Innogy for the first time has set up a construction management team living and working offshore around the clock in order to build the 857MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm off the east coast of England.
The team is permanently based onboard the service operations vessel Esvagt Froude and will be part of a team of up to 45 UK project experts who are managing the installation of the entire project.
Innogy, which is managing the construction of the project on behalf of its partners J-Power (25%) and Kansai Electric Power (16%), said the move will improve the efficiency of the project delivery.
Every two weeks, the team of construction, health & safety and marine operations coordinators will return to port to rotate with colleagues from across the project, who will head offshore in their place.
The vessel and crew rotation will all take place out of the offshore construction coordination base at Grimsby’s Royal Dock.
During the early stages alone, the dock will be managing up to 90 Triton Knoll personnel, as two specialist teams swap places for the next trip offshore, and as more vessels join the construction programme, that figure will increase, Innogy said.
Esvagt Froude has already made its first visit to the port and completed the first rotations.
The vessel features a walk-to-work system and will continue to operate for the duration of the construction works.
It is supported by Isle of Wight company Seacat Services, which is providing two crew transfer vessels also operating out of Grimsby.