MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has taken delivery of the ESVAGT Albert Betz service operation vessel (SOV) purpose-built for the 269MW Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm.
The vessel was christened on Wednesday, 4 September, at the Port of Eemshaven, the Netherlands.
“With ‘ESVAGT Albert Betz’, MHI Vestas and ESVAGT have raised the bar once again in the efficient operation of an offshore wind farm,” said MHI Vestas Chief Operations Officer, Flemming Ougaard .
“Building on our shared experience, we’ve developed a state-of-the-art ship that will facilitate safe and effective service operations for the next 15 years at Deutsche Bucht.”
Under a 15-year contract, the ESVAGT Albert Betz SOV will facilitate the service of the Deutsche Bucht wind farm’s 33 MHI Vestas V164-8.4MW wind turbines installed in the North Sea over 100 kilometres off the German mainland.
31 wind turbines have so far been installed at the site with the commissioning ongoing. The remaining two wind turbines are scheduled to be installed on the suction bucket foundations in the fourth quarter of 2019.
ESVAGT and MHI Vestas have been collaborating since 2008, with the newly-inaugurated ESVAGT Albert Betz joining ESVAGT Mercator which services the offshore wind farms Nobelwind and Belwind in Belgium.
“In the design of the ship, we have utilized both ESVAGT’s extensive knowledge of SOV and experience from the work in offshore wind farms,” said ESVAGT Project Director, Gerner Eskelund .
“We have optimized the design so that the ship is adapted and tailored specifically to the tasks that await.”