Singapore: Keppel to Deliver Offshore Wind Turbine Installer to Seafox

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver Seafox 5, one of the largest and most advanced multi-purpose offshore wind turbine installers of its kind to the Seafox Group, ahead of time and with an impressive safety record. The vessel, Seafox 5, is able to operate in harsh environments and up to 65 meters water depth – the deepest for such vessels – as well as carry a wide variety of foundations and turbines.

The vessel was named on 18 August 2012 at Keppel FELS with Singapore’s Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State for National Development, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, as the Guest of Honour.

He said: “As the first offshore wind turbine installation vessel built in Singapore, Seafox 5 marks a significant milestone in the capabilities and innovation by a Singaporean shipyard. I am glad to learn that, in line with Singapore’s push for increasing productivity, Keppel has been able to deliver this vessel more than a month ahead of schedule and with an excellent safety record. This reflects a goal that every company should aim towards: a productive workplace where the job is not only completed well and fast, but also enables every worker to return home to his family safely at the end of the day.”

Built to Keppel’s proprietary Multi-Purpose Self-Elevating Platform (MPSEP) design, Seafox 5 is a new-generation offshore wind turbine installation vessel that can withstand harsh offshore environmental conditions all year round in the deeper waters of the North Sea.

It has been chartered to the joint-venture company of Aarsleff Bilfinger Berger (ABJV) Dan Tysk to install offshore wind foundations in the 288 megawatt (MW) Dan Tysk wind farm in the German Sector of the North Sea.

Mr Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director, Keppel FELS said: “This achievement demonstrates our ability to leverage our R&D and execution capabilities to participate and add value effectively in a segment of the market which is relatively new to Keppel. Together with our other investments, we believe we are well-poised to take on a larger slice of the global offshore wind market.

“We will continue to use our market knowledge, rig technology and construction expertise to offer prime solutions that enhances the productivity of installing and maintaining offshore wind farms at various phases.”

The global offshore wind market is expected to reach nearly 95 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity by 2025, according to IHS’ Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies: 2012-2025 report. The report forecasts that global offshore wind investment between 2011 and 2025 is set to climb nine-fold from US$6 billion to US$52 billion.

Mr. Keesjan Cordia, CEO of Seafox said: “The fact that Seafox 5 has already received a charter for immediate work speaks of the strength of the MPSEP design, the reputation of Keppel-made products and Seafox’s track record in multi-support service jackups across the world.

“We see that demand for such vessels will continue to rise with the commercialisation of 5MW wind turbines over the next few years. Seafox 5 is a new generation vessel which will be able to out-perform existing marine assets both on cost and efficiency in wind installation. In addition, this state-of-the-art vessel has been specifically designed to meet all the requirements of both the offshore wind and the oil & gas industries in harsh environments.”

Measuring 50m wide and 151m end-to-end, Seafox 5 will be among a handful of purpose-built jackups with a 1200-tonne heavy lift capacity and capable of installing both turbines and large foundations exceeding 800 tonnes in weight.

Together with its environmental capabilities, stability coverage, deck space of 3,600m2 and a variable load of 7,000 MT, it is able to outperform most other jackups and be competitive with the floating heavy lift vessels.

Designed by Keppel’s research and development arm, Offshore Technology Development (OTD), Seafox 5 is a self-propelled installation jackup vessel utilising Keppel FELS’ proven jacking technology. Equipped with Dynamic Positioning 2 (DP-2) capabilities, the vessel is elevated above sea level by four legs which provide 30m of clearance between the legs & crane for easy cargo access.

Seafox 5 has a large carrying capacity of up to 12 3.6MW turbines, three jackets or four tripods at a time, which enhances the efficiency of constructing offshore wind farms.

In addition to being well-suited for servicing offshore wind farms, it also meets the stringent operating regulations of the offshore oil and gas industry and can support a wide range of related activities such as accommodation, hook-up, commissioning, well intervention, maintenance, construction and decommissioning.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND staff, August 19, 2012; Image: Seafox Group