DEME, the Belgian marine contractor, announced today that its flagship offshore installation vessel, Orion, has successfully completed monopile installation works at the Moray West offshore wind farm project in Scotland. Despite challenging winter conditions, Orion installed 29 monopiles in about two months.
The Moray West offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 882 MW, is located in Scotland's Moray Firth and is being developed by Ocean Winds, a partnership between EDP Renovaveis SA and Engie SA. The wind farm will feature 60 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 14.7 MW.
Orion transported the 29 monopiles, each weighing up to 2000 tonnes, from the port of Invergordon and installed them in full DP mode, without the use of anchors, using an innovative pile gripper and a combination of Vibro Hammer and a hydraulic Impact Hammer.
DEME's jack-up vessel, Apollo, is currently engaged in installing the transition pieces and is expected to complete this task in the coming months.
Following the completion of its work at Moray West, Orion has begun its journey back to the US for its next project in Virginia.
Jan Klaassen, Business Unit Director Americas at DEME Offshore, commented on the vessel's next assignment, stating, “The ‘Orion' is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Norfolk, Virginia in late April where she will prepare for the installation of 176 foundations on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project for our client Dominion Energy.”
