An enormous Jan De Nul vessel that put in the primary GE Haliade-X 13MW generators on the world’s largest offshore wind challenge is already scuffling with ballooning future machine scales only a yr after being constructed, mentioned the corporate’s offshore wind chief as he referred to as for measurement limits and standardisation.
Jan De Nul ought to be capable of take a look at a “15-year horizon” for the usage of its vessels, its head of economic offshore wind Bart Willems mentioned right now (Thursday) on a panel at Recharge’s International Offshore Wind Summit in Oslo.
As an alternative, “just one yr” after what the Belgian contractor has described as the most important offshore jack-up set up vessel ever constructed, Voltaire was constructed and took on its first project on the UK’s 3.6GW Dogger Financial institution, Willems mentioned it’s “already going through challenges” with escalating turbine sizes.
When he began out within the trade 15 years in the past, Willems mentioned that if he had “advised anyone that there could be a 1,500 tonne monopile” they’d have “laughed me out of the room.”
“We’re taking a look at 4,500 tonnes now. The place does it cease?”
With no restrict on part sizes and standardisation, he mentioned Jan De Nul “will now not be able the place we will make investments.”
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Hans Hansen, head of enterprise growth at Norway’s Fred Olsen Windcarrier, echoed Willems’ issues on a separate panel, saying that “a few years in the past” his firm had “gone to the market” and requested what measurement to construct its vessels.
Nevertheless, “just a few years later,” the corporate was having to extend the vessel’s crane to maintain tempo with generators.
Willems and Hansen have been including their voices to a current refrain of concern over an “arms race” amongst producers to construct ever greater generators, significantly in offshore wind, prompting calls in some quarters for an trade “measurement cap”.
‘We have to know the scale’
Willems confused that standardisation and measurement limits on turbine sizes can’t be solely in Europe or the US. “That isn’t going to work, it must be worldwide.”
“We’ll get to a sure level the place there’s a restrict,” he mentioned, “purely attributable to practicality.”
“It doesn’t matter if that’s 15MW, 20MW, 22MW or increased,” he mentioned. “So long as we all know what the usual shall be and what the utmost shall be.”
The restrict “doesn’t should be set in stone without end,” he added, however there should be a stage of “predictability.”
Willems additionally lamented a scarcity of “transparency” from OEMs on their plans for future generators. “That doesn’t make our job simpler.”
Nevertheless, he believes the trade ought to “regulate itself” quite than have authorities or EU intervention.
Tony Christian Tiller, head of communications in Norway for Equinor, one of many builders of Dogger Financial institution, agreed that it’s “apparent that this trade hasn’t reached the extent of standardisation we want.”
There’s the “greater is best method,” he mentioned. The query is “the place this stops” and, extra importantly, “who will get to determine that.”
‘Challenge cancellations disturbing’
The panel additionally mentioned the problem of challenge cancellations which have hit offshore wind within the final yr in response to provide chain points and inflation.
Ragnhild Katteland, managing director at Nexans Norway, mentioned the current choice of Orsted to cancel its twin US Ocean Wind tasks, which the French cable maker was a provider for, has “disturbed us quite a bit.”
Nexans, which accomplished a $200m enlargement of its cable manufacturing unit in South Carolina within the US in 2021, is engaged on bringing the fee down for installations reminiscent of this, she mentioned. “You probably have numerous adjustments on a regular basis you might be driving the worth up.”
Nevertheless Katteland mentioned that the actual fact has a broader framework settlement with Orsted to provide cable for all its North American offshore wind farms has helped assuage issues because the developer has “different tasks within the pipeline.”
Kristian Mikalsen, head of enterprise growth at offshore engineering contractor Aker Options, agreed that suppliers “can’t make large investments if tasks are all of a sudden getting cancelled.”
Suppliers are additionally shifting away from “lump sum” contracts in the direction of cooperation agreements, he mentioned, as a result of with tasks being tendered earlier and earlier, “how are you going to cost a challenge that’s being delivered seven years from now.”
With occasions such because the conflict in Ukraine upending world markets, he mentioned that lump sum contracts have the potential to “nearly bankrupt corporations” in the event that they go fallacious.
