DEME’s offshore installation vessel Orion has completed monopile installation works at Ocean Winds’ Moray West offshore wind farm.
Located offshore Scotland, the 15 MW project saw 29 monopiles installed in approximately two months. Orion transported the monopiles, weighing up to 2,000 tonnes each, from the port of Invergordon and installed them in full DP mode, without the use of anchors. Orion’s specially designed and high-tech motion compensated pile gripper, in combination with its 5,000-tonne crane and vessel ballasting techniques, enabled efficient operations despite the Scottish winter weather conditions.
Other dedicated tools were deployed for the work, such as a Quad Vibro Hammer, which was used to overcome the risks of pile-runs due to the combination of soft and hard soil layers, as well as bolting equipment for M90 bolts.
DEME’s jack-up vessel Apollo is performing the transition piece installation, which is expected to be finalised in the coming months. Orion, meanwhile, is on its way to the USA to start work on it’s the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project for Dominion Energy.
According to Jan Klaassen, business unit director Americas at DEME Offshore, the vessel is scheduled to arrive in the port of Norfolk in late April and is tasked with the installation of 176 foundations.
