In the first half of 2015, in the German part of the North Sea, A2SEA will start installing 97 Siemens 6 MW, 154m-rotor turbines from Siemens – representing a total capacity of 582 MW.
When completed, Gode Wind 1 and 2 will be the largest contiguous offshore wind farm area in Germany to date. The agreement is a strong signal that German offshore wind is back on the agenda – and prioritised, too. And it’s also an acknowledgement of A2SEA’s lengthy track record. Continue reading
By Søren Grøn, Project Manager, A2SEA
SEA INSTALLER shows what she can really do
At West of Duddon Sands, SEA INSTALLER started out with monopiles and transition pieces. Now she has demonstrated what she was originally designed to do: transport no fewer than eight 3.6 MW topsides at a time for installation far from shore. Continue reading
Offshore wind energy investments have largely been an elite playground for Europe’s utilities. But new sources of funding are arriving as the compelling business case presented by offshore wind becomes more widely recognised. Continue reading
By Kaj Lindvig, Senior Advisor, A2SEA A/S
Stable, long-term policy support and almost super-human planning skills are must-haves for any industry that involves projects as large and as lengthy as today’s offshore wind farms. Perhaps understandably, getting that kind of support in place is no easy task – particularly with the number of stakeholders and considerations involved. The result, particularly where the German market is concerned, is a bumpy, start-stop ride whose costs implications have damaged the industry’s reputation and attractiveness to investors. Continue reading
By Tony Millward, Senior Project Manager, A2SEA A/S
Complex geotechnics, a tight, seven-month winter project, and a client whose programme called for multiple, simultaneous vessel operations. With demands like these, the Anholt project needed as much as it could get of that magic ingredient: teamwork. And its steep learning curves meant, however, that the A2SEA team was under plenty of pressure. Continue reading
The SEA CHALLENGER newbuild project has encountered a different and difficult kind of big wave – a record heat wave. Continue reading
The Gunfleet Sands 3 Demonstration Project involved A2SEA’s SEA INSTALLER transporting and installing two Siemens 6MW turbines at the DONG Energy-owned and operated wind farm. Located off the coast of East Anglia, the project gave all three companies the opportunity to bring their latest technology to the table, and put it to the test. Continue reading
With offshore wind developments in the UK currently generating more power than the rest of Europe combined, and a strong pipeline of projects planned for the coming decade, offshore wind has become a major element in the UK energy mix.
In the Irish Sea, home to two of the Round 3 zones, locating a harbour with enough storage capacity to stock huge turbines and foundations, and deep enough for large installation vessels to operate, were two major challenges facing both DONG Energy and RWE. Continue reading