Denmark's offshore operator, Esvagt, will supply service vessels for the installation phase of offshore wind farm Triton Knoll.
Innogy and Esvagt have entered into a contract that links the specially designed Service Operation Vessel Esvagt Froude will assist with the installation of the 90 MHI Vestas V164-9.5MW turbines that will be built between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021.
"We are really looking forward to working together with innogy and to supplying safe and efficient transportation of personnel and equipment," says Ib Hansen, Head of Commercial at Esvagt.
"Triton Knoll will be built around 30 km off the coast and highlights the challenge of building larger turbines, further offshore and in deeper waters. This has prompted a strategic decision by innogy to place its construction management team offshore", says Julian Garnsey, Project Director for Triton Knoll at innogy:
"Traditionally, our offshore construction was coordinated from an onshore base, but as wind farms get bigger and further from shore, we needed to do more to cut down on transit times and improve our ability to respond quickly. The ‘Esvagt Froude’ provides a fully integrated on-site solution to offshore construction and so is far more cost-effective, helping to drive down the costs," says Julian Garnsey.
Esvagt leads the market for the servicing of offshore wind turbine farms. When the ‘Esvagt Froude’ was built in 2015, it was one of the world’s first specially designed SOV vessels. The vessel has been enormously successful servicing the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm for Siemens ever since, and Søren Karas, CCO at Esvagt, is pleased that the shipping company can also win contracts at the construction phase:
"We are delighted that we can extend our services and look forward to providing an innovative and quality focused contribution to a larger part of the value chain. We are proud that innogy has put their trust in us," says Søren Karas.
Esvagt will also have a major presence after the construction stage of Triton Knoll: In the autumn of 2018, MHI Vestas and Esvagt entered into a long-term contract for the servicing of the farm, and Esvagt is currently in the process of building an SOV for that very purpose.