Orsted and Jan De Nul Group have signed the final contract for the transport and installation of 107 monopile foundations and one offshore substation topside at the 242MW Gode Wind 3 and 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms off Germany.
Transport and installation will start in 2023 and will be the first assignment for Les Alizés, the next generation offshore installation vessel of Jan De Nul Group.
Jan De Nul’s scope includes the transport and installation of 106 monopile foundations and one offshore substation foundation, including associated topside.
For the first time, Orsted will be using monopiles without the need of installing a transition piece for connecting turbine and foundation.
Before installation, scour protection will be installed at all 107 monopiles locations. Delivery is foreseen to be completed in 2024.
Once completed, these wind farms will generate enough electricity to power approx. 1.2 million German households every year.
The projects are subject to Orsted’s final investment decision.
Both wind farms will use 11MW Siemens Gamesa turbines and are located in the German North Sea.
Borkum Riffgrund 3 will be located adjacent to Orsted’s existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2.
Gode Wind 3 will be close to Orsted’s Gode Wind 1 and 2.
Jan De Nul group manager offshore renewables Peter De Pooter said: “This contract is an important milestone for us, it will be the maiden project for our new NextGen Heavy Lift Vessel Les Alizés.
“We are most pleased having signed this contract with industry leader Orsted Wind Power A/S and are looking forward to jointly develop both wind farms.
“Together with other projects in preparation by Jan De Nul, we are proud to contribute to the global transition to renewable energy by installing foundations and wind turbines in the most efficient way using the best environmentally friendly technologies.”
Vessel Les Alizés (pictured) is currently under construction and is planned to be delivered in 2022.
It will mainly be used for the construction of offshore wind farms, but the vessel’s crane will make the ship suitable for decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms.
Les Alizés will be fitted with an exhaust filtering system by means of a selective catalytic reduction system and a diesel particulate filter, making it the very first seagoing installation vessel of its kind to be an ultra-low emission vessel.
It is expected to be able to load out, transport and install multiple units of the largest and heaviest wind turbine foundations.
In addition, as a crane vessel that floats, it will be able to install heavier and larger foundations into deeper waters and in more challenging seabed conditions.
The vessel investment is a response to the global trend within the offshore wind energy sector to design and install increasingly larger wind turbines, Jan De Nul said.