Ørsted and Cadeler have signed a firm long-term lease agreement for a newbuilt wind farm installation vessel, designed to transport up to six XXL monopile foundations and five turbines of over 20 MW per round trip.
With the agreement, Ørsted has secured installation vessel capacity from the start of 2027 to end of 2030 for upcoming construction projects.
The agreement involves booking a new-built A-Class vessel from Cadeler. The A-Class vessels feature a hybrid design, allowing them to transport and install both offshore wind foundations and turbines.
"Securing long-term capacity with strategic suppliers is key for Ørsted to build collaboration and together manage risks and execution of our offshore wind construction program towards 2030 and beyond.
“Our partnership with Cadeler exemplifies how Ørsted as the market leader with a global portfolio of offshore wind projects can provide suppliers with the clarity and scale they need to invest in new technology, organizational capabilities and increase – in this case – the supply of installation vessels which can carry and install current and next generations of foundations and offshore wind turbines,” said Patrick Harnett, Chief Operating Officer at Ørsted.
“We have ambitiously invested and poured our unique know-how into our new-build wind turbine installation vessels to create security in our part of the value chain. And we’re ready to handle the largest and most complex next-generation offshore wind installation projects. Our ambition is to help our partners install and realize the offshore wind farms needed for the world’s energy transition,” added Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler.
Cadeler’s A-Class newbuilds are designed to transport up to six XXL monopile foundations per round trip.
Additionally, they can be swiftly converted from foundation installation vessels to wind turbine generator installation vessels. Similar to the P-Class newbuilds, the A-Class vessels can transport and install seven complete 15 MW turbine sets per load or five 20+ MW turbines.
This efficiency reduces the number of trips required for each project, ultimately accelerating the installation speed.