Van Oord wins export cable work on Taiwan’s new offshore wind farm

November 8, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Van Oord has been awarded contracts for Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland and Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farm in Taiwan valued at more than €500 million.

Cable laying vessel Nexus; Photo courtesy of Van Oord

For the Baltic Power offshore wind project in the Polish Baltic Sea, Van Oord will transport and install 78 foundations, including 76 monopile foundations for the wind turbine and two foundations for offshore substations.

Starting in 2024, the company will install the monopiles using its heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen, while the 76 transition pieces will be installed by a third-party DP installation vessel. The transport and installation of the foundations are expected to be completed in the summer of 2025.

Located approximately 22 kilometres off the Polish coast near Plaża Wydmy Lubiatowskie, the 1,140 MW Baltic Power offshore wind farm will comprise 76 Vestas 15 MW wind turbines and provide clean energy to over 1.5 million Polish households, once in full operation in 2026.

This September, Orlen and Northland Power reached financial close for Baltic Power, which moved the project into the construction stage and initiated the signing of firm contracts.

In Taiwan, Van Oord signed a contract for the transport and installation of three export cables, totalling approximately 175 kilometres in length, for the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind project.

For the cabling work, the company will deploy its cable-laying vessel Nexus and the company’s own trencher Dig-It to bury the cables to the required depth. To pre-excavate cable joint pits down to the necessary burial depth, Van Oord will deploy its LNG-powered hopper dredger Vox Apolonia, the company said. The works in Taiwan are scheduled to start in 2024 and are expected to be finished in 2025.

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Van Oord’s contract for the Taiwanese offshore wind project follows the company’s completion of the cable installation works at Greater Changhua 1 and 2a earlier this year. On this project, Van Oord was responsible for the transport, installation and burial of the inter-array and export cables.

The 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms will comprise around 65 wind turbines with an individual capacity of 14 MW, installed some 35-60 kilometres off the Changhua coast.

In March this year, Ørsted made the final investment decision on the offshore wind farms and said that the onshore work and fabrication of components will start this year. The Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.