Equinor and BP have awarded a contract to Maersk Supply Service to deploy a newbuild wind installation vessel (WIV) at a major project offshore New York.
This vessel, together with US constructed barges and tugs built and operated by Kirby Offshore Wind, will be used for the installation of Vestas V236-15MW turbines at Empire Wind – the supermajors’ 50-50 joint venture project in the US.
Located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island, the project will be built in two phases – Empire Wind 1 and 2 – with a total installed capacity of over 2 GW (816MW and 1,260 MW, respectively).
Maersk’s as-yet unnamed craft – its first newbuild investment dedicated entirely to offshore wind – is planned to be ready for operation at both sites by the mid-2020s. The concept selected will enable turbine installation using one of the US sector’s first Jones Act-compliant wind fleet.
It will be built in Singapore by SembCorp Marine, with a steel-cutting ceremony set for Q4 2022 and estimated delivery to the US in 2025.
The vessel itself will use a patented load transfer system for cargo, and will be supported by two newbuilt tugs and barges used to transport wind turbine components from the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) to the project lease area.
The barges and tugs will be constructed and operated by Kirby Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of Kirby Corporation. The concept ensures that the vessel can remain in operation while the barges transport turbine components from the staging port on a continual basis.
“The new feeder solution equips Maersk Supply Service with a methodology that ensures a radically more efficient installation, which will in turn enable developers to release their supply chains more quickly and lead to faster revenue generation from their windfarms,” said Maersk Supply Service chief commercial officer Jonas Munch Agerskov.
“All of this will contribute to bringing down the levelised costs of offshore wind. The solution is also less weather dependent, allowing installation all year round.”
Last month the project developers announced plans to create an operations and maintenance (O&M) hub and staging area at SBMT, investing $200-250 million in infrastructure upgrades.
“Equinor has worked closely with Maersk for a number of years on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, where we have employed several of their jack-up rigs. Now Equinor and bp are excited to cover new ground together, with the first-of-its-kind wind installation vessel. We will build on all parties’ long history of offshore experience as we extend our collaboration into the renewables business,” commented Empire Wind’s chief procurement officer Mette H. Ottøy.
“We are very pleased with having signed this agreement with Maersk, providing a state-of-the-art vessel for the landmark project in New York demonstrating industry collaboration with the US supply chain in providing new technology and solutions for the US offshore wind market. The Maersk concept will ensure efficient installation of the Empire Wind turbines by using a dock-in feeder solution, which will improve safety by reducing the number of offshore lifts. We are pleased that Maersk is also exploring the opportunity of using climate neutral fuels to operate the wind installation vessel,” added project director Trond Gulichsen.
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