Van Oord has been awarded two new offshore wind projects: Baltic Power in the Baltic Sea and Greater Changhua 2b and 4 in Taiwan. The contracts have a combined value of more than EUR 500 million. Once operational, the two offshore wind farms will deliver renewable energy to approximately 2.5 million households.
The Baltic Power offshore wind farm is being developed by a joint venture between ORLEN (Poland) and Northland Power (Canada). The wind farm will be located in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea, 23 kilometres from shore. The wind farm will feature 76 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1.14 GW and will ultimately supply renewable energy to more than 1.5 million households in Poland. Baltic Power will be Poland’s first offshore wind farm and an important step in the country’s transition to renewable energy. Van Oord will transport and install 78 foundations, 76 WTG foundations (each one consisting of a monopile and a transition piece), and an additional two foundations for offshore substations. To install the monopile foundations, Van Oord will deploy its heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen. The 76 transition pieces will be installed by a third-party DP installation vessel. The transport and installation of the foundations is scheduled to start in 2024 and is expected to be completed in summer 2025.
Potential
The Baltic Sea holds enormous potential for offshore wind in Europe, thanks to its shallow waters, strong winds and other favourable conditions. This makes it possible for the Baltic states to embark on an effective energy transition. The Svanen is specifically designed to cope with conditions in the Baltic Sea, including the challenging soil composition, and has proven its suitability on a large number of projects there, including Baltic 2, Arkona, Danish Kriegers Flak and Baltic Eagle.
Source: Van Oord
