TWD, Seatools Outfit Green Jade for Hai Long Piling Work

Equipment

April 17, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

As construction work has started on Taiwan’s 1 GW Hai Long offshore wind farm with the vessel Green Jade installing the first jacket foundation pin piles, TWD and Seatools each revealed their contracts for the provision of pre-piling and piling equipment and services with the vessel owner, CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering (CDWE).

The Hai Long joint venture, comprising Northland Power, Yushan Energy, Mitsui & Co., and Gentari, announced the official start of offshore construction on 11 April and CDWE said on 12 April that Green Jade had already installed pin piles at five locations.

On 16 April, the Netherlands-based TWD (Temporary Works Design) informed that the company was responsible for designing most of the pin pile installation equipment on the heavy lift vessel.

This includes the design of a subsea self-levelling pre-piling template which is currently the largest and most complex of its kind in the industry, according to TWD.

The company also designed the pin pile sea fastening, with three sets of four piles stacked vertically, each with its own upending hinge, and was also involved in the design of sea fastening for the impact hammer.

Thijs Roethof, Country Manager Taiwan at TWD, said: “As we embark on the offshore construction phase of the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm, TWD is proud to have been trusted with the design of the pin pile installation equipment for the Green Jade vessel. Our tailored solutions, including the largest and most complex pre-piling template of its kind, reflect our innovation and expertise in the offshore wind industry.”

On 17 April, another Dutch company, Seatools announced that it was responsible for the design of the pile template’s metrology and control system, including all mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and software components.

Seatools’ scope covered hydraulic and mechanical systems dedicated to template levelling and precise pile positioning, and an advanced metrology system that ensures that pile installation is achieved with accuracy that meets stringent tolerance requirements, according to the company.

As the project uses both a vibro hammer and an impact hammer for pile installation, Seatools performed a detailed evaluation to confirm the equipment’s structural integrity and operational reliability under the varied loads imposed by both the vibratory and impact methods.

Furthermore, the company said the commissioning of the equipment supplied by Seatools was smooth, which it credits to the use of advanced simulations through which the equipment was subjected to extensive virtual testing under various operational conditions before being deployed. This significantly reduced the need for on-site modifications and calibration, streamlined the commissioning process, and improved the certainty of adhering to the offshore wind farm’s construction schedule, Seatools pointed out.

Jan Frumau, Managing Director at Seatools, said: “This project not only solidifies Seatools’ position as the preferred supplier of mission-critical subsea equipment for industry leaders like CDWE but also highlights the strength of our partnership. The excellent cooperation we experienced with CDWE was instrumental in achieving such a smooth execution.”

Besides the pin piles, Green Jade, the first offshore heavy lift DP3 installation vessel built in Taiwan, will also install the 73 wind turbine foundations and two foundations for Hai Long’s offshore substations, and will be deployed on the Taiwanese project until 2026.

The 1,022 MW Hai Long project comprises three phases: Hai Long 2a, Hai Long 2b, and Hai Long 3.

The pin piles for the Hai Long 2a part of the project are being delivered by CSBC while EEW is delivering 156 pin piles for Hai Long 2b and Hai Long 3.

The jacket foundations for Hai Long 2b and Hai Long 3 are being manufactured by Samkang M&T and for Hai Long 2a by Century Iron & Steel Industrial (CIS) and Century Wind Power (CWP).

The offshore wind farm, being built in the Taiwan Strait around 50 kilometers off Taiwan’s west coast, will comprise Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD wind turbines and is expected to be operational in 2026.