Parkwind, a subsidiary of JERA Nex, has installed a vessel charging station system at its 165 MW Nobelwind offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea.
At the Nobelwind wind farm, a newly operational system enables ships to connect to a charging cable and use locally generated renewable energy while remaining stationary, despite sea currents.
The charging system is designed for both crew transfer vessels (CTVs) charging up to 2 MW and service operation vessels (SOVs) charging up to 8 MW and can also be used for supplying offshore power to other conventional offshore vessels on standby, reducing their emissions from diesel generators, said Parkwind.
Working in close partnership with Parkwind, UK-based MJR Power & Automation, the company that supplied the system, carried out all electrical and mechanical interface engineering to install the system on the substation.
Parkwind provided offshore logistics, offshore installation, testing support, and the electrical power interface.
The system was transported to the quayside to the offshore substation via CTV and lifted in modules using the substation crane. Within two days, it was assembled, hooked up, and commissioned to the substation, said the company.
The setup was tested, achieving a world-first by safely transferring power to a CTV from a fully operational and producing offshore wind farm, according to Parkwind.
“Moreover, this process caused no disruption or interruption to the wind farm’s operation, and there was no failure or damage to any component of either the charging system, nor topside, nor vessel. The entire operation was executed without any incidents or near misses and can be classified as 100% safe,” said Parkwind.
The company also added that MJR will now incorporate the lessons learned from the trials into the first commercial offshore charging system delivery scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
In March 2023, MJR, together with Blackfish Engineering and Tidal Transit, completed the harbour trials of its platform-mounted charging system at the Port of Blyth in the UK.
“Part funded by The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and made possible by the original support from the UK Department of Transport in the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, the success of this trial is a testament to the specialist marine and offshore engineering skills of MJR Power & Automation, it’s trusted partners Blackfish Engineering Design and Tidal Transit,” said Paul Cairns , Managing Director of MJR.
Operational since 2017, Nobelwind is Parkwind’s third offshore wind energy project. Located 47 kilometres from the shore in the Belgian North Sea, the project features 50 wind turbines installed over 19.8 square kilometres that power approximately 190,000 households.