China Merchants Industry has received another order for two wind farm commissioning, service and operation vessels (CSOV) from Integrated Wind Solutions AS (IWS) in Norway, with a total value of 96 million euros (about 672 million yuan).
On March 21, IWS announced that through its subsidiary IWS Fleet AS, it has signed a contract with China Merchants Industry for two wind power operation and maintenance vessels with "walk-to-work" capability. The new vessels will be delivered in the second half of 2024. , each costing $48 million.
IWS initially ordered 2+4 Skywalker-class wind power operation and maintenance vessels in China Merchants Industry in March 2021, of which the first two are scheduled to be delivered in the first and second quarters of 2023. After the latest two alternative orders come into effect, IWS has two more alternative ships to take effect, and the delivery time is in the second half of 2024.
It is understood that this type of ship is 90 meters long, 19.6 meters wide, and has a design speed of 13 knots. It can provide 120 people with transshipment and support for life and operations at sea for more than 30 days. This is a high specification vessel specially built for the "walk-to-work" requirements of offshore wind farms, with an innovative design and flexible mission equipment to handle offshore wind farms during installation, commissioning and operation/maintenance phases various tasks required.
The new ship adopts diesel-electric electric propulsion and DC busbar power distribution system, which has excellent berthing and maneuvering performance, and can realize efficient storage and transportation of wind farm equipment and spare parts; the ship is also equipped with helideck, working boat (sub-vessel) and stern There is a CTV connection platform, and the efficiency of personnel transportation and deployment is extremely high; at the same time, the ship is equipped with DP2 dynamic positioning system, 3D wave compensation transmission gangway and 3D wave compensation main crane, which can realize personnel transfer and wind farm maintenance operations under severe sea conditions. The performance and work efficiency are much higher than similar ships.
The series of ships will be the first in the industry to be capable of zero-emission operations, designed by Kongsberg Marine. Featuring a plug-in hybrid battery solution, using supercharging, solar cells and batteries for fully electric operation, it can run for up to 6 hours with zero emissions. In the future, these ships can be converted to zero-emission ships at competitive costs, operate on batteries charged directly from offshore wind farms, biofuel compatible internal combustion engines, and be able to utilize amine fuels (fuel cells, ammonia and methanol).
Thanks to the advanced technology, the fuel consumption of this type of vessel is 20% lower than that of similar risk operation and maintenance vessels currently under construction, and each vessel can reduce emissions by more than 1,300 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. At the same time, the new ships will also be the first in the industry to bear the "DNV SILENT" symbol, which focuses on minimizing the impact on underwater marine life.
Among them, construction of the first ship "IWS Skywalker" started in January this year, and after delivery, the operation contract with the Dogger Bank wind farm will begin in the summer of 2023. The world's largest offshore wind farm, located in the UK North Sea, is scheduled to be commissioned between 2023 and 2025.
It is understood that IWS is a subsidiary of Norwegian shipowner Awilco. Founded in 1939, Awilco focuses on the investment and operation of shipping and offshore assets and has extensive experience in the offshore and shipping industries.
