SAL Hits Mother Lode with Walney Extension Contract

Hamburg-headquartered SAL Heavy Lift has signed a contract with Van Oord for a long term engagement at the 660MW Walney Extension offshore wind project in the UK.

MV Svenja is chartered for 30 voyages for transportation of 87 monopiles from Rostock, Germany, to Belfast, Northern Ireland, 47 transition pieces from Aalborg, Denmark, and 40 transition pieces from Teesside, UK, to Belfast.

In total, 87 monopiles with diameter up to 8,40m and weight up to 970 tons per monopile, as well as 87 transition pieces will be transported.

The transition pieces are measuring up to 30m with up to 7m diameter and are weighing up to 579 tons.

This is the second major contract, SAL signed for offshore wind support in 2016.

SAL’s vessel MV Trina has just finalized the Veja Mate offshore wind farm project, transporting in total 68 transition pieces in eleven consecutive voyages from Aalborg to Eemshaven, the Netherlands.

The execution of SAL’s support at the Veja Mate project is what ”convinced Van Oord to choose SAL as their preferred carrier for the long term engagement at the Walney Offshore Wind Project.”

The Walney Extension OWF is located approximately 19 kilometres off the west coast of England, next to the 367.2MW Walney 1 & 2 offshore wind farms.

The wind farm will consist of 40 8MW MHI Vestas and 47 7MW Siemens wind turbines.

In November 2015, Van Oord was contracted by DONG Energy, the developer of the wind farm, to transport and install the 87 foundations at the site. The wind farm is expected to be operational in 2019.