Boskalis's recently commissioned subsea rock installation vessel, the Windpiper, has placed the first rock on its maiden project, the Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, developed by Equinor and Polenergia Offshore Wind Poland.
Shortly after the christening ceremony, the Windpiper sailed to Norway to load nearly 45,000 tons of rock – a record cargo.
Never before has a single subsea rock installation vessel carried such a large volume of rock on board for one installation project, Boskalis said.
Using the vessel’s inclined fallpipe, the rock is being installed to protect the export cables running from the offshore wind farm to the Polish mainland.
"We thank the project team and crew of the Windpiper for this achievement and wish them every success with the continued execution of this project. We also thank Van Oord for the pleasant collaboration on the Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 offshore wind projects, where together we are supporting the development of Poland's offshore wind sector."
Located approximately 37 and 22 kilometres from the coastline near Ustka and Łeba, Bałtyk 2 & 3 will together comprise 100 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD wind turbines, each with a capacity of 14.4 MW.
The 1.44 GW offshore wind project is scheduled to produce first power in 2027, and to be fully commissioned in 2028.