MAERSK, G USTOM SC WORKING ON NEW WIND INSTALLATION VESSEL

Maersk Supply Service has paired up with GustoMSC to design a next generation wind installation vessel for Europe’s burgeoning offshore wind market.

The upgraded model will build on the same patent and characteristics of the current feeder concept developed for US waters, said Maersk Supply Service, a leading provider of marine services and project solutions for offshore energy sectors.

The design will allow the jackup vessel to stay on location at a wind energy project, with tugs and barges deployed to sail to and from port facilities to collect the turbine towers, nacelles and blades.

The concept is cost-competitive and expected to be 30 percent more efficient than conventional jack-up vessels, the company said. It will also be weather-dependent, enabling continuous installations year-round.

Work on the basic design process will start soon and conclude later this year.

“Europe is an attractive market for offshore wind, and we believe that our concept is also suitable for this region,” said Jonas Munch Agerskov, COO at Maersk Supply Service.

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“As the wind installation vessel itself does not sail into ports, this can solve some of the bottlenecks we currently see in Europe, where only a few ports are large enough to handle the growing wind turbine sizes. We look forward to collaborating with GustoMSC on getting this new basic design ready.”

Nils van Nood, managing director at GustoMSC, said both companies would bring years of offshore experience and know-how to the venture.

“Against the backdrop of growing turbine sizes, we jointly aim to further improve installation efficiencies and development economics in the bottomfixed offshore wind market,” he said.

The EU is targeting 300 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050, up from about 15 gigawatts today. But industry lobby group Wind Europe believes an upcoming global shortage of specialized offshore wind vessels could hamper the region’s offshore wind ambitions.

The group said in a recent report that Europe needs an additional 56 vessels of different types to support the industry just until 2030.