24 Jan 2023
Van Oord’s Boreas Debut Lined up for 1.6 GW Nordseecluster Wind Project in Germany
Topics: advanced jacking system, Boreas, Foundations, Installation, Nordseecluster, Northland Power, RWE, transport, Van Oord
Van Oord has recently been appointed at preferred supplier for the transport and installation of foundations on the 1.6 GW Nordseecluster wind project in Germany for which they will deploy their brand new offshore installation vessel Boreas.
It will be the first project for this new vessel, which is currently being built and will be the largest of its kind once operational. The new 175m Boreas is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next generation of foundations and turbines at offshore wind farms. It has an advanced jacking system and can lift more than 3,000t.
Four giant legs, each measuring 126m, allow the vessel to be jacked up and work in waters up to 70 deep. With this new vessel, Van Oord is preparing itself for the increase in scale in the offshore wind industry.
In addition, the Boreas fits in with Van Oord’s sustainability ambitions and aim of making its fleet more economical and energy efficient. The vessel will be able to run on the future fuel methanol, reducing the ship’s footprint by more than 78%.
Boreas was ordered in September 2021 and is being built at the Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore (YCRO) yard in China.
The 1.6 GW Nordseecluster wind project in Germany is a joint venture between RWE and Northland Power. The agreement was signed this week at Van Oord’s stand at the WindEurope exhibition in Copenhagen. The Nordseecluster is expected to supply green electricity to the equivalent of 1,600,000 German households annually as of 2029.
The cluster consists of four offshore wind farms in the German North Sea, 35 kilometres North of the island of Juist and 55 kilometres off the German Coast. The close proximity of the offshore sites offered the opportunity to develop one of the largest offshore wind farms in Germany. The Nordseecluster will be constructed in two phases. Van Oord will install a total of 104 extended monopiles with a weight up to 1,750t, of which 44 foundations will be installed in 2025 and 60 more in 2027.
Source Van Oord
