UK offshore vessel operator, German supplier Voith and other partners to jointly develop a new type of SOV to meet the needs of new and larger floating wind turbines.
North Star has now announced that an industry collaboration has been launched to solve one of the most pressing challenges facing floating wind energy: the provision of high-performance operation and maintenance vessels.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with MO4, Principle Power, SMST, Vard and Voith Group to establish a working group to drive the development and testing of a new SOV concept.
As offshore wind energy moves into deeper waters and floating wind turbines are deployed far from shore, the companies say the sector faces significant logistical and operational challenges that need to be addressed efficiently and cost-effectively. While the industry has proven that it is capable of safely transferring from conventional SOVs to floating wind platforms, there is still “room for improvement” in transfers where both the vessel and the platform are dynamic and in motion.
The six partners have committed to “developing a detailed, high-performance vessel concept that meets the requirements of commercial projects, such as the 17 GW of floating projects awarded in the ScotWind leasing round,” the statement said.
North Star focuses on charter employment
Commercial-scale projects should offer the opportunity to optimise these transfers by enabling the development of tailor-made SOVs operated under long-term charter contracts (North Star recently set up a branch in Hamburg and strengthened its team with shipping expert Bruno Bartel). The aim is to develop an SOV concept that sets new standards in terms of safety, performance and efficiency.
Andrew Duncan, Director of Renewables and Innovation at North Star, said: “Floating offshore wind presents both challenges and opportunities, and through this collaboration we can innovate and develop a solution specifically tailored to GW-scale projects.”
Each of the partners has a specific responsibility in the project:
- North Star will lead the design process for the vessel and ensure that logistics and service requirements are fully integrated to meet real-world requirements on site.
- MO4, a digital twin and AI decision support software company, will be responsible for assessing the operability of the proposed SOV concept, focusing on vessel movements, gangway performance and the range of motion of the floating wind turbine foundations.
- Principle Power will contribute its experience in the development, deployment and operation of floating wind turbines to provide key data on the movements expected from WindFloat platforms and define operational use cases for inspection, maintenance and repair.
- SMST, a specialist in the design and construction of offshore facilities, will contribute its expertise in gangway technology and provide key data on various walk-to-work options, workability parameters and solutions for adjusting the landing height to ensure safe and efficient personnel transfer.
- Finally, German supplier Voith is to contribute propulsion options and select the most suitable DP systems to maintain stability and performance in the demanding environment of floating offshore wind power.
- As the main integrator, shipbuilder Vard, a subsidiary of Italian shipyard group Fincantieri, will bring together the contributions of all partners to develop a design for a floating offshore wind vessel and ensure that every aspect is optimised in terms of performance and usability.
