Norwegian owner and operator of vessels serving the offshore wind industry, Edda Wind, has placed a EUR 250 million order with Vard for four new commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs), with options for ordering up to four additional CSOVs.
The first two vessels will be built at Vard’s Romanian and Norwegian yards and are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. The other two will be built in Vard’s Vung Tau yard in Vietnam and delivered in the second quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
The CSOVs are of the Vard 4 25 series, designed exclusively for Edda Wind, which will be prepared for green fuels and energy carriers, with the flexibility to adapt to various types of fuels in the future. The four vessels will be prepared for zero-emission operations based on a Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) concept, in addition to being methanol-ready, according to Edda Wind.
The vessels will also be equipped with the latest technology for energy-efficient HVAC, power generation and propellers, Vard says.
The CSOVs will accommodate wind turbine technicians as they perform commissioning and maintenance work on offshore wind turbines.
Once these four newbuilds are delivered, Edda Wind will have a fleet of 14 vessels, of which two are currently in operation, with five more expected to commence operation this year. Last month, the company took delivery of the CSOV Edda Boreas which is scheduled to start working at the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK this May.
For the four CSOVs from the latest order, the company says it intends to secure finance through a combination of debt and equity. The four largest shareholders of Edda Wind (Østensjø Wind, Wilhelmsen New Energy, Geveran Trading, and EPS Ventures) have already committed to a placement that will cover the majority of the equity part of the financing, with the debt part to come from banks.
Edda Wind says it expects the vessels to be fully financed well in advance of delivery. The company also recently announced that it has secured long-term financing for 90 per cent of its vessels.