The first steel has been cut for Cadeler’s second X-class wind turbine installation vessel at COSCO Shipping Offshore’s shipyard in Qidong, China.
The Danish service provider Cadeler signed a contract with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry for the construction of two new X-class wind turbine installation vessels in June 2021.
Each vessel, equipped with a crane from Huisman, will be able to transport and install seven complete 15 MW turbine sets per load, or five sets of 20+ MW turbines. They will have a deck space of 5,600 square metres, a payload of over 17,600 tonnes, and a main crane capacity of above 2,000 tonnes at 53 metres.
The first newbuild will be ready for service in 2024 and has already been commissioned by Siemens Gamesa.
The second vessel is scheduled to be delivered a year later.
“We have no doubt that the end result will live up to our highest quality requirements and will be delivered in a timely and safe manner. We are proud of the partnerships we have made with COSCO Shipping Offshore, Gusto MSC. DNV, Huisman, MAN Energy Solutions, Kongsberg and all the other suppliers supporting the construction of our new vessels”, said Peter Kragh Jacobsen , Chief Technical Officer at Cadeler.
Cadeler also placed an order for two F-class jack-ups at COSCO Heavy Industries in November last year.
F-class vessels have similar specifications but will feature a hybrid design allowing each unit to convert from being a foundation installation vessel to a wind turbine generator installation unit within a short period of time.
All jack-ups will feature MAN engines, while the two X-class vessels will have Frese FUELSAVE technology which should reduce ships’ energy consumption.
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