Offshore vessel operator Bourbon Subsea Services has won a contract with TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS, to manage the transportation and installation of the 3,6 MW Floating Wind Turbine prototype, off Norway.
"This new turnkey stage includes project management, engineering, installation and offshore execution from assembly port in Denmark until hook up and Inter Array Cable installation on Metcenter Test site in Norway this summer," Bourbon said.
For Bourbon Subsea Services, this will be the fifth floating wind turbine contract awarded since the company decided to develop its activities towards renewable energy in 2011.
"This demonstrates Bourbon Subsea Services’ expertise in the construction of Floating Wind Turbines (FWT) offshore farms and its ability to propose innovative solutions to achieve new complex technical challenges while maintaining low cost," Bourbon said.
The TetraSpar foundation concept is the modular “building block” arrangement: each foundation is assembled from tubular steel modules, most of which are common to all configurations. Manufacturing takes place in factories using industrialized methods, and their assembly near the site as well as towing are measured in days or weeks, instead of months, Bourbon said.
Another particularity of TetraSpar Demonstrator is its stability provided by a keel deployed 50m below the floater.
"This keel deployment is the main challenge for offshore installation. Bourbon Subsea Services will deploy innovative methodology to connect this keel to the floater in port and later on once offshore, to lower it safely and efficiently," Bourbon added.
Henrik Stiesdal, Chairman of the board of directors of TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS: "We have been very pleased to work with Bourbon Subsea Services during the first phases of the project. Bourbon Subsea Services bring valuable experience from floating wind execution to the team, and all the partners welcome their continued contribution as we move forward to the exciting next phases of the project."
"We are particularly honored to have reached this final phase of the TetraSpar Demonstrator project. This is the result of a long-term team collaboration between Bourbon Subsea Services and TetraSpar Demonstrator APS. It demonstrates our capacity to deliver safe and innovative solutions in a highly cost-constrained environment. We look forward to supporting TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS and its partners in successfully delivering this installation” says Patrick Belenfant, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services.
Bourbon was last year involved in the construction of the Windfloat Atlantic floating wind project, located 20 km from Viana do Castelo on the Portuguese coast.
According to World Energy Reports, the floating wind installed capacity will reach between 8 to 10 GW by the end of this decade, and next decade WER expects to see more than 60GW of floating wind farms commissioned.
Worth reminding, DNV GL recently said that floating wind could grow 2000-fold, by 2050 (DNV-GL), from 100 MW today to 250 GW in 2050.