Deploying offshore wind farms is about to become a breeze thanks to pioneering technology from wind energy developer Maersk Offshore Wind.
The company, a spinoff of Maersk Supply Service, announced that it's designing and building a world-first wind installation vessel (WIV) that will accelerate the rollout of offshore wind installations by 30%, helping to reduce costs and speed up grid connections.
Called Maersk WIV, the vessel will be permanently stationed at a wind farm for on-site turbine assembly. According to Maersk Supply Service, two specialized tugs and barges will transport the turbine parts from the port to the installation site.
An innovative load transfer system equipped with locking and stabilizing technology ensures the safe delivery of all turbine components, even in stormy weather. When the barge locks onto the WIV, the transport frame is lifted up to the vessel's deck to unload the cargo.
Maersk Offshore Wind says Maersk WIV is currently under construction in Singapore and should be delivered to the United States by mid-2025. It already has its first project in the pipeline — a 2.1 gigawatt wind farm off the U.S. East Coast backed by international energy company Equinor that is expected to power one million New York homes with abundant, pollution-free energy.
As the clean energy transition gains momentum, technologies like the Maersk WIV will be crucial to bringing affordable renewable energy to customers much faster while also benefiting the planet. Bringing more wind farms online will make energy cheaper to generate and reduce pollution from dirty energy sources like coal and gas — a win-win for people and the Earth.
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Other innovations, such as Blackfish Engineering's mooring quick-connector concept and reliable offshore wind ships developed by several European maritime companies, will make harnessing wind power easier and improve conditions for offshore workers.
Martin Larsen, chair of Maersk Offshore Wind and CFO at investment company A.P. Moller Holding, which owns the former, said in a project summary, "We need new solutions to meet the ambitious goals for offshore wind capacity in Europe and the US."
"Maersk Offshore Wind's concept can reduce the installation time of offshore wind turbines by almost one-third, delivering energy to the grid faster and lowering total installation costs increasing the competitiveness of our customers when they bid for new projects," Larsen said. "We are establishing Maersk Offshore Wind as an independent entity to leverage our decades of offshore expertise and accelerate the development of the offshore wind industry."
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