Infrastructure servicing company Jan De Nul has launched what it describes as the world’s tallest jack-up installation vessel, Voltaire.
The company said Voltaire – built to transport, lift and install offshore wind turbines, transition pieces and foundations – will be capable of installing and decommissioning the largest offshore wind turbines of the future.
According to the company, Voltaire will be able to lift +15MW turbines - as well as the 20MW turbines the industry expects to produce by the end of the decade.
It aims to deliver the vessel in the second half of 2022.
The vessel, which is the largest in Jan De Nul’s fleet, has a main crane with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes that will enable it to construct the current and future generation of offshore wind farms.
It has four 130-metre legs to support it and allow stable working conditions at up to 80 metres with a total lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes.
Earlier this year, Jan de Nul also launched Les Alizés, an offshore wind vessel capable of installing and decommissioning the next generation of offshore wind farm components while floating.
Voltaire has been given its first assignment and will travel to the UK to aid in the construction of the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm – 2400MW Dogger Bank A & B and 1200MW Dogger Bank C – where it will install 277 of GE’s Haliade-X turbines, each of which will have a power rating of 14MW. Once complete, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, generating enough energy to power up to six million homes per year.
Jan De Nul said the operating ability of Voltaire was needed because turbine and foundation components continue to grow in size to the point where “their dimensions have largely outgrown the current market installation capability”.
Reduced carbon footprint
The company said the boat will run on second-generation biodiesel which will reduce its carbon fuel footprint by up to 90% – although it did not supply a baseline figure for the reduction.
It is also fitted with a dual exhaust filter system that the company said would reduce 99% of nanoparticles from emissions using a diesel particulate filter, to comply with EU regulations.
Philippe Hutse, director of Jan De Nul Group’s offshore division said: “The Voltaire will enable us to work in deeper waters and reach ever higher nacelle heights than before.”
He added: “Our forward-looking view on market trends and the quick decision making to invest in this set of next-gen installation vessels, have done us no harm. The Voltaire has all the required specifications to meet the upcoming challenges in offshore renewables.”
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