Belgian shipowner Jan De Nul has clinched its first contract for the new foundation installation vessel Les Alizes.
The company said the 61,000-dwt ship, due in November 2022, will transport and install 107 monopile foundations and one substation topsides for Orsted's Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms off Germany.
Les Alizes is being built by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu).
Work in the North Sea for the Danish energy group will start in 2023.
The 242 MW Gode Wind 3 and 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 sites will use 11 MW Siemens Gamesa turbines.
Norway's Seaway 7 and Cadeler both announced vessel charter deals with Orsted for the wind farms this month.
For the first time, Orsted will be using monopiles without the need for a transition piece to connect turbine and foundation.
Delivery of the foundations is expected to be completed in 2024.
The wind farms will generate enough electricity to power about 1.2m German households every year.
Milestone deal
But Orsted has yet to confirm a final investment decision on the projects.
Peter De Pooter, Jan De Nul's manager for offshore renewables, described the contract as an important milestone.
"Together with other projects in preparation by Jan De Nul, we are proud to contribute to the global transition to renewable energy by installing foundations and wind turbines in the most efficient way using the best environmentally friendly technologies," he added.
Les Alizes will be used mainly for wind work, but it can also decommission offshore oil and gas platforms.
The ship will be fitted with an exhaust filtering system using a selective catalytic reduction process, as well as a diesel particulate filter.
This will make Les Alizes the first oceangoing installation ship of its kind to be classed as an ultra-low emission vessel, according to Jan De Nul.
The company said in August it is selling one of its two older wind turbine installation vessels as it looks to the delivery of next-generation ships.
The 139-loa jack-up Taillevent (built 2011) will leave the fleet, but its crew will be redeployed to other group vessels.
