Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler has been chosen as a preferred supplier of wind turbine generator installation vessels by Ørsted for the combined Gode Wind 3 & Borkum Riffgrund 3 projects in the German North Sea.
The award covers the transport and installation of a minimum of 48 x 11MW turbines, which will be located adjacent to Ørsted's existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2 and in the vicinity of Gode Wind 1 and 2.
For this project Cadeler will deploy its installation vessel Wind Osprey, which by the time the project is set to start, will have a new and upgraded main crane.
"The intention with this award is to sign a formal binding contract once the mandatory standstill period has expired. This is expected to be completed later this year," Cadeler said Thursday.
Cadeler’s CEO, Mikkel Gleerup adds: “We are very pleased to partner with Ørsted on this project and to be awarded the preferred supplier status, as it demonstrates the competitiveness of our upgraded O-class vessels”.
Upon completion, the combined capacity of the wind farm at Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 will have a total capacity of more than 1 GW. The projects are expected to be fully commissioned in 2024 and 2025 respectively, subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision.
While Cadeler is working to upgrade cranes on its existing two jack-ups Wind Orca and Wind Osprey to make them capable of installing the largest offshore wind turbines, the company has recently ordered two new X-class wind turbine installation vessels from China's COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry.
The total order amounts to $651 million, so $325.5 million per vessel. According to Cadeler, the new vessels will, upon completion, be the largest in the industry. They will be built in COSCO's shipyard in Qidong, China. Read more.