Jan De Nul has placed an order for a floating installation crane vessel from the China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMIH) Haimen shipyard in China, which will be ready in 2022.
Together with the Voltaire, new vessel, called Les Alizes, will capable of building the newest generation of offshore wind farms.
Les Alizes will be equipped with a crane with a lifting capacity of more than 5000 tonnes.
The vessel’s dimensions and lifting and loading capacities, will enable load out, transport and installation of multiple units of the largest and heaviest wind turbine foundations, according to Jan De Nul.
The floating crane vessel will be able to install heavier and larger foundations into deeper waters and in more challenging seabed conditions.
New generations of offshore wind turbines can be more than 270 metres high, with blades up to 120 metres long on foundations weighing up to 2500 tonnes.
Jan De Nul offshore director Philippe Hutse said: “We continue to invest in the future of offshore renewable energy.
“By ordering Les Alizes today, from 2022 we will have not one, but two, offshore installation vessels that will be able to install the newest generation of offshore wind farms. This is how we offer our customers the most efficient installation method.
“Similar to the Voltaire, we have financed this investment by means of a green loan thanks to the green emissions reduction technology on board the vessel.
During the design phase, as is the case for all our new vessels, we studied very carefully the environmental impact and the solutions to minimize that impact.”
The vessel will be built at a shipyard of China Merchants Industry Holdings in Nantong City.
Les Alizes has a deck loading capacity of 61,000 tonnes and a deck space of 9300 square metres.
Unlike the Voltaire, Les Alizes does not have four legs to lift itself above the sea surface. The floating crane vessel design means the vessel is not dependent on the water depths and the seabed conditions. Les Alizes is equipped with a DP2 system.
As a result of their exhaust filtering systems, Les Alizes and the Voltaire will be the first seaworthy installation vessels in the world with extremely low emissions and with EURO STAGE V certification.
Les Alizes will also have a Cleanship NDO7 label and a Green Passport EU label.