ABB has won a contract from Guangzhou Shipyard International to deliver an integrated power and propulsion package for Grand Tour, a 230-metre semi-submersible heavy transport vessel ordered by offshore contractor Allseas and due for delivery in 2028.
The vessel is built for a narrow but increasingly critical task in offshore wind: moving very large converter stations from fabrication yards in Asia and Europe and transferring them directly to Allseas’ construction vessel Pioneering Spirit for installation. Converter stations sit at the centre of long-distance offshore transmission, turning alternating current from turbines into direct current for transfer to shore by cable.
Grand Tour will carry loads of up to 40,000 tonnes on its stern deck, then position itself alongside Pioneering Spirit and lower its main deck below the waterline so that converter stations can be floated directly on board. That sequence puts unusual demands on bollard pull, manoeuvring and station-keeping.
ABB’s scope includes four 3.5 MW nozzled Azipod units, which rotate through 360 degrees and are fitted with optimised nozzles for efficiency in transit. The gearless design reduces mechanical losses, fuel consumption, noise and vibration compared with conventional mechanical thrusters, and lowers lubrication and maintenance requirements. The package also covers a medium-voltage AC power plant in closed ring topology, the PEMS power and energy management system, an enhanced power plant protection system, and remote condition monitoring.
“It’s fantastic to see our power and propulsion technology delivering such strong value in demanding heavy-lift operations,” said Rune Braastad, President of ABB’s Marine & Ports division. Zhou Xuhui, President of Guangzhou Shipyard International, described the vessel as a demonstration of the yard’s capability on complex builds.
The order is a reminder that the constraint on large offshore transmission projects is often not the hardware itself but the small number of vessels able to move it. As Baltic and North Sea grid build-out accelerates through the late 2020s, converter station logistics is one of the tighter bottlenecks in the chain.
