Methanol-fuelled installation giant revealed

Boreas will be used to install 104 extended monopiles, each weighing up to 1,750 tonnes, for the Nordseecluster offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

It will also be used to lay the foundations, 44 in 2025 and the remaining 60 in 2027.

The new 175m vessel is being purpose built for the the burgeoning offshore wind farm industry. It has an advanced jacking system and can lift more than 3,000 tonnes. Four giant legs, each measuring 126 metres, allow the vessel to be jacked up and work in waters up to 70 metres deep.

“With this new vessel, Van Oord is preparing itself for the increase in scale in the offshore wind industry,” the Dutch marine contractor says. ”In addition, Boreas fits in with Van Oord’s sustainability ambitions and aim of making its fleet more economical and energy efficient. The vessel will be able to run on the future fuel methanol, reducing the ship’s footprint by more than 78%.”

The Nordseecluster is a joint venture between RWE and Northland Power, signed at the recent WindEurope exhibition in Copenhagen. The owners claim the 1.6GW project will power up to 1,600,000 homes.

“We look forward to deploying our brand new offshore installation vessel Boreas on a large scale project like this, which is exactly what the vessel is built for,” said Arnoud Kuis, managing director Offshore Wind at Van Oord. “We are proud to be part of this prestigious project and look forward to another successful cooperation with both RWE and Northland Power. By contributing to the realisation of Nordseecluster, Van Oord is again part of a major contribution to the energy transition towards renewable energy.”