The world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV), Heerema Marine Contractors’ Sleipnir , is scheduled to place the offshore substation (OSS) topside on top of the jacket foundation that the vessel recently installed at the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm site in the UK.
In August, Sleipnir completed the installation of the jacket foundation for the offshore substation and was expected to return to the UK project site in November to install the topside. However, according to the latest Notice to Mariners from Scottish Renewables’ project, the vessel is expected to be on site around 17 October to perform the topside installation work.
According to the vessel’s AIS data available online, Sleipnir left the port of Stavanger in Norway on 30 September and arrived in the port of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on 2 October.
Offshore construction of the 1.4 GW East Anglia Three, located 69 kilometres off the coast of Suffolk, started in April this year, when the first of the project’s 95 monopile foundations was installed.
The offshore wind farm will comprise 95 Siemens Gamesa 14+ MW wind turbines and is scheduled to enter initial operation in the fourth quarter of 2026.
East Anglia Three is owned by ScottishPower Renewables, the UK company of the Spanish renewable energy developer Iberdrola, and UAE-based Masdar, which became a co-owner of the 1.4 GW UK offshore wind farm after signing an agreement with Iberdrola to co-invest in the project in July.