Cable laying vessel hard at work on offshore wind project (Gallery)

China-headquartered subsea cable vessel owner and operator Fulan Offshore has deployed its cable laying vessel (CLV) for inter-array cable installation at a giant offshore wind project in Chinese waters.

After its CLB AilanYiHao (AL-1), which recently made its first work commitment in the oil and gas industry, wrapped up a 330 kV high voltage alternative current (HVAC) power cable installation a few months ago for the Yangjiang Qingzhou VI offshore wind farm export cable construction project in Guangdong Province, Fulan Offshore’s CLV Fu Yang started the inter-array cable installation at the offshore wind farm in July 2024.

Based on the Chinese player’s update, the vessel remains concentrated on the inter-array cable installation to enable the 66 kV inter-array cables to connect the 330 kV offshore substation and the 77 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1 GW. The company confirms that the work is due to be done by the end of the year.

According to Fulan Offshore, the Yangjiang Qingzhou V and VI offshore wind power projects, located in the waters near Yangjiang City in China’s Guangdong Province, are part of a development that will become the world’s largest deepwater offshore wind power project after completion. Described as the biggest offshore wind farm project in China, Yangjiang Qingzhou is being developed by Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese state-owned power company.

Equipped with a dynamic positioning system, the 60.3 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 4.5 meters deep Fu Yang is a cable-laying vessel operated by Fulan Offshore, which is classified by the China Classification Society. While the ship comes with a cable turntable, which can carry up to 1,500 tons of cable, the stern features 60 tons of A-frame. With a maximum burial depth of 3 meters burying sled, the vessel can both lay and bury the submarine cable simultaneously.

While ERM’s ‘Global Supply Chain Study’ underlined that 67.8 GW of offshore wind capacity was in operation globally as of January 2024, it also emphasized that China led the way with the greatest operational capacity, closely followed by the EMEA region.

On the list of the five projects that became fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2023 are the 1 GW Guangdong Yangjiang Qingzhou I and II in China. The study elaborated that the Asian country increased operational and route-to-market secured capacity by almost 15 GW last year.