Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) says it will be building a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) for a United States energy company, Dominion Energy on Dec 17.
This comes after the company’s Oct 9 announcement that it has secured a contract for $600 million with an unnamed energy company.
See: Keppel O&M secures $600 mil contract in the offshore renewable energy industry
The vessel is being built by Keppel O&M’s shipyard in the US, Keppel AmFELS, and will be Jones Act compliant.
The vessel is said to be one of the biggest offshore wind installation vessels in the world with a hull of 472 feet by 184 feet in length and width, and a depth of 38 feet.
The vessel will have a main crane with a boom length of 426 feet and an expected lifting capacity of 2,200 tonnes. It will be able to accommodate up to 119 people and is designed to handle current turbine technologies as well as next generation turbine sizes of 12 megawatts or larger.
The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2023 and will be available for charter hire to offshore wind developers, in support of several US wind projects.
The vessel is expected to be fully utilised on US East Coast projects exceeding five gigawatts of US offshore wind construction through to 2027.
“We are pleased to be selected by Dominion Energy to build the first offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the US, which is also one of the largest vessels of its kind in the world. It is a testament to the capabilities of our shipyard in building a wide variety of vessels for the Jones Act market,” says Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel O&M.
“With a strong engineering, procurement, and construction expertise, we have built a track record of delivering projects on time and on budget. We are able to harness Keppel O&M’s global network of yards, and experience in the offshore renewables market to expand our footprint and provide solutions in the clean energy transition,” Ong adds.
“Dominion Energy is proud to be leading a consortium of respected industry participants in the construction of the first Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel, which will provide significant American jobs, and provide a reliable, home-grown installation solution with the capacity to handle the next generation of large-scale, highly-efficient turbine technologies,” says Robert M. Blue, Dominion Energy’s president and CEO.
This will better enable the offshore wind industry to bring clean, renewable energy to customers in the US. We chose Keppel AmFELS to build the vessel as they provided an efficient, economical and versatile solution, backed by a reputation for delivering high quality vessels safely and reliably,” Blue adds.
Work on the vessel, which will be named Charybdis, has commenced with a keel laying ceremony – where steel is laid to form the first part of the keel – on Dec 17, at Keppel AmFELS’ yard in Texas.
Shares in Keppel closed 7 cents higher or 1.3% up at $5.36 on Dec 16.
