Emerging global wind hotspots and huge scale-up challenges mean turbine and foundation installation vessels will be hot property.
Will there be enough vessels capable of working with the giant components as turbines gallop towards 20MW – demanding gargantuan foundations?
Smaller turbines could be installed by first-generation offshore wind vessels or converted oil and gas jack-ups, but the rapid evolution of taller turbines to reach stronger winds with longer blades requires new purpose-built vessels.
With competition from oil and gas needing these vessels to decommission assets, there’s a double whammy crisis in supply.
An estimated £3.3bn to £6.5bn needs to be spent on new heavy vessels this decade – but it takes about three years to build a wind foundation installation vessel (WFIV), so the supply chain delivering in time, even if the investment and will was there, is unlikely.
A report by Intelatus Global Partners predicted nearly 30,000 increasingly large fixed-bottom turbines and foundations will be installed globally between 2022 and 2035, needing at least 10 WFIVs and/or six extra wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV).
With emerging European, Asian, Australian and Indian markets, and the US emerging as one of the largest bottom-fixed installation markets, the undersupply of heavy load carriers and installation vessels to meet projected demand is a concern.
Industry analyst Spinergie, using a recently commissioned wind farm off northwest France, calculated the number of vessel days needed for supply and installation. A total of 1,720.5 vessel days were required for general cargo/ heavy lift cargo vessels, with 81.25% of all vessel days spent carrying turbine and foundation components.
An average of 739.5 vessel days were needed for supply, using six vessels. Installation took 981 vessel days, with monopile foundations taking 391 days – not including array cable transport, inland transport for the monopiles, primary steel and transition pieces, and road transport for the remaining nacelles.
Some operators have upgraded vessel cranes to remain competitive, but older first-generation installation vessels have transitioned into maintenance and repair services because they aren’t big enough.
Only time will tell whether the vessels in build now will be enough to keep the UK pipeline on track.
How is the industry responding?
The global dash for heavy lift capacity has led industry heavyweights Transocean and Eneti, owner of Seajacks, to develop two world-class offshore wind foundation installation vessels.
The joint venture combines the vast experience of Great Yarmouth-based Seajacks, which has installed 500 turbines and is the largest owner of purpose-built self-propelled WTIVs, and Transocean RIG, an international provider of offshore drilling services with a global fleet of dynamically positioned offshore drilling rigs.
The two companies will convert up to two floating vessels into WFIVs. Upgrades include a 5,200-tonne crane to address the looming shortage, which risks a slowdown of projects and could obstruct reaching offshore wind targets.
The vessels are expected to carry up to six 3,500-tonne monopile foundations with a 12-metre diameter and other environmentally responsible and efficiencyenhancing features.
Seajacks, acquired by Eneti from former owners Mitsui and Marubeni two years ago, has executed transport and installation contracts all over the world – in Europe, Scotland, Germany and Japan.
Two new vessels capable of installing 14MW+ turbines will join Seajacks’ fleet in 2024 and 2025. Nessie and Siren are under construction in Daewoo, South Korea.
Nessie will have a high capacity 2,600-tonne main crane and the ability to operate in up to 65-metre water depths. Siren will install and maintain heavy foundations and wind turbine components with its 2,600-tonne main crane and 5,400m² main deck area.
Seaway 7 will soon welcome a jack-up wind turbine installation vessel and a new custom-built heavy lift installation vessel for foundation installation to its fleet of cable lay, heavy lift and transportation vessels.
Alfa Lift, a custom-built heavy lift crane installation vessel for the installing of offshore wind foundations, will be followed by self-propelled jack-up installation vessel Seaway Ventus, designed to install the future generations of wind turbines and XL monopile foundations.
Giant new vessels to support first installations off East Anglia
Wind farms off Norfolk and Suffolk will be installed by the biggest new purpose-built energy efficient vessels. In construction now, they were designed with turbine manufacturers to include the most advanced technology to install turbines for the next 20-25 years.
One of Cadeler’s two new $325m X-class vessels will install all 95 of the 14.7MW turbines on ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia THREE.
Havfram, preferred supplier for Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone installation in 2027, will use its cutting-edge NG20000 X jack-up. It can install turbines with a rotor diameter of more than 300 metres, as well as XXL monopiles weighing up to 3,000 tonnes with a 3.2-tonne crane.
Cadeler’s X-class can carry seven giant turbines from port to wind farm site, delivering efficiency and carbon footprint savings, compared to the three-turbine cargo of its existing O-class.
Cadeler, formerly Swire Blue Ocean, worked with turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa to create the vessels, which took three years to build. Its $651 million contract with COSCO Shipping will see the vessels ready by the end of 2024, doubling Cadeler’s fleet.
Norway-based Havfram Wind has a four-vessel option with CIMC Raffles.
Martin Degan, Havfram Wind vice president and commercial director, said: “Our fleet will be capable of meeting the requirements and challenges of the fast-growing offshore wind market, and we are confident that our experienced team will deliver the highest service to clients worldwide.”
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