Ocean Winds, Van Oord, Bernard Schulte and Heerema drive offshore wind progress across Europe
Offshore wind projects across Europe are progressing, with recent milestones in foundation installation, cable deployment, vessel delivery and digital infrastructure.
The following compilation highlights company announcements made this month from the offshore wind sector.
DEME installs first jacket foundation for Dieppe – Le Tréport
DEME’s Innovation vessel has installed the first turbine foundation jacket for Ocean Winds’ Dieppe – Le Tréport wind farm offshore Normandy, northern France.
Ocean Winds (OW), a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, reported in a Sept. 10 news release that the project will comprise 62 turbines, located 17 km offshore Dieppe and 15.5 km from Le Tréport. The offshore substation was installed earlier this summer.
All steel jacket foundations are being fabricated in Spain and transported from the port of Cherbourg onboard the Innovation. The foundations, ranging from 48 to 55 m tall depending on water depth, will be connected to pre-installed steel piles up to 63 m long and 2.5 m in diameter. Other turbine components are undergoing assembly in Le Havre.
Final turbine installed at floating wind farm in Southern France
In a Sept. 4 news release, OW also announced the installation of the third and final turbine for the Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) project—the first floating offshore wind farm in France’s Occitanie region.
All three 10-MW turbines, assembled at Port-La-Nouvelle, are supported by floating foundations and were towed 16 km to the EFGL site. Cable and grid connection works are underway, managed by RTE.
OW also noted that EFGL is the world’s first floating wind farm to feature artificial marine habitats (Biohuts) installed at sea, designed to enhance biodiversity.
Van Oord completes array cable installation at Sofia offshore wind farm
At Dogger Bank in the UK North Sea, Van Oord has completed laying, burial, termination and testing of 109 array cables at the Sofia offshore wind farm, marking the first deployment of its cable-lay vessel Calypso, according to a Sept. 8 company update.
Following cable-lay, the trencher Dig-It was deployed from the Subsea Viking vessel to bury more than 360 km of cables. Cable termination and testing were conducted by Van Oord’s tower teams using walk-to-work vessels.
The 1.4-GW Sofia development is located 195 km off the coast of northeast England.
Bernhard Schulte Offshore takes delivery of new CSOV
Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BSO) announced on Sept. 8 the delivery of its newest commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV), Windea Calusius, built by Ulstein Verft in Norway.
Designed for global deployment, the vessel features Ulstein’s TWIN X-STERN hull with azimuth propellers fore and aft, enhancing DP performance and fuel efficiency. It includes an elevator tower for personnel and cargo transfers, a 3D motion-compensated crane for offshore lifts up to 5 metric tons, and a height-adjustable boat landing system for safe transfers between vessels.
The CSOV is optimized for low-carbon operations during offshore wind maintenance and construction support.
Heerema begins fabrication of jacket for IJmuiden Ver Beta platform
At Vlissingen in the Netherlands, Heerema Fabrication Group has begun cutting steel for the jacket structure for Zeevonk’s IJmuiden Ver Beta offshore wind platform in the Dutch North Sea, the company announced Sept. 5.
This is one of three jackets Heerema will build for the Seatrium/GE Vernova consortium. Zeevonk is a joint venture between Vattenfall and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
The initial jacket—90 m long, 43 m wide and weighing more than 10,000 metric tons—will be among the largest offshore wind steel structures built in the Netherlands. IJmuiden Ver Beta will be commissioned in phases in 2029 and 2032 as part of TenneT’s 2-GW grid connection rollout in the Dutch and German North Sea.
LAUTEC SaaS platform selected to support Inch Cape construction
Henrik Iversen, managing partner and head of IT at LAUTEC, said the platform will help project teams “quickly and accurately collect, analyze and act on important project data throughout the construction phase.”
Inch Cape is a joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables. The wind farm will feature 72 Vestas 15-MW turbines and is expected to generate enough clean energy to power more than 1.4 million Scottish homes.
Full commercial operation is targeted for 2027.
ONYX Insight acquires ELEVEN-I to advance blade analytics
UK-based ONYX Insight has acquired ELEVEN-I, a specialist in condition monitoring and advanced analytics for wind turbine blades.
In a Sept. 8 statement from the company, ONYX Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Zhiwei Zhang emphasized the growing risk of blade failures as turbines increase in size and complexity. ELEVEN-I’s sensors and damage detection software enable rapid data capture and analysis, helping operators identify structural changes and optimize blade performance.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.