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Offshore Wind Energy ? xed and ? oating — with signi? cant over 20 years old), as exempli? ed by JG6000P, “works within all U.S. stag- potential along both the east and west Fred Olsen Windcarrier. Vard, too, is ing ports” and can carry and install 8 coasts,” the operator says, echoing a con? dent of its U.S. clout. “We’re ready. MW turbines. AK Suda and GustoMSC

DOI report. Like the others, Statoil’s an We’re in Holland right now presenting might represent the bulk of U.S. wind- offshore stakeholder elsewhere: at Sher- the (just announced wind-vessel) design. installation vessel offerings.

rington Shoal off the U.K. since 2012 We may not take much market share in and at a just-installed, ? rst-ever ? oating install vessels but in cable-layers, hook- Europeans Contrasts wind park for its lauded Hywind tur- up and service. We’ll focus on that,” Mr. Saving enormous sums, the Hamburg- bines offshore Scotland. Urke says. based Fred Olsen Windcarrier’s jack-up

Houston’s GustoMSC — a wind pio- boat crossed the Atlantic with wind-

Foreign Firsts neer with a hand in “80 percent” of turbine components aboard, a ? rst for

The largest U.S. wind farm is expected the offshore wind-installation equip- the vessel type and a hard-to-match to be U.S. Wind’s $2.5 billion instal- ment out there, including Bold Tern and feat. “Fred Olsen Windcarrier sees the lation 12 miles off the coast of Ocean Brave Tern — has adapted a new jack- U.S. as an important and potentially

City, MD. U.S. Wind brings internation- up installation concept to its view of the world-leading offshore wind market,” al experience via its Italian leadership U.S. wind market as “emerging”. Gus- business-development manager, Stuart and will need it to install a planned 187 toMSC offers shipyards and the growing Thornton, writes in an email. The com- turbines by 2020. Despite such apparent numbers of U.S. wind operators self- pany’s twin lift-boats can install any of needs for vessels, our calls to U.S. op- propelled and unpropelled jack-ups, the today’s turbine sizes to ? xed, seabed erators about their future shipping needs latter for “the more risk-averse”. foundations. produced “reluctance”, although there In October 2017, “the economical, safe A2Sea is typical of the seasoned, off- are good reasons for caution: Reason and ef? cient” SEA-3250 LT installa- shore wind European supply chain with

No. 1 is the not-yet assembled offshore tion jack-up was unveiled: “Currently links to Statoil, including its 67-turbine wind supply chain. there is no equipment available in the Dudgeon park, its just-installed Race-

There’s another reason: The Block Is- U.S. that is capable of installing pres- bank wind park and a September 2017 land, R.I., project revealed that while ent and future heavy foundations and contract for the Merkur project in Hol- jack-up vessels could install wind-tur- turbines, due to insuf? cient carrying land with a Sea Challenger fresh from bines with fair ease and security, smaller and lifting capability in terms of both the Racebank job of summer 2017.

“support jack-ups” available locally ap- capacity and height,” the company says, While a DOE report con? rms the “lack peared to some to struggle while han- echoing the view in European. The SEA of a project pipeline” has held up the dling large, unwieldy turbine compo- 3250 LT joins the larger, wind-capable U.S. market, A2Sea con? rms Europe’s nents while being buffeted by waves. self-propelled NG-98000C-US and its projects keep the company busy. Like

Cells, rotor blades, shafts, ? anges and NG-3750C feeder unit in solving “this A2Sea, European turbine maker Sie- towers require scale or risks appear (? nancial and installation-capacity) bot- mens Gamesa seems too busy for the high. Word of Block Island’s “demo” tleneck”. The SEA 3250 can carry two U.S. market: “No offshore projects for spread via veteran deck hands who had of the largest turbines “while underway” now. It’s a market where we see potential compared small local hires to the large to the installation site. Heavy lifts to in the next few years. It’s an important installation vessel, Bold Tern, of Block heights of over 130 meters — new nor- market of the future for us,” they write

Island’s capable hire, Fred Olsen Wind- mal for turbines sizes now reaching 12 in a letter. Like the U.S. grid operators carrier. MW— are possible “in an area where “to-be”, they can only be vague when it technicians are performing assembly comes to vessel needs. “We work with

New Designs tasks at the same time”. Interestingly, nearly all operators of wind-turbine in- “A typical windfarm support vessel,” this GustoMSC design can “serve as a stallation vessels. The challenge in the said Vard Design’s concepts VP, Kjell Jones Act compliant feeder solution to a U.S. is that … If you need a jack-up for

Morten Urke, of the Vard 4, a type of- larger foreign vessel”. a turbine installation, it might be a chal- fered American builders via the com- From New Orleans, lift-boat maker AK lenge.” pany’s U.S. of? ces. “Typical” implied a Suda has also joined the fray recently by norm has been established by Europe’s developing its JG series of wind-turbine Specialty Vessels veteran offshore wind industry (now installation vessel, or WTIV. The ? rst, When this writer visited the East of

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