Foundation installation starts at Ørsted’s Greater Changhua OWF

Heerema Marine Contractors’ (HMC) vessel Aegir has started installing jacket foundations at Ørsted’s Greater Changhua offshore wind project site in Taiwan.

The vessel is currently installing the jacket for one of the two offshore substations of the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms.

Aegir, which had been undergoing an upgrade at Sembcorp in Singapore since December 2020 and was ready for service in the first quarter of this year, has been deployed in Taiwan under a contract HMC secured with Ørsted in 2019. The contract was signed for the Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms which are being built as one development.

The project will comprise a total of 111 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines installed on jacket foundations in the Taiwan Strait, some 35 to 50 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County.

The vessel will transport and install the 111 turbine foundations, as well as the project’s two offshore substations. Heerema is also in charge of the onshore marshaling services, as well as the seabed preparations and scour protection.

The offshore construction at the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a sites will be carried out during 2021 and 2022, with the project expected to be fully up and running in 2022.

This year, the construction activities will include export and array cable laying, and installation of the offshore substations and foundations. Wind turbine installation is scheduled for next year.