Removal of Monopiles on Yunlin Offshore Wind Farm to Start This Month

May 14, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

READ THE LATEST UPDATE HERE: All 3 Yunlin Monopiles that Sustained Pile Runs Removed

NOTE: This article was updated on 15 May with correct ownership information for the project company. Further details about the monopiles (to be) removed were added and numbers of installed wind turbines, monopiles and transition pieces were updated following a response from Skyborn Renewables.

Some of the monopiles installed during an earlier construction phase of the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan will be removed and the work is set to start in the coming days, according to a social media post from Jumbo Maritime.

The project owner/developer, Yunneng Wind Power, awarded a contract for the work to Jumbo Offshore at the beginning of this year as an addition to Jumbo Offshore’s existing scope that involves transport and installation of the transition pieces.

The company will mobilise the DP2 heavy lift crane vessel Fairplayer, outfitted with an underwater abrasive cutting and lifting tool supplied by Claxton Engineering Services, as well as an ROV.

The monopiles will be removed in several sections to approximately 3 metres below mean seabed level. The sections will then be lifted into the vessel’s 1,400-square-metre cargo hold for transportation to a local Taiwanese port, where Fairplayer will offload them to the quayside.

According to Jumbo Offshore, the company will remove “some monopiles, which were installed during an earlier project phase”.

OffshoreWIND.biz contacted Skyborn Renewables, which is leading the project on behalf of its consortium partners, for more information about the removal work.

The monopiles to be removed are related to the three pile runs, which occurred in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The first monopile was already removed in 2023. The second and third monopiles are planned to be removed this year by Jumbo Offshore using the Fairplayer, Skyborn Renewables said in an email response to offshoreWINDbiz.

Major offshore construction work on the 640 MW Yunlin wind farm started in December 2020 with the installation of the first monopile.

The monopile installation was initially being performed by Sapura Energy Berhad, which installed the initial 15 monopiles in 2020 and 2021. In February 2022, Sapura Energy issued a contract termination notice to the Yunneng Wind Power consortium, citing unresolved technical and operational issues.

After Sapura left the project, the monopile installation work was picked up by the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC). Around the same time, Yunneng contracted Havfram for Project Management and Owners Engineer Services within the foundation installation package for the Yunlin wind farm. Havfram was engaged as Owners Engineer in 2022.

NPCC, now called NMDC Energy, continued the monopile installation as of 2022 and has since then installed 42 monopiles, Skybron Renewables says.

Fred. Olsen Windcarrier (FOWIC), in cooperation with Shimizu, is responsible for the transportation and installation of monopile foundations in 2024.

The wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) Blue Wind, under a contract with FOWIC, is engaged as the installation vessel for both monopiles, in addition to the DLS-4200 of NMDC Energy, and wind turbines, in addition to Seajacks Zaratan.

The first monopile in the 2024 installation campaign was installed in March.

So far, installation teams have installed 38 out of 80 wind turbines, along with 57 monopile foundations and 54 transition pieces.

“The Yunlin OWF project is a top priority for Skyborn Renewables and its partners, delivering electricity under two 20-year power purchase agreements. Once completed, this 640 MW project will power over 600,000 Taiwanese households,” Skyborn Renewables said.

The project company owning Yunneng Wind Power Co., Ltd. consists of Skyborn Renewables (which holds approximately 32 per cent), TotalEnergies Renewables (approx. 29.5 per cent), EGCO (approx. 26.5 per cent) and Sojitz (approx. 12 per cent).