Cadelera vessel to install 76 turbines at Orlen’s Baltic Power offshore wind farm

Cadeler has signed a binding contract, worth EUR 68-85 million, with Baltic Power for the installation of 76 Vestas offshore wind turbines (@ 15 MW) in the Polish Baltic Sea. The entire project will commence in 2024 and marks Cadeler’s entry into the new and growing (Baltic) offshore wind market.

Cadeler has signed a contract with Baltic Power to transport and install a full range of 76 offshore wind turbines at Baltic Power’s offshore wind farm. The entire project will start in 2024 and the installation of the wind turbines in 2025.

The €68-85m contract is the final confirmation of the July 2022 booking agreement between Cadeler and Baltic Power (a joint venture between Orlen and Northland Power Inc.).

Cadeler will use one of two ‘O-class’ installation vessels (i.e. Wind Orca or Wind Osprey) for the project, which will be equipped with a new and upgraded crane with a capacity of 1,600 metric tonnes at an overhang (working radius) of 40 metres.

The turbines will be supplied by Vestas and this will be one of the first uses of the new V236-15.0 MW model on a commercial scale (second from the right in the animated infographic below the text).
This type of turbine has a rotor diameter of 236 m and a swept area of 43,742 m². When the wind farm is completed in 2026, it will have a capacity of up to 1.2 GW of renewable energy.

The project is the first in which Cadeler will operate in the Polish offshore area, entering a completely new geographical market with ambitious offshore wind energy plans.
The wind farm will be located in the Baltic Sea, 23 kilometres north of the Polish coast, near Leba. Its area will be more than 130 square kilometres.

Cadeler, listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, is controlled by the BW Group shipping group.

BW Group was formed in 2003 by the acquisition of one of Norway’s leading shipowners, Bergesen d.y. ASA by Hong-Kong-based World-Wide Shipping (both companies with rich traditions and significant market positions). Among other things, BW Group has one of the world’s largest fleets of gas carriers, both LNG and LPG. It was for Bergesen that Gdynia Shipyard once built large LPG carriers and, before that, OBO bulk carriers.

Cadeler was established in 2008 under the name Blue Ocean Ships. In 2010, it was renamed Swire Blue Ocean and operated as part of the Swire Group. In October 2020, it was spun off from the Swire Group and listed through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), becoming an independent entity operating since then under the name Cadeler.

In June, shipping giants BW Group and Scorpio Group entered into an agreement that will create the world’s largest shipowner and operator of wind turbine installation vessels and their foundations. The US$1.2bn deal combines Cadeler with Scorpio-owned Eneti. Cadeler will offer investors in New York-listed Eneti 3.409 Cadeler shares for each Eneti share. The BW Group company is expected to own 60 per cent and Eneti 40 per cent of the combined company.