Vessels reshuffle as Taiwanese wind farm nears offshore construction

Major offshore wind projects in Taiwan have entered or are about to enter offshore construction and the vessels involved have started mobilising and departing for this increasingly active offshore wind market.

As one of these projects is reaching this stage, one of the contractors seems to have had to deploy a substitute vessel to carry out the installation work.

The offshore construction at the 589 MW Changfang and Xidao wind farm, owned and developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and two Taiwanese life insurance companies, is about to start with the installation of the first of the 186 wind turbine foundation pin piles.

The pin piles will support the wind farm’s 62 three-legged jacket foundations installed in the Taiwan Strait some 15 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County.

The foundation installation work is to be carried out by Boskalis HwaChi Offshore Wind Taiwan Co. Ltd. (BoWei), a joint venture between Boskalis Offshore Holding B.V. and Hwa Chi Construction Co., Ltd.

BoWei had initially planned to deploy the Bokalift 2 offshore installation vessel on the project.

The conversion of the drillship YAN into Bokalift 2 started at the Dubai-based Drydocks World in May 2020.

However, the latest project update provided by BoWei states that Bokalift 1 is now heading to Taiwan to start the foundation installation work on Changfang and Xidao.

Bokalift 1 mobilised for the project in Singapore and departed for Taiwan on 2 June, BoWei said.

During the mobilization of the vessel, all the required equipment such as the grillage and sea fastenings, a hydrohammer spread, winches, a motion compensated gangway, and two ROVs were installed, BoWei said.

Offshore WIND contacted Boskalis for a comment on why Bokalift 1 and not Bokalift 2 was deployed on the project.

Located approximately 15 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County, Changfang and Xidao will feature 62 MHI Vestas 9.5 MW turbines scheduled to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024.

In 2019, the project entered into a 20-year PPA with the state-owned Taiwan Power Company.