Against expectations of soaring demand for renewable energy over the coming decade, a Norwegian company is investing in the creation of an entire fleet of ships dedicated to providing technical support on offshore wind farms.
The first of the new breed of commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) ordered by Haugesund-based Edda Wind is now being readied at her Spanish yard of build for a long-term assignment in the German Bight.
The 88m Edda Breeze leads a Norwegian-designed series of five from Astilleros Gondan, located at Figueras (Castropol) in the northern Spanish province of Asturias. Conceived to function as a host vessel for technicians undertaking commissioning and maintenance work on wind turbines, the diesel-electric class is distinguished by a ‘walk-to-work’ capability and by preparation for future zero-emission performance using hydrogen fuel.
Two similar, 89m newbuilds, also emanating from the drawing board of Norwegian consultancy Salt Ship Design, have been booked by Edda Wind at Colombo Dockyard in Sri Lanka.
Advanced CSOVs that offer a high standard of accommodation and transfer safety for personnel engaged in wind farm development and upkeep, and which incorporate ready means of technological upgrade, will form an important part of the value chain in the booming offshore wind energy segment.
Key features of Edda Wind’s new generation include anti-heeling and roll reduction systems to provide good working and living conditions onboard and a motion-compensated gangway with an adjustable pedestal for safe and efficient connections to the turbines, even in harsh weather conditions. The design is suited to operations involving both fixed-foundation and floating turbines regardless of size.
Edda Breeze has the security of long-term employment with German company Ocean Breeze Energy, for duty on the latter’s BARD Offshore 1 wind farm 100km off Germany’s North Sea coast. Edda Wind’s 11-year contract started during the second quarter of 2021, and is currently served by the 98m Edda Fjord, with the Edda Breeze due to be assigned at the outset of July this year.
The new ship embodies the Salt 0217 design and has a diesel-electric installation backed up by two independent battery banks. Caterpillar high-speed engines deliver power to a pair of cycloidal-type propulsion units incorporating permanent magnet electric motors.
With battery-diesel hybrid propulsion, IMO Tier III-certified main generators, and other energy saving equipment, the newbuild will, on service entry, produce significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than more conventional tonnage. However, so as to realise a future zero-emission objective without compromising operational capabilities, the vessel has been readied for adoption of a novel, hydrogen propulsion system, based on liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology.
LOHC Technology
The patented system that would be employed is the brainchild of German-headquartered Hydrogenious LOHC Technology. The unique feature is that hydrogen is brought aboard chemically bonded in a thermal fluid from which it is released as and when needed. The carrier oil, benzyltoluene, can be loaded and unloaded with hydrogen many hundreds of times, and enables large quantities of hydrogen to be stored and transported under ambient conditions, using the existing fossil fuel infrastructure. It is advocated as a safe and logistically advantageous alternative to compressed and fluid hydrogen, and offers a favourable energy density factor. The LOHC release unit draws hydrogen from the benzyltoluene medium on demand aboard the ship.
Last year, Johannes Ostensjo entered into a joint venture with Hydrogenious to formulate and market emission-free propulsion systems for the global shipping market based on the LOHC concept. The new company, Hydrogenious LOHC Maritime, aims to have a megawatt-scale commercial product ready by 2025. Norwegian government agency ENOVA has agreed NOK26m (US$3m) in funding for the development by the partners of a 200kW pilot plant under the HyNjord R&D project. This will integrate three core components, comprising the LOHC release unit, a fuel cell, and an interface to the vessel’s power management system.
Power delivery aboard Edda Breeze in the immediate term will be primarily reliant on the three main gensets, each employing a Caterpillar four-stroke engine, running on marine gas oil. The chosen 3512E design of machinery is a 170mm-bore, V12 diesel rated at 1,770kW. The aggregates are configured for variable-speed operation, integrated into the vessel’s electric hybrid system using a special CAT control cabinet. The installation incorporates proprietary selective catalytic reduction(SCR) technology, ensuring Tier III compliance.
The electric cycloidal propulsion units are of the Voith eVSP type, and promise full-cycle efficiency gains while meeting exacting manoeuvring criteria. Accurate dynamic positioning, even under harsh conditions, together with optimum responsiveness, and safe and quick transfer of personnel at offshore installations, are absolutely critical to CSOV operations.
The eVSP design features an integral, permanent magnet synchronous electric motor claimed to offer a 15% power saving in transit relative to a vessel equipped with a nozzled propeller, plus efficiency gains in DP mode arising from the ability to rapidly react to the influences of wind, wave and currents. It delivers high torque and a mechanical efficiency advantage deriving from the elimination of gears and shaft lines. The proprietary VRS roll stabilisation module counteracts rolling motions by up to 70% both under way and when stationary. A troika of powerful(1,300kW) Brunvoll thrusters is tunnelled into the foreship section.
The MacGregor equipment package features an Horizon all-electric walk-to-work gangway. The solution delivered includes the largest integrated passenger lift ever fitted to a wind farm service vessel, interconnected to a 5t Colibri 3D motion-compensated crane. This enhances logistic support by allowing seamless switching between crane and gangway control from a centralised station on the vessel’s bridge.
The Horizon gangway and Colibri crane were introduced to the MacGregor portfolio through the 2019 acquisition of Norwegian counterpart TTS.
Edda Wind’s second CSOV from Gondan was launched on 19 March this year. She will be deployed under contract to SSE Renewables for the construction and commissioning of the initial two phases of the Dogger Bank wind farm in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast of England. The scheme will realise an output capacity of 3,600MW, among the largest developments of its kind worldwide.
The two 89m CSOVs booked at Colombo Dockyard will be of the Salt 0425 design, a further development of the 0217 type. The Sri Lankan builder, in which Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard has 51% ownership, has augmented its workload over recent years with higher added value tonnage such cableships, anchor-handlers and hybrid-powered minibulkers. The latest contract testifies to the yard’s growing capabilities.
Edda Wind has retained Ostensjo Rederi as project manager for the newbuilds in Colombo, and Norwegian suppliers will account for about 40% of the ships’ main systems. As with the tonnage ordered in Spain, the pair from Sri Lanka will be prepared for hydrogen fuelling under the collaboration with Hydrogenious LOHC Maritime.
Besides the CSOVs, Edda Wind has two service operation vessels (SOVs) under construction elsewhere in Spain, at the Zumaia premises of Astilleros Balenciaga, in the Basque Country. Although smaller than the CSOVs, the SOVs will provide a maximum access height of 34m above the sea surface by way of an Horizon walk-to-work system tailored to the shipowner’s requirements. The Balenciaga newbuilds will also benefit from the additional efficiency rendered by the centralised control station being located near the DP operator’s position on the bridge.
The first of the Balenciaga pair, the 83m Edda Brint, has been fixed for 15 years to MHI Vestas, with the charter agreement taking effect during the second quarter of 2022. As with the CSOVs, the class has also been specified as hydrogen-ready, potentially putting the ships in the vanguard of carbon emission-free SOVs worldwide. The design type is the Salt 0358, in which the maximum number of people aboard is 60, half that of the Edda Breeze CSOV generation.
Edda Wind was formed in 2015 by the Ostensjo Group, and the Wilh.Wilhelmsen organisation became a partner five years later. Today, the publicy-quoted company also includes interests associated with John Fredriksen and Idan Ofer.
MAIN PARTICULARS -CSOV Edda Breeze
Design
Salt 0217
Length overall
88.3m
Length bp
77.1m
Breadth, moulded
19.7m
Depth, moulded
7.0m
Draught
5.4m
Deadweight
2,500t
Cargo deck(external)
450m2
Propulsion system
Diesel-electric
Fuel
/hydrogen-ready
Main genset engines
3 x 1,770kW
Main propulsors
2 x 1,900kW
Speed, maximum
10.5kts
Bow thrusters
3 x 1,300kW
Class
DNV
Class notations
+1A Offshore service vessel, NAUT, (A)HCS, E0, Clean Design, COMF(V3, C3), DYNPOS AUTR, SF, DK(+), SPS-2008, BWM-T, BIS, Battery Power, HELDSK-SH, Walk2Work
Accommodation
120(97 /23 crew)
Flag
Norway
NEWBUILD PROGRAMME
Edda Wind A/S
Type
Builder
Hull number
Delivery
CSOV(88m)
Ast.Gondan
489(Edda Breeze)
Apr 2022
SOV(83m)
Ast.Balenciaga
415(Edda Brint)
Apr 2022
CSOV(88m)
Ast.Gondan
490
Dec 2022
SOV(83m)
Ast.Balenciaga
416
Dec 2022
CSOV(89m)
Colombo Dockyard
257
Jan 2024
CSOV(88m)
Ast.Gondan
491
Apr 2024
CSOV(88m)
Ast.Gondan
492
Jul 2024
CSOV(88m)
Ast.Gondan
503
Jul 2024
CSOV(89m)
Colombo Dockyard
258
Jul 2024
