Purpose built vessel to install 20 MW offshore wind turbines
Van Oord has ordered a jack-up crane vessel for construction of up to 20 megawatt (MW) wind turbines at sea. The vessel can jack-up and lift its crane to install the future generation offshore wind turbines that are up to 260 metres tall and will generate 20 MW electricity.
The vessel is expected to enter the market in 2024.
Bigger and bigger offshore wind turbines
Since its initial involvement in offshore wind farm installations in 2002, Van Oord has been investing in this sector. Its first jack-up crane vessel, the Aeolus, became operational in 2014 and has been upgraded in 2019.
The first offshore wind farms Van Oord worked on, were off the Dutch coast and involved wind turbines that could generate 2 MW. Nowadays, Van Oord is placing turbines of 14 MW.
With the order for the new vessel, Van Oord wants to be ready for the construction of a new generation offshore wind turbines that are higher and, with blades with a span of up to 100 metres long, can generate even more electricity. ‘This investment prepares us for the increase in scale in the offshore wind industry and allows us to maintain our leadership position’, says Pieter van Oord, CEO at Van Oord.
Purpose-built
The vessel is purpose built by the Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard in China. The design is by Knud E. Hansen. Components include a crane, supplied by the Dutch company Huisman, that can lift more than 3,000 tonnes. The vessel has an advanced jacking system. Four giant legs, each measuring 126 metres, allow the vessel to be jacked up and work in waters up to 70 metres deep.
This investment is part of a 1 billion euro fleet investment programme over the next 5 years. In December 2020, Van Oord had already ordered a new green cable-laying vessel at VARD in Norway.
Fully carbon-neutral fleet
Van Oord is committed to reduce CO2 emissions and to become carbon-neutral by 2050. As marine fuels and engines are becoming cleaner, emissions are reduced. Van Oord has already ordered three LNG-fuelled dredgers, which will be completed in 2022. The new installation vessel will be able to run on the future fuel methanol.
The new ordered jack-up vessel will be equipped with an advanced active emissions control technology (Selective Catalytic Reduction) to reduce the NOx emission to an absolute minimum. An installed 5,000 kWh battery pack can take the peak loads and regenerate energy to reduce the fuel consumption (and corresponding emissions) even further.
