Offshore wind installation specialist Cadeler has won a contract to install 60 Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines off the coast of Scotland.
The contract for the installation of the giant SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines at the Moray West offshore wind farm comes just after Siemens Gamesa on Thursday announced the firm contract award with Moray West operator for the supply of the 60 turbines.
This will be the first time that these 14MW offshore wind turbines will be installed on a commercial scale.
The project will be executed by Cadeler’s wind farm installation vessel (WIV), Wind Orca. The installation is set to start at the beginning of 2024, just after the vessel has undergone a large crane upgrade. The new main crane will have a lifting capacity of 1,600 metric tons at a radius of 40 meters and a hook height of 160 meters above the main deck.
The Moray West offshore wind farm will be located in the outer Moray Firth, 22km off the coast of Scotland. The Port of Nigg in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland, has been selected as the place from where the turbines will be pre-assembled and shipped.
"The preferred supplier agreement with an undisclosed client, which was announced in January 2022, has now become a final contract between Cadeler and Siemens Gamesa, after it was signed by all parties involved," Cadeler said.
“This is a very exciting project for Cadeler where our experienced team and industry-leading assets will support Siemens Gamesa to install this landmark project on time and budget. We are therefore happy to partner up with Siemens Gamesa once again and execute the installation of these impressive turbines,” says Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler.
Each SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine will have a capacity boosted up to 14.7 megawatts and feature a rotor diameter of 222 meters using 108-meter long Siemens Gamesa IntegralBlades. Launched in 2020, the first prototype of the massive machine was installed in 2021 in Denmark.
Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture between EDP Renewables (EDPR) and ENGIE, is the major shareholder developing the Moray West project.