Ørsted and Cadeler signed a firm long-term lease agreement for a newbuilt Wind Farm Installation Vessel. With the agreement, Ørsted secures installation vessel capacity from Q1 2027 to end of 2030 for upcoming construction projects.

The signing of the long-term agreement on April 8, 2024 discloses Ørsted as the client in Cadeler’s announcement made on October 12, 2022. This agreement involves booking a new-built A-Class vessel from Cadeler. The A-Class vessels feature a hybrid design, allowing them to transport and install both foundations and turbines (WTGs). Ørsted and Cadeler’s collaboration builds upon existing synergies and work from Hornsea 3, which serves as Cadeler’s inaugural foundation installation project.

Patrick Harnett, Chief Operating Officer at Ørsted, said: “Securing long-term capacity with strategic suppliers is key for Ørsted to build collaboration and together manage risks and execution of our offshore wind construction program towards 2030 and beyond. Our partnership with Cadeler exemplifies how Ørsted as the market leader with a global portfolio of offshore wind projects can provide suppliers with the clarity and scale they need to invest in new technology, organizational capabilities and increase – in this case – the supply of installation vessels which can carry and install current and next generations of foundations and offshore wind turbines.”

Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler, said: “We are proud and pleased to strengthen the cooperation once again with Ørsted. Our commitment to our partners is to build trust first and foremost, minimizing project risks, and offering unrivaled fleet flexibility and supply certainty. This helps our partners succeed in timely delivery of projects and within budget. We have ambitiously invested and poured our unique know-how into our new-build wind turbine installation vessels to create security in our part of the value chain. And we’re ready to handle the largest and most complex next-generation offshore wind installation projects. Our ambition is to help our partners install and realize the offshore wind farms needed for the world’s energy transition.”

Offshore wind farm projects are expanding both in scale and complexity, making risk management and securing supply chains more relevant with each passing day.
Under the long-term agreement, Ørsted will have access to one of Cadeler’s new-build A-Class vessels. These A-Class newbuilds are designed to transport up to six XXL monopile foundations per round trip. Additionally, they can be swiftly converted from foundation installation vessels to WTG (wind turbine generator) installation vessels. Similar to the P-Class newbuilds, the A-Class vessels can transport and install seven complete 15-megawatt turbine sets per load or five 20+ megawatt turbines. This efficiency reduces the number of trips required for each project, ultimately accelerating the installation speed.

Source: Cadeler