The race to order wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) is heating up as more and more offshore wind farm capacity is pencilled in globally.
Clarksons Research has said growth in the WTIV market looks set to continue as owners position themselves to meet developers' demand.
"A new ordering cycle for WTIVs is developing, with future farms increasingly set to include larger turbines of above 12 MW," the research division of UK shipbroker Clarksons said in its latest offshore wind report.
Since the start of 2020, 22 new and firm WTIV contracts have been confirmed, against an operational fleet of 65 units, the company's data shows.
A further 12 WTIV options and unconfirmed orders have been reported in that time.
Clarksons Research believes 10 of these potential contracts remain in place. Nine are set to feature cranes of more than 1,500 tonnes.
Cadeler's double
In June, BW Group-backed Cadeler signed a contract worth $651m with Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (Qidong) for two WTIVs featuring crane capacity above 2,000 tonnes.
The units are set to be able to install up to seven complete sets of 15 MW turbines or five 20-plus MW turbines per load once delivered in 2024 and 2025.
The first ship has already been chartered to install 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW turbines at the Sofia wind farm in the UK.
Arne Blystad's OHT and Eneti, the former Scorpio Bulkers, are among the other owners with ships on order, and the Fred Olsen group is planning to contract a new vessel this year.
The high entry costs are put into perspective by day rates for the most modern vessels of up to $175,000.
Bright prospects
And the outlook for the offshore wind industry appears highly positive, with significant growth expected across 2021, Clarksons Research said.
As of the start of July, 171 offshore wind farms were active worldwide, with a total nameplate capacity of 33.5 GW.
In the first half of 2021, 1.5 GW of offshore wind capacity came online across six farms.
A further 56 farms totalling 11 GW of capacity are still expected to be fully commissioned in the second half of this year.
"This significant growth, while not without challenges for the industry, is expected to be driven by a substantial build-out of capacity off China, where almost 10 GW is projected to start up across this year," Clarksons Research said.
US market hotting up
Continued progress has also been made in the US offshore wind sector.
The state government of New Jersey awarded a total of 2.6 GW of offshore wind capacity to EDF/Shell and Orsted in the state's second offshore wind tender in June.
New Jersey is one of nine states along the US east coast aiming to accelerate construction, with a target of 7.5 GW by 2035.
Elsewhere in the US, the federal government began the permit process for five large-scale offshore wind farms totalling at least 6.6 GW.
"While the federal permitting process has historically been a source of major delays, the Biden administration is looking to fast track such projects to achieve the recently increased national 2030 offshore wind target of 30 GW," Clarksons Research said.
