Norway's Havfram has fulfilled its promise to move into the offshore wind farm vessel sector — with some help from its friends.
The offshore vessel player has brought in institutional investors advised by JP Morgan Global Alternatives to sign a joint letter of intent at CIMC Raffles Offshore Engineering in China for a series of next-generation wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs).
The ships will be operational during 2024.
Havfram is saying only that it has put pen to paper on "several" WTIVs.
Based on other prices for this kind of ship, three vessels could be pushing towards $1bn in terms of price.
"The plan is to operate several vessels in the global offshore wind market, with both traditional jack-ups for turbine installation, as well as a cost-effective feeder-solution for the US market in particular," Havfram said.
Gusto MSC designs WTIVs
The WTIVs have been designed and created by an experienced offshore wind team focusing on installation efficiency, in partnership with Gusto MSC as ship designer.
There has also been close collaboration with leading offshore wind developers and turbine suppliers.
The design includes green technologies and lessons learned from more than a decade of experience from WTIV operations and offshore wind construction, the partners said.
JP Morgan's Global Transportation group is an active developer, owner and operator of a broad range of air, sea, and land-based transport assets.
The investor has a fleet of more than 100 vessels.
Longstanding plans
Havfram had signalled in October it was moving into the wind business from its traditional oil and gas support sector.
The company, which changed its name from Ocean Installer last year, said it expected to contract a WTIV before the end of 2021.
Havfram had been working with Fincantieri-owned shipbuilder Vard over the past year to design a semi-submersible jack-up ship capable of handling the biggest turbines of more than 20 MW.
The new vessel type will install turbines weighing up to 1,000 tonnes at a height of 150 metres.
The units will also be prepared to run on zero-emission fuel.
Renewables revenue targeted
The company has set a target of deriving most of its revenue from the renewables sector by the middle of this decade.
Havfram wants to support Jones Act offshore wind projects off the east coast of the US.
The company, owned by Norwegian investors Ole Ertvaag's and Ola Saetre's HitecVision investment fund, is also looking into opportunities for similar vessels for the European market.
Havfram is the latest in a line of companies to enter the turbine installation sector in a bid to capitalise on an expected shortage of such ships from 2024 on as offshore power capacity booms.
Earlier in October, the shipowner sealed a cooperation deal with RWE and NTE to take part in a Norwegian state tender for floating offshore wind energy.
The firm has been working to develop what it called "an innovative new style of floating offshore wind turbine."
Havfram hopes to soon test a prototype at sea.
The group operates two chartered offshore construction vessels owned by Eidesvik Offshore and Solstad Offshore.
