Fair winds drive designer forward

Recently, Swire Blue Ocean ordered a second deep-water turbine installation vessel, to be built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea to a KEH design. These six leg DP2 jack-up vessels are claimed to be the most capable design commissioned, working at 22m above the water surface in up to 75m water depth. This exceeds current and planned wind farm water depths, anticipating the needs of future installations and opening up countless possibilities for wind farm locations.

The company also recently secured continuing involvement in the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm project off the Danish coast with long term client MT Højgaard. KEH involvement includes project management, operational & installation procedures and engineering support.

KEH says that it is currently securing patents for a least two designs within the offshore wind energy sector. The first, related to safe and sustained access to offshore turbine foundations in rough weather. The consultancy believes this could dramatically increase safety and operational windows for servicing of offshore wind farms. The second is a complete offshore maintenance vessel solution capable of servicing multiple installations simultaneously. This vessel is capable of operating independently for long periods of time in challenging conditions.

The company says that it has heavily invested in design and analysis tools specifically needed to be at the cutting edge in this field, for these and other wind energy projects. KEH claims to have been one of the first to produce dedicated designs for the installation and maintenance of green offshore wind energy technology, and its current projects should ensure that KEH will continue to stay at the forefront of offshore wind farm installation and maintenance design and technology.