Damen Shipyards is working on a new class of ship to handle the expected boom in floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) installation.
The Dutch shipbuilder is teaming with vessel operators and suppliers to design bigger, more efficient units.
Damen sees floating wind farms as the next big development in renewable energy.
The group cited industry forecasts indicating that by 2050 more than 200GW of new capacity will be in operation, equating to around 13,500 turbines worldwide.
“Given the size of the turbines and the depths of the water in which they will be positioned, these FOWTs will require chains and anchors of unprecedented sizes,” Damen said.
“Even just one installation starting to drag an anchor upwind of others could have a serious impact on the output of an entire wind farm, so the anchoring systems must leave nothing to chance,” the company added.
Research suggests that each turbine will require between three and six anchors, with chain diameters increasing from a typical 152mm for a large offshore structure to upwards of 220mm.
Damen believes much bigger vessels will be needed to handle this.
And given the projected demand for their services, they will also have to be exceptionally efficient, the yard group said.
Initial feedback on new designs from anchor-handling specialists has been positive, Damen reported.
Adaptable design
Damen’s facility at Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania will also be playing a part in the floating offshore wind market development, producing floating foundations on which the turbines will be mounted.
“There are many variables relating to the new vessel concept still to be assessed and explored, not least the final nature of the FOWT mooring systems,” said Damen’s business development manager for offshore wind, Wijtze van der Leij.
“If larger numbers of lighter anchors and chains per turbine are judged superior to fewer but larger, the vessel design will adapt accordingly,” the executive added.
The new vessel type follows Damen’s designs for service operations vessels (SOVs) with walk-to-work capability for wind farms.
The yard has also produced a new Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) ship for personnel transfers.
Damen operates 35 shipyards and 20 other companies in 20 countries.
