The Remontowa-built ship will lay cables on Polenergia’s OWF?
The Baltic II and III offshore wind farm project companies have entered into agreements with Seaway 7 Management for an initial amount of approximately EUR 187 million in offshore wind farm construction for the laying of subsea inner-array grid / inter-array cables, Polenergia reported on Tuesday. The Seaway 7 Group operates, among others, a cable ship built at the Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard.
The project companies (special purpose) of the Baltic II and III offshore wind farms are controlled by a consortium of partners Equinor and Polenergia. Equinor and Polenergia have just signed contracts for the design, manufacture, supply and installation of internal cables and export cables for the jointly built offshore wind farms Baltic II and Baltic III, with a total capacity of 1.44 GW.
These are necessary components to implement key investments for Poland’s energy transition.
Internal cables (inter-array cables) will be supplied and installed by Seaway7. In turn, the contract for offshore export cables was awarded to an international consortium formed by Jan de Nul and Hellenic Cables. The partners also recently signed an agreement with DNV, which will take care of the certification of the offshore parts of the Baltic II and Baltic III wind farms.
In terms of cable laying, Seaway7 can install inner-array grid (IAG) cables and export cables. For installing IAG cables, Seaway 7 uses specially designed, most advanced vessels worldwide to ensure safe, precise cable laying in a very wide range of weather conditions, completely negating or significantly reducing potential project downtime.
Of the two cable laying vessels (CLVs) in the Seaway 7 colours – Seaway Phoenix and Seaway Aimery – the latter was built from the keel in Poland at Remontowa Shipbuilding. It was handed over to the shipowner in 2016 as Siem Aimery. Both are equipped with the most modern equipment to ensure the least possible weather delays during the installation campaign, translating into schedule security and timely completion of customer projects.
Seaway Aimery (ex Siem Aimery) has two rotary tables (cable drums) below deck with a total capacity of 4,250 tonnes of cables that can be deployed in split compartments, maximising the flexibility of offshore installation. The Seaway Aimery – boasts the shipowner and contractor of the installation work – has proven that it can safely lay cables in significant wave heights of up to 3.0m. In contrast, the cable hangar provides air-conditioned or heated shelter for the crew during these operations. The vessel from Remontowa Shipbuilding has already worked on several well-known offshore wind farm projects around the world from the USA through numerous cable installations in Europe and Taiwan.
The project companies of offshore wind farm Baltic II and offshore wind farm Baltic III, which are developing offshore wind farm projects, have entered into agreements with Seaway 7 Management AS (contractor) for the design, manufacture, testing, transport, installation and protection of internal cables, i.e. those connecting offshore wind turbines to the offshore transformer station, Polenergia reported on Tuesday.
The total remuneration for the contractor for both projects has been tentatively set at around €187 million, it noted. As indicated, it considers partly lump sum rates and partly rates depending on, among other things, the installation work technique used, the length of the offshore work, downtime due to weather conditions, indexation of raw material prices, fuel prices and rates of selected subcontractors.
“The final remuneration will be determined after freezing the variable rates and taking into account factors depending on the market situation,” – it emphasised.
“The signing of the following agreements brings us closer to the moment when the final investment decision is made and the first energy from the Baltic II and Baltic III offshore wind farms will be delivered in 2027. These will be among the first offshore wind farms in Poland, the commissioning of which will strengthen energy security and provide affordable, stable renewable energy for more than 2 million households,” – says Michał Jerzy Kolodziejczyk, President of Equinor in Poland.
Once all the construction elements have been contracted, the necessary permits and the final investment decision, the implementation phase of the Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III projects with a total capacity of 1.44 GW will begin.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
