. The farm is a joint venture project between PKN Orlen and Northland Power. It is the first commercial-scale project in Poland, expected to begin construction in 2024 and be finished in 2026. The 1.2 GW farm will be located 23 kilometres north of the Polish coast. According to Cadeler, the final contract is expected to be signed during the first half of 2023, once Baltic Power has made a final investment decision. The project’s next step is to select contractors to supply the turbines, foundations, and inter-array and export cables, in addition to constructing offshore and onshore substations. According to Baltic Power, this must happen at the end of this year to complete the project on schedule. Poland plans to build 5.9 GW offshore wind by 2030 and 11 GW by 2040. The country has no offshore wind installed, but several projects are in the pipeline.

Orsted has awarded Siemens Gamesa to provide main component exchange services, performed under end-to-end responsibility, at the 582 MW Gode Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind farms. The agreement has a duration of two years, with an option for three one-year extensions. Gode Wind 1 and 2 are located in the German North Sea, 45 kilometres off the German coast. They were officially inaugurated in June 2017. Orsted is responsible for operations and maintenance of the parks, which lay near Orsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm. Gode Wind 1 is owned 50% by Orsted, 25% by The Renewables Infrastructure Group, and 25% by Glennmont Partners. Gode Wind 2 is owned 50% by Orsted and, in total, 50% by AIP Management, Industriens Pension, Laerernes Pension, and Laegernes Pensionskasse.

The Renewable Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has exchanged contracts to acquire a further 2.4% equity interest in the Hornsea One offshore wind farm from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). TRIG will hold a 10.2% interest in the farm upon confirmation of this incremental investment, and the project will represent 9% of the company’s portfolio by value. This deal follows TRIG’s earlier move of purchasing an initial 7.8% equity stake in the farm. All required permits involving the company’s initial investment have been received, and the deal is due to be finalised this month. Additionally, TRIG’s incremental investment is planned to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2022. At this time, Orsted will control 50%, TRIG 10.2%, Greencoat UK Wind 12.5%, and GIP 27.3% of the farm. Orsted operates the 1.2 GW farm, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, located in the North Sea off the east coast of England. Orsted has an inflation-linked contract for difference that expires in 13 years, and the farm was fully operational from January 2020.

The president Biden administration has announced an advancement of offshore wind leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Two new wind energy areas in the gulf were unveiled, off the coast of Texas and Louisiana, with a total potential of at least 8.9 GW.

The reflagging process of the newly converted MMA Crystal vessel is now completed. MMA Offshore earlier this year converted the ship from an anchor handling tug supply vessel into a multipurpose subsea support vessel to support Taiwan's offshore renewable energy market. This conversion has added a suite of new subsea support services, including ROV, survey, subsea deployment and lifting capabilities. The vessel will shortly begin operations to install a floating LiDAR mooring in Taiwan, followed by many geophysical, geotechnical, and ROV work scopes.

Edda Wind’s service operation vessel (SOV) Edda Goelo has been launched at Astilleros Balenciaga in Spain. The ship will commence operations for Siemens Gamesa at Iberdrola’s Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France from 2023 under a five-year contract. The launching ceremony was carried out in Zumaia and was attended by representatives from the shipyard, Siemens Gamesa, Iberdrola, and Edda Wind. The ship is Edda Wind’s second SOV built by Astilleros Balenciaga and the company’s second launch this year. Edda Goelo will serve as a mother vessel for wind turbine technicians while undertaking maintenance work on offshore wind turbines. The ship can accommodate 40 Siemens Gamesa and Iberdrola maintenance technicians, plus approximately 20 people from Edda Wind. The crew will stay two weeks at the wind farm before the vessel returns to the shore and replaces the team for another two weeks. The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm will have a capacity of 496 MW, utilising 62 SG 8.0-167 DD turbines. Siemens Gamesa will install and maintain the farm for a minimum of ten years for Iberdrola.

Acta Marine will again equip two newbuild methanol-powered construction service operation vessels with SMTS mission equipment. The cooperation between the two companies was reaffirmed by the contract signed with Tersan Shipyard for a modular W2W system package. Both the mission equipment sets are planned to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023, and the contract with Tersan Shipyard also includes the supply of SMST mission equipment for two optional vessels. The two ordered sets for Ulstein’s SX-216 TWIN-X Stern design vessels will consist of a 6t 3D motion compensated crane and a motion compensated gangway, a Telescopic Access Bridge L-Series, combined with an Access & Cargo Tower.

Vard has held a keel-laying ceremony for the third service operations vessel (SOV) it is building for North Star. The ship is being built at Vard Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam. The contract between Vard and North Star includes four SOVs, which will be used in operations at the Dogger Bank wind farm. The agreement between the two parties has a duration of ten years for each vessel, with three additional one-year options. All the SOVs have been developed by Vard Design in Norway in close cooperation with the owner. They will have a hybrid battery solution prepared for carbon-neutral operations in the future. Moreover, they will have a height-adjustable, motion-compensated gangway with an elevator system and a height-adjustable boat transfer system, in addition to a 3D-compensated crane for cargo transfer and MO4’s AI decision support software. The work on the first ship commenced in October and is expected to arrive in Port of Tyne in summer 2023, with the Dogger Bank C ship due in 2025.

The construction of Van Oord’s next-generation jack-up vessel Boreas started with a steel cutting ceremony at the Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in China. The ship was ordered in October last year and will be the first to feature W?rtsil?’s dedicated fuel supply system for methanol. The 175 metres jack-up is purpose-built for transportation and installation of foundations and wind turbines, and it will be able to install up to 25 MW wind turbines. Knud E Hansen designed the vessel with four legs of 126 metres each, which allows the ship to operate in depths of up to 70 metres. The jack-up is expected to enter the market in 2024 and will sail under the Dutch flag. Van Oord has an option on a second vessel.

Houlder, Expleo, and Bibby Marine have completed their Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition project for a zero-emissions service operation vessel (SOV). The competition was funded by the UK Department of Transport in partnership with Innovate UK, and it supported the companies recognised for advancing maritime decarbonisation. Furthermore, it provided funding for feasibility studies and clean maritime technology trials. Houlder completed a feasibility study for their newbuild SOV, fuelled with hydrogen from liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) and powered by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. LOHC fuel was chosen due to fewer safety concerns and vessel design requirements, even though it has a lower energy density than LH2 and ammonia. Some initial estimations have shown a lifecycle CO2 emissions reduction of up to 83%. The ship is also fitted with a redundant energy storage system in the form of lithium-ion batteries. In addition to the power provided by the fuel cells, these batteries are sized to meet the vessel’s power demand at maximum speed and compensate for the slower transient response of the fuel cell system. Moreover, the SOV fits compressed hydrogen buffer tanks to manage the slower transient response time of the LOHC release units. In the future, the team behind the ship recommends fitting solid oxide fuel cells when the development of these is completed for maritime applications. A safety assessment against known flags and class society requirements and a hazard identification risk assessment has been completed for the ship, but further risk assessments are needed if the vessel is to be built.

The supply vessel Fugro Voyager will perform a geotechnical site survey campaign at the North Celtic Sea and South Irish Sea offshore wind projects from 30 July to 30 September. The Energia Group develops the wind projects. North Celtic Sea will have a capacity of 800 MW and is located 10 - 25 kilometres off the Waterford coast, while South Irish Sea will have a capacity of 600 – 800 MW situated the same distance off the shores of Wexford and South Wicklow.

St. Johns Ship Building has held a keel-laying ceremony for the first Incat Crowther 30 crew transfer vessel (CTV) it is building for WINDEA CTV in compliance with the Jones Act regulations in the US. The 30-metre hybrid-ready ship will support the growing offshore wind market in the US. The first two vessels will be built at St. Johns Ship Building and the third at Gulf Craft. The ships are expected to be delivered in 2023 and will immediately go into service for GE Renewables. The vessels will initially operate out of New Bedford during the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm construction. WINDEA CTV is part of the WINDEA Offshore USA consortium that provides a complete set of services for construction support and operations and maintenance activities. The fleet is owned and operated by MidOcean Wind LLC and Honnblower Wind, LLC., with technical and operational support from WINDEA Offshore shareholder Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH.

Eidsvik Offshore has been awarded a five-year contract with Van Oord Offshore Wind for the vessel Subsea Viking. The agreement will commence in the first quarter of 2023, and Van Oord Offshore Wind has been granted options for further extensions and a buy option after the firm period on specific terms. The vessel will be deployed on various projects as a trenching support vessel and will be the main platform for Van Oord’s “Dig-It” trencher. According to Eidesvik, the contract is essential to expand the company’s presence in the renewable market.

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