Domestic deep-sea integrated wind power installation vessel makes trial voyage - ecns
Domestic deep-sea integrated wind power installation vessel makes trial voyage
An offshore wind turbine stands in an offshore wind farm off the coast of Fujian Province. (Photo: Yang Ruoyu/GT)
China's deep-sea integrated large-scale wind power installation vessel Bo Qiang 3060 conducted a trial voyage near the coastal city of Yantai in East China's Shandong Province on Wednesday.
Setting new domestic records including water depth, deck variable load and lifting capacity, the 133-meter-long vessel can operate in water up to 70 meters deep, according to media reports.
With a total variable load capacity of 11,000 tons, it can transport and install three sets of 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine units, making it the only next-generation wind power installation vessel in China capable of carrying entire tower sections, according to China Media Group.
The vessel was designed and built by Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore (CIMC Raffles) and is the first vessel in the 3060 series. The vessel has a maximum lifting weight of 2,200 tons, and the crane can lift the hub of 20-mW wind turbine to a height of 160 meters, meeting the installation requirements for seas located off China, North Europe and Southeast Asia, according to Chen Changyong, a manager with CIMC Raffles' Bo Qiang 3060 project.
As offshore wind farms expand into deeper seas, there are higher requirements for wind power installation in terms of water depth, large turbines and efficient operations, Chen said.
The Bo Qiang 3060 has significantly improved the installation efficiency and adaptability to harsh marine weather conditions, ensuring an operational window of over 200 days per year, Chen said.
China has made major breakthroughs in building high-end, efficient and low-cost offshore wind power installation platforms suitable for various complex sea conditions.
According to data from UK-based Clarksons Research, offshore wind power is expected to continue its rapid development over the next 30 years, with its share of the global energy structure increasing from the current 0.3 percent to 7-9 percent by 2050.
New orders for global offshore wind power vessels in the first half of 2023 remained strong. Clarksons Research said there were 66 orders for offshore wind power vessels, up 6.5 percent year-on-year.
CIMC Raffles won three contracts worth of $851 million. With the implementation of China's "dual carbon" goal of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and attaining carbon neutrality by 2060, and the development of the marine clean-energy sector, there is still great potential for offshore wind power installation and maintenance work, CIMC said.
The trial operation of the vessel marks a major step in China's technological development, demonstrating that it has reached the international advanced level in the sector, according to Cong Yi, a professor from the Tianjin School of Administration.
There are more than 130 wind power installation vessels worldwide, and more than 100 were built in China.
Statistics from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry showed that during the first three quarters of 2023, there was a "delivery peak" for offshore wind power-related vessels, with 20 vessels handed over to customers, setting a new record.
As of the end of October, among 37 orders for offshore wind power installation vessels globally, 33 were manufactured by Chinese shipyards.
The trial operation demonstrates the strength and determination of companies such as CIMC Raffles in independent innovation and technological research and development, injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry. China should strive to increase its tech self-sufficiency and seize every opportunity to make breakthroughs in solving bottlenecks, striving to ensure core technologies are in its own hands, the expert said.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.