Swedish developer Vattenfall has contracted Swire Blue Ocean (SBO) for the installation of the Siemens Gamesa wind turbines at the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farms in the Dutch North Sea.
Using its flagship Pacific Osprey wind farm installation vessel, Swire Blue Ocean will transport the various components of the approximately 140 turbines from the preassembly site on the Dutch coast to the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm zone where they will then be installed.
The final contract for the installation of all turbines in the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm follows half a year after Vattenfall announced that it had chosen Swire Blue Ocean for the installation of the Hollandse Kust Zuid 3&4 turbines. Just like with other suppliers, Vattenfall had selected Swire Blue Ocean prior to its tender bid to build the wind farm.
The Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm zone is planned to be fitted with approximately 140 units of Siemens Gamesa’s newest and largest Direct Drive offshore turbines, which feature the ability to reach a capacity of 11 MW. Transporting, lifting and installing these large turbines requires an installation vessel with unique capabilities.
The Pacific Osprey will have an upgraded 1,200t crane, with a boom 15 meters longer than the original, and 4,300m2 deck area. She is one of the few Wind Farm Installation Vessels capable of installing the new generation of turbines, and is ideal for this purpose. It is expected that Swire Blue Ocean will need approximately one year to complete this campaign, from loading the first turbine parts for transport to installing the last turbine.
“Early and close collaboration with suppliers like Swire Blue Ocean has been a deciding factor in our successful bid to build the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. Today we take another step closer to the actual construction of this exciting project. I look forward to our continued cooperation and am confident this campaign will be delivered safely and efficiently”, says Catrin Jung, Vattenfall’s acting Head of Business Unit Offshore.
“Vattenfall is a long-term client and we are delighted to continue working with them on the wind turbine installation of the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm”, says Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Swire Blue Ocean.
In July 2019, Vattenfall won the tender to build Hollandse Kust Zuid 3&4 following a successful bid to build Hollandse Kust Zuid 1&2. Both tenders were won with a zero subsidy bid. Once fully operational, Hollandse Kust Zuid will generate enough power to supply up to three million households with green electricity.