Exec Q&A: Bleutec CEO addresses offshore wind turbine installation challenges

“Bleutec is an entrepreneurship that has been developing innovative concepts for the past three years,” President and CEO Robin Bodtmann said. On July 4, the company announced notification of proof of concept and the continued building of its team to support vessel construction.

In an Offshore exclusive, Bodtmann shared her insights on the current challenges and solutions facing the offshore wind sector regarding transportation, installation, operations and maintenance. She also detailed Bleutec’s new Binary Marine Installation Solution (BMIS) and how her team believes this vessel fleet concept will “revolutionize" the offshore industry.

Bleutec is working with marine engineers NETSCo and heavy-lift specialist Penthus to develop BMIS as an alternative to the more expensive heavy-lift jackup wind turbine installation vessels used in offshore wind market. The BMIS model is a three-unit spread built around two vessels (i.e., a piling installation vessel) with a hydraulic hammer, gantry crane and deck-space for batches of piles, along with a field service operation vessel for accommodation and crew support to work in up to 50-m water depths. Both vessels will run off dual-fuel and have lithium-ion battery backup onboard.

Offshore: What was the motivation behind forming Bleutec? 

Bodtmann: Bleutec was founded as a clean energy company to address the supply chain needs as it relates to offshore winds construction services in the US Jones Act market. We are a collaboration of a people with experiences in the offshore industry, both traditional energy and renewables.

Offshore: What are your company's key targets looking ahead to 2023 and 2024?

Bodtmann: 2023 and 2024 will be heavily focused on vessels construction and operational readiness activities such as workforce development and rounding out of provisional elements of our scope. Our team will be heavily engaged with customer relationship development and understanding the potential tenure procurement of our vessels.

Offshore: What transportation and installation challenges are offshore wind developers facing, and how can these be addressed?

Bodtmann: First and foremost, there is a significant shortage foreseen in available assets to install windfarms offshore globally. This problem is even greater for the heavier and larger monopile foundations foreseen for the future, where many units do not have the necessary lifting capacity.

In addition, and particularly looking at the US, the Jones Act is preventing components to be moved by an international vessel. This requires a different approach to the logistics for supplying wind turbine components to the offshore site. 

By providing Jones Act vessels with much less complexity, the building time and fabrication budgets are optimized to the best extent possible. This will enable the delivery of vessels within the project requirements and potential to scale up fast. With an additional international value, the vessels will be constructed to be able to install the largest and heaviest monopile foundations foreseen in the market. Furthermore, Jones Act-compliant vessels will be a lot more flexible to provide more and better options for providing economical logistical solutions.

Offshore: What are the operations and maintenance obstacles, and are there solutions yet?

Bodtmann: Particularly in the US market, there is a shortage of trained workforce that will need to be developed to support offshore wind activities. Globally, this would apply to most markets with the exception of the European market. Developers can and need to partner with local workforce development agencies to invest in the local economy to ensure buy in and support. Certainly, we can leverage existing offshore operations and maintenance capabilities in the traditional energy space. However, in a lot of instances, those traditional resources are not necessarily in the same regional areas.

Offshore: How is Bleutec’s BMIS concept different from or more efficient than similar vessels available on the offshore market?

Bodtmann: Our unified fleet of vessels, Binary Marine Installation Solution (BMIS), can seamlessly install foundations and turbines simultaneously in the same development or at different locations through the coupling of a field accommodations SOV [service operation vessel] capable of supporting commissioning and long-term operations and maintenance activities. The transformative system will include increased automation to improve efficiencies, lessen crew requirements and enhance safety within operations. Battery systems and alternative fuel capability will aid Bleutec in meeting decarbonization initiatives and vessel footprint impact.

Vessel classification is being developed through ABS and key OEM [original equipment manufacturing] providers, including Liebherr, Wartsila and Kongsberg.  

BMIS is specifically designed to address cabotage markets in that our vessels are more cost effective, less complex and [provide] shorter fabrication times without compromising capability. In fact, there is only one other vessel in the world capable of the capacities of our piling installation vessel. What this allows is for BMIS to be replicated outside of the US Jones Act market globally where protectionist policies exist.

Our vessels are also multipurpose, which improves the business financial models and helps mitigate investment risks.