OFFSHORE WIND CONTRACTOR AIMS FOR NEW VESSELS (Norway)

At the Offshore Wind Conference 2010 in Liverpool, Scottish based SeaEnergy PLC signed a Letter of Intent with Ulstein Group to co-develop new service vessels for the offshore wind industry.

Deputy CEO Tore Ulstein says that renewable energy is important and interesting and look forward to see what we can come up with together.

As the offshore wind industry moves further from the coastline, new strategies are required to make these offshore windfarms more cost effective. “The currently available units in this industry have shortcomings with respect to mobility, flexibility and operational window, which will have an even bigger impact when going further away from safe havens,” says Mike Comerford of SeaEnergy. “In our philosophy the vessels have to be more versatile and offer greater crew comfort, so they can stay longer offshore instead of sailing back and forth into port every day. In Ulstein we have found a partner that is able to translate our requirements into a competitive design.”

Both companies have been working together over the last months to develop a design that will excel in operational characteristics. By signing the LOI both companies want to tighten their relationship and underline that this will be a first step in jointly realizing the needs of the industry.

Kolbjørn Moldskred of Ulstein Design & Solutions is very happy with the LOI. “The cooperation between SeaEnergy and Ulstein has been very open and we feel that our designs actually can make a significant difference in this industry. Working together as two committed companies with a long experience in the offshore industry will benefit the offshore wind industry and shorten their development cycle.”

SeaEnergy is planning vessels to perform both commissioning and maintenance works of wind turbines. Based on the proven Ulstein X-BOW® technology, two vessel designs are currently being developed in which operational and vessel systems will be fully integrated with each other.

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Source: ulsteingroup, June 30, 2010;