Belgian offshore installation contractor DEME Offshore is set to upgrade the crane capacity on its DP2 jack-up installation vessel ‘Sea Installer’ from 900 tonnes to 1,600 tonnes.
The crane, to be built by the Dutch crane manufacturer Huisman, will enable ‘Sea Installer’ to handle the next generation of offshore wind turbines.
The upgraded 'Sea Installer' will be deployed for the first time at the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project, one of the first large-scale wind farms in the US. Vineyard Wind 1 will feature 62 GE Haliade-X offshore turbines. These giants have a 220-meter rotor, 107-meter blades and will be 248 meters high.
‘Sea installer’ is currently being deployed at the Hornsea Two offshore wind farm in the UK. Vineyard Wind 1 will be the company’s first offshore wind project in the US.
DEME, which has so far installed turbines at 45 different offshore wind farm projects across Europe and Asia also has an option to upgrade the crane on the jack-up installation vessel ‘Sea Challenger’.
Huisman Doubles Capacity
As for Huisman, the company said Wednesday it had doubled the slew bearing production capacity of its facility in Schiedam, the Netherlands, on the back of increased orders from the offshore wind industry.
"With this significant increase in production capacity, Huisman is able to meet the growing demand for large diameter slew bearings, an integral part and key component of its Heavy Lift Cranes," Huisman said.
The company said that it was responding to the "considerable" order intake of large offshore cranes and that investment in a second milling machine provided Huisman with sufficient production capacity for the future.
Last month South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co ordered from Huisman a 2,600mt Leg Encircling Crane (LEC), to be installed on Eneti’s newbuild wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).
The new Leg Encircling Crane has a 147-meter long boom, capable of reaching 170 meters above deck. With its 2,600mt lifting capacity, the crane will be able to install up to 20MW turbines, which are expected to come to the market in the near future.
Huisman will design, engineer, and build the crane and pedestal adapter at its production facility in Zhangzhou, China.
Also, late last year, the Dutch offshore equipment provider signed a contract with Keppel AmFELS for the delivery of a Leg Encircling Crane (LEC) for what will be the first Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel - Dominion Energy’s Charybdis. The crane will have a 2,200mt lifting capacity, and 130m long boom.