Ørsted and Cadeler have signed a firm long-term lease agreement for an A-class newbuild wind farm installation vessel. With the agreement, Ørsted secures installation vessel capacity from the first quarter of 2027 to the end of 2030 for upcoming construction projects .
The signing of the long-term agreement discloses Ørsted as the client in Cadeler’s announcement made on 12 October 2022.
Under the long-term agreement, Ørsted will have access to one of Cadeler’s newbuild A-Class vessels that are named Wind Ally and Wind Ace .
The first ship is scheduled to arrive by the third quarter of 2025 while the second is expected to be delivered by the third quarter of 2026.
These A-Class vessels are designed to transport up to six XXL monopile foundations per round trip. Additionally, the vessels can be converted from foundation installation vessels to wind turbine installation ships.
Similar to the P-Class newbuilds , the A-Class vessels can transport and install seven complete 15 MW turbine sets per round or five 20+ units. This should reduce the number of trips required for each project, ultimately accelerating the installation speed.
Ørsted and Cadeler’s collaboration builds upon existing synergies and work from the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm , which serves as Cadeler’s inaugural foundation installation project, the company said.