Esvagt has taken delivery of Esvagt Njord, a service operation vessel (SOV) purpose-built to service the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm, from Havyard Ship Technology in Norway.
The Dudgeon offshore wind farm will comprise 67 Siemens 6MW turbines installed some 32 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk, and is expected to be commissioned by early 2017.
Esvagt Njord is expected to start servicing the wind farm in September 2016 from its base port in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK.
The vessel can accommodate up to 40 wind turbine technicians. The technicians, who will service and carry out maintenance on the wind turbines, will live on the ship, from where they will service the turbines and, among other things, be transferred to the turbines via a special gangway system.
In December 2014, Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited awarded Esvagt with a 5-year contract for the SOV. The contract includes options for extension, up to a total of 5 additional years.
Statoil is in charge of the Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the development, commissioning and O&M phases. Co-owners in the project are Statkraft and Masdar. The total investment in the offshore wind farm, which was officially approved in 2014, is estimated at GBP 1.5 billion.