Offshore wind turns to oil jack-ups as energy worlds converge

Valaris won a 120-day contract for the Valaris 248 jack-up, or ‘Super Gorilla Class’ jack-up, with GE Vernova in the UK North Sea from November 2025, adding more than $8 million to its contracted revenue backlog, the contract says.

The vessel is 93 metres in length with a width of 91 metres. Its legs are 185 metres, with a deployable length of 157 metres, and it has accommodation for 140 persons. 

Once the Valaris 248 jack-up contract is over, it may be replaced by a smaller Valaris 120, or ’Ultra-Enhanced Super A Class’ until June 2026.

The practice of using rigs in offshore wind is slowly growing and although it is true that there is a lack of vessels, this is not the only reason: with offshore wind farms moving further out, Crew Transfer Vessels do not have accommodation and Service Operation Vessels do not have as good stability and weather resilience as jack-ups to stay offshore for longer periods – sometimes all winter.

The paper Engineering Sustainability: Drilling Jack-Up Rig Viability in Renewables – An Industry Discussion by Dr Peter Hone from City St George’s, the University of London, looks at how the two industries are overlapping when it comes to jack-ups, but also how it is likely that rigs will stay in oil as long as it can offer the best day rates.

Hone calls jack-ups Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) that can support the renewable energy transition ‘as the oil and gas sector declines’.

His research is based on industry interviews and looks at converting jack-ups into assets such as mobile accommodation units or maintenance vessels at offshore wind farms, but finds that while there is ‘a growing awareness’ that this can be achieved, ’actual conversion to renewable energy use remains rare’.

Barriers

Apart from financial disincentives, technical constraints – such as structural modifications and concerns with stability (while less of an issue than with SOVs) – and knowledge and criteria gaps, Dr Hone says one of the primary barriers to using jack-ups is ‘minimal engagement between oil and gas peer groups and renewable organisations’.

“This lack of engagement between oil and renewables bodies can be argued as a significant barrier to the establishment of a clear regulatory pathway for the transition of jack-up rigs,” says Dr Hone.

One major discussion point is potential reuse of stacked or idle rigs—what one interviewee framed as a circular-economy question: “Could we or should we be looking at utilising rigs that are currently stacked… to be reactivated for contracts in the renewables space?”

The paper argues that the transition must be guided by ’industry-led, structured dialogue’ to build standardised frameworks that address emissions, training, geotechnical data and certification.

Hone proposes carbon capture and storage as well as offshore wind maintenance could serve as ‘valuable testbeds for early innovation’.

Hone says jack-ups represent “a significant, yet largely unrealised, opportunity” but warns progress is contingent on “cultural humility and mutual respect” between energy sectors.

One interviewee summarised the commercial reality bluntly: “Rigs will continue to drill baby, drill, until renewable-sector day rates become truly competitive.” Or jack-ups begin to age and fail to attract the work. 

Hone’s paper also found that one of the most valuable assets was actually going the other way: ”Notably, there has been a significant migration of newly certified wind sector employees to the oil and gas industry once they realise their certifications are valid for offshore work, where they can earn higher salaries,” he says.