With the exciting news from earlier this week about South Korea unveiling plans to build the world's largest offshore wind farm, attention is once again focused on this steadily expanding sector of the offshore renewables industry. New projects continue to be concentrated in Europe, though as is already being proven, Asia is not falling far behind.
Manor wraps up maintenance support project for Ørsted's Borssele developments
UK-based Manor Renewable Energy (MRE) has completed a project wherein it supplied temporary power for the commissioning phase of 94 wind turbines at Ørsted's Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.
The modular temporary power packages, which consisted of a 116kVA generator, a custom-built fuel tank, and bespoke lifting frames, were transported using the vessels Manor Venture, Manor Initiative, and Manor Enterprise.
Based out of the port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands, the MRE fleet maintained the 44 generators required during the construction phase of the windfarm; at peak activity MRE provided three teams of three personnel over each 24-hour period.
MRE personnel created bespoke lifting plans and equipment to enable the generators positioned offshore to be recycled between turbines throughout the project.
On completion of the temporary power requirement, MRE demobilised all sets from their respective transition pieces; all 44 units were then delivered to MRE's home port of Portland, Dorset. Also, over course of the project, the vessels completed over 4,400 safe transfers of personnel.
Saipem secures foundation installation work for France's EODC
Crossing over from the North Sea to the English Channel, another guarantee of offshore wind-related works is in the pipeline following Italy's Saipem being awarded a contract by French renewables company Eoliennes Offshore du Calvados (EODC) for the Courseulles-sur-Mer development in Normandy.
The €460 million (US$557.9 million) contract is subject to a notice to proceed, which is contingent upon EODC making a positive final investment decision. The project entails the design, construction and installation works for 64 foundations bearing an equivalent number of turbines.
The foundations consist of large steel monopiles with transition pieces, to be fabricated in Europe and installed by the crane vessel Saipem 3000.
The Courseulles-sur-Mer Offshore Wind Farm zone is located up to 16 kilometres off the coast of the Calvados region, in water depths ranging from 22 to 31 metres.
Jumbo completes transportation scope for Taiwan's Yunlin offshore wind farm
Wrapping up this week's string of offshore wind projects in more good news from Asia. Dutch operator Jumbo has completed the transportation part of its transport and installation (T&I) contract for the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan.
The company mobilised ships from its own heavy lift vessel fleet, together with subcontracted deck carriers and HLVs from third parties, to transport the 40 monopiles, 120 monopile sections and 40 transition pieces (TPs) from yards in the Netherlands and Germany to Taiwan.
Jumbo will soon commence installation of 80 TPs at the site.
Subsea 7 to install lean gas platform offshore Angola
Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract by Angola's Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) for the Sanha Lean Gas Connection (SLGC) project. This entails the construction and installation of a lean gas platform (LGP) system in Block-0 offshore Angola, at a water depth of approximately 70 metres.
Project management and engineering will be performed from Subsea 7's offices in Paris and Lisbon. Fabrication will take place in Lobito, Angola, from 2021 to 2022, while offshore operations will occur from 2022 and 2023.
Subsea 7 to support Equinor's Northern Lights project
Subsea 7 gets to chalk up another future project this week following Equinor's award of a contract for engineering, fabrication, and installation of a 100-kilometre CO2 pipeline in support of the Nothern Lights CO2 transport and storage project under the Norwegian government's full-scale carbon capture and storage campaign. The pipeline will run from the waters of Øygarden off Vestland County to a proposed subsurface, geological CO2 storage complex.
The contract also covers installation of umbilicals, tie-in and pre-commissioning activities. Offshore operations will be executed in 2022 and 2023.
C-Innovation awarded one-year contract extension with BP for well intervention in Gulf of Mexico
C-Innovation (C-I), an affiliate of Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and its family of companies, has been awarded a one-year contract extension with BP for riserless light well intervention (RLWI) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The vessel Island Venture and a team of specialists are currently mobilised and in the field working on one of BP's assets.
The initial RLWI contract with BP called for both mechanical and hydraulic acid stimulations. These were executed from the vessels Island Venture and Island Performer, the only RLWI vessels operating in the gulf.
The work was performed in water depths of up to 1,900 metres on different assets within the gulf.
C-I will supply and complete all project management and engineering to provide a complete RLWI system utilising Baker Hughes' subsea well intervention system, a hydraulic stimulation kit from Caltex Oil Tools, and the full suite of Halliburton's numerous wireline, E-Line, coil tubing and pumping units.