Aker Verdal To Supply Wind Farm Jackets & Piles
The German Utility Company RWE Innogy has awarded Aker Solutions yard in Verdal, Aker Verdal AS, an EPC-contract for supply of 48 steel jackets and piles for the Offshore Wind Farm Nordsee Ost project in the North Sea. The contract includes engineering, procurement, fabrication, load-out and sea-fastening of the steel substructure and piles. Image courtesy RWE Innogy.
The fabrication will start in January 2011, and involve some 100 people. The contract value is approximately EUR 115 million.”This contract represents a breakthrough for Verdal in the offshore wind market, and we look forward to make this project a success in close co-operation with RWE Innogy”, said Nina Udnes Tronstad, president of Aker Solutions in Verdal. Aker Solutions is first and foremost a leading supplier to the oil and gas industry, but its recent history has many examples of how the company has been able to utilise its competence to enter into other industry segments.
” With this contract win, our business unit in Verdal demonstrates its capability to capitalise on its jacket substructure competence and track record within oil and gas to penetrate the offshore wind market”, claims Udnes Tronstad. The Verdal yard has been pursuing the potential of offshore wind as a new market opportunity for the last few years and has previously delivered the six tripods for Germany’s first offshore windfarm Alpha Ventus. “We see great potential for our business in Verdal in the future offshore wind energy market in Europe, but we clearly need to move quickly to demonstrate and further improve our execution capabilities in order to build a sustainable business model in this new segment”, notes Udnes Tronstad.
The substructures will be delivered during the period October 2011 to July 2012. The substructures have a weight of approximately 450 t each and a height of 45 to 48 m. The jacket substructures will be installed at a water depth in the range of 22 to 25 m and will support 6MW REpower turbines.