Boskalis wins ‘sizeable’ Moray West offshore wind contract

Boskalis has secured a multidisciplinary role in the development of the Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.

On behalf of its client, Boskalis will carry out a large number of activities contributing to the development of this renewable energy project in the coming twelve months, the Dutch company said.

The contract, valued between EUR 50 million and EUR 150 million, was awarded by Ocean Winds, the 50:50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE dedicated to offshore wind energy.

The Moray West offshore wind farm is located off the east coast of Scotland in the Moray Firth. The 882 MW wind farm will have the capacity to power up to 640,000 homes in the United Kingdom.

The development consists of 60 offshore wind turbines and two substations, all fixed on monopile foundations. Based on the large turbine size of 14.7 MW and water depths of up to 54 meters, extremely large XXL monopiles weighing up to 2,000 tons each will be required for this development.

Boskalis said the company has already carried out an offshore geophysical site survey that also included a survey for the identification of unexploded ordnance.

In the coming months, Boskalis will transport a large number of the monopiles from the Far East to discharge at the port of Invergordon, near the project site. These monopiles – eight per voyage – will be transported on the heavy transport vessel White Marlin.

Prior to the installation of the foundations, Boskalis will carry out the seabed preparation activities by installing a layer of rock that will act as a filter and scour protection for the monopiles.

Subsequently, Boskalis will deploy its DP crane vessel Bokalift 2 for the installation campaign. With its 4,000-ton crane, the Bokalift 2 will install the monopiles using its new upending hinge and motion-compensated pile gripper.

Furthermore, in addition to a very large impact hammer, Boskalis will also deploy a vibro-hammer on this project. As a part of its campaign, Boskalis will also install two substations with their respective transition pieces.