Offshore Wind

Cable laying vessel designs for telecom, infield, power cables and umbilical.

Subsea rock installation vessels are used for rock placement to protect marine infrastructure, especially for offshore energy.

With the X-JACK heavy lift jack-up designs we present our answer to the offshore wind industry’s need for fit-for-purpose, cost efficient yet future proof wind turbine installation vessels.

With the strong, global developments in offshore wind, our feeder and heavy transport vessels have been developed to serve the needs of the industry. Always featuring a large and strong open deck area, our designs offer a well-balanced combination of (long) transit efficiency, payload and low CAPEX/OPEX.

Our offshore wind foundation installation vessel designs are optimized to meet future market demands. Large carrying and lifting capacities in combination with high DP capability and reduced environmental footprint are the obvious features for these vessels.

Service operation vessels, Construction Support Vessels and Installation Support Vessels are reliable Walk-To-Work (W2W) platforms for wind farm support operations. Our designs include the X-STERN® or TWIN X-STERN™ solutions.

Ulstein's second hydrogen hybrid design for the offshore wind industry, the ULSTEIN J102 zero emission wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), can operate 75% of the time in zero emission mode. Using readily available technology, the additional cost is limited to less than 5% of the total CAPEX.

Hydrogen is considered as the ultimate zero-emission solution. Ulstein's vision is to create tomorrow’s solutions for sustainable marine operations, and our first hydrogen powered ship design is now market-ready, offering zero-emission marine operations. The solution can be taken in use today.

With an ULSTEIN X-BOW® Cable Laying Vessel, vessel motions will be reduced and, consequently, also the strain on the cable. This might allow operations in worse weather conditions than a vessel with a conventional bow. Due to the absence of whipping movements in the ship, there will be less wear and tear of the cable.

A well-known and recognized design, involvement from the designers in the planning phase and Ulstein’s knowledge of the market demands and optimal solutions in all aspects of the vessel were important when the shipowner Golden Energy Offshore decided to build two newbuilds in China with assistance from Ulstein.

Offshore wind energy generation is one means to reach international climate goals. ULSTEIN has been developing offshore wind designs since 2006. The designs draw on our broad experience in oil and gas, and range from new turbine installation concepts to foundation installation vessels and service operation vessels.

Offshore Wind Farms are being established further from shore. At some point, overnight stays for the service technicians become necessary, and the transport normally done by Crew Transfer Vessels must be replaced by other transport tools. SOVs are becoming the new standard.

The offshore wind market is an abundant source of renewable energy. To reach international climate goals, major markets around the world have set goals to increase their percentage of renewable sources in their domestic electricity consumption. Consequently, many offshore wind farms are currently being established.

The shipping industry is transitioning towards reduced emissions and improved energy efficiency. Whether integrated into a novel design, or retrofitted, a solution supporting the transition should be the best compromise between operational needs, the most environmentally friendly solution, cost, and benefit.

With the dawn of the new 12MW offshore wind turbines, installation capacities of the current, third generation wind turbine installation vessels will be pushed to the limits and beyond. A new generation of jack-up vessels is necessary to serve the future offshore wind industry.

Acta Auriga was contracted to work at the offshore wind farm BARD Offshore 1: “Ocean Breeze Energy decided on this vessel due to a favourable combination of capability, capacity, design and fuel consumption. The delivery precision from Ulstein was also important.”

Subsea rock installation (SRI) vessels are widely used in the offshore industry, stabilising and protecting subsea pipelines, cables and other structures at the sea bed. For the offshore wind industry, SRI vessels also lay protective coverings of rock around turbine foundations, to avoid scouring.