By Spinergie
PARIS — 2022 was a big year for Europe: 19 wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) worked on installation campaigns across European waters for a total of 2,840 days—up 30% from 2021.
Scotland saw the most installation activity (in vessel days), led by SSE Renewables’ Seagreen 1.
France ranked second (again), thanks to EDF’s Saint Nazaire, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project.
Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam was the main marshalling hub in the North Sea. It was used for Vattenfall's entire Hollandse Kust Zuid campaign and also for the foundations of Dogger Bank A and Hollandse Kust Nord.
Spinergie's Yvan Gelbart said, “One of the most exciting vessel moves of the year was the passage of Heerema’s Thialf semisub under the Storbaelt bridge in Denmark. Thialf’s crane A-frame was specially altered to access the Baltic Sea. This opened an entirely new region for the contractor and unlocked turbine installation capabilities with its Rotor Nacelle Assembly method. The new installation process is currently in use at Parkwind's Arcadis Ost 1, with promising results.”
Outlook
In 2023 a change of scenery is expected for the vessels of the North Sea:
- US joins the club: DEME Group will send one of its WTIVs to the US for the country's first large-scale offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind 1—could it be the Orion?
- Let's go mega: Jan De Nul Group's Voltaire mega WTIV was recently delivered and will soon be heading to Europe to be deployed on Dogger Bank A.
- Homecoming: Several vessels are expected to return from Taiwan, which saw a lot of activity in 2022 from Eneti Inc., Boskalis, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, Seaway7 and Heerema Marine Contractors.
12.20.2022
About the company: Spinergie aims to transform marine data into environmental impact and operational efficiencies. Its Maritime Market Intelligence platform allows users to benchmark environmental and operational performances by relying on Big Data and artificial intelligence to benchmark vessel performances, select vessels with the highest environmental standards, analyze competitors and forecast market trends. Spinergie's Smart Fleet Management technology allows users to control their fleet, optimize operations and reduce emissions by combining all data sources from a company's marine operations to bring real-time visibility, facilitate workflows (e.g. ESG reporting, daily progress report) and optimize vessel efficiency.
