By Marek Grzybowski

The dynamically developing offshore wind energy industry will need installation ships. The jack-up market for offshore wind farms is being closely watched. New contracts are constantly being signed. This is despite disruptions in the OWE market, withdrawals from some contracts and changes in tenders for new installations. Already two years ago, Rystad Energy predicted that the installation of offshore wind turbine heads with higher power than before may become a challenge for operators. The company’s analysts warned that in 2024, demand would exceed the availability of ships suitable for the needs of installation companies. The problem actually concerns not only the warheads, but also the foundations, monopiles and other parts necessary for the operation of MEW. Rystad suggested that operators invest in new ships or modernize those already in operation. The lack of jack-ups with cranes with appropriate parameters on the market may result in bottlenecks in the process of building new wind farms in the middle of this decade.

High Demand for jack-ups and heavy lift vessels – A total of eight new heavy-duty jack-ups were delivered in 2023, which was a breakthrough year for the future of the maritime industry. This is the second highest number of deliveries recorded in one year, second only to the record from 2012, which saw ten deliveries, reports Spinergie. Six operators took delivery of the new installation vessels. Among them, operator Jan De Nul, who directed the Les Alizés crane from China to Remontowa to the ship. It is one of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine installation vessels. In March 2023, it was sent straight from the China Merchants Heavy Industries shipyard for reconstruction to the Gdańsk Remontowa Shipyard. We wrote about the ship here .  After the reconstruction, the “heavy lift vessel” could erect monopiles using a crane with a working load of 5,000. t. Can also be used to dismantle marine installations. Les Alizés was contracted to build the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms in German waters. 107 foundations for wind towers and a transformer substation will be installed on German OWFs. The Borkum Riffgrund 3 project, once commissioned, will be the largest offshore wind farm in Germany, and its commercial operation is scheduled to begin in 2025. Gode Wind 3 is being built simultaneously with Borkum Riffgrund 3 with a capacity of 900 MW. Both projects will be equipped with 11 MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines. Borkum Riffgrund 3 is expected to come online next year.