Despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a last-minute crane failure prior to the delivery of DEME’s newly built offshore installation vessel Orion, DEME Offshore has achieved the successful installation of the first jacket on the Moray East offshore wind project off the coast of Scotland.
The company made every effort to find a suitable vessel to ensure the project’s baseline schedule was adhered to, mobilizing the replacement vessel Scylla for the jacket installation.
With a contract placed in December 2018 for the design, fabrication and installation of 103 foundation substructures and the installation of three topside structures, management of every activity has been crucial to make sure the timeline for the project is kept on track, notes the company.
“Despite the many challenges brought to us by the coronavirus and the incident with the crane of Orion, our dedicated Moray East project team and all of our partners have done their utmost to make sure this complex project stays on schedule by closely coordinated teamwork,” says Bart De Poorter, general manager of DEME Offshore.
“Such an ambitious project would not be possible without these skilled professionals and the support of our shareholders, lenders, management and the team of the Moray East project. In these unprecedented times, and given this is one of the most complex EPCI projects in offshore wind history, this is a real achievement,” he adds.
Even though the design phase is still underway, DEME Offshore placed early orders for any time-critical components. Fabrication of the 309 pin piles was initiated at two diverse manufacturing locations in order to expedite the initial installation works.
DEME Offshore’s installation vessel Apollo installed all piles using a custom-designed piling template to maximize efficiency and to ensure that the piles were installed within the strict tolerances required. At each of the 103 locations, three piles have been installed, with a length in the range of 30 m to 50 m and individual weight between 95 tons and 173 tons.
More recently, the 103 jacket structures (three for the offshore substations and 100 for the wind turbines) have been fabricated at four major centers, each working in parallel to ensure maximum efficiency.
Photo: DEME installing the first jacket on the Moray East offshore wind project
