Offshore wind contractor Van Oord says it has acquired the offshore wind activities of Bilfinger Marine & Offshore Systems GmbH, a German company active in the engineering, construction and installation of foundations for offshore wind farms and harbor construction.
According to Van Oord, the agreement covers the acquisition of assets and employees related to the offshore wind activities – and will give a strategic boost to Van Oord’s offshore wind projects business unit.
The contractor expects acquisition will be finalized after approval from the Bundeskartellamt, the German competition authority.
In addition to this acquisition, Van Oord will be investing in a significant modification of its installation vessel Aeolus. The current crane, which has a lifting capacity of 900 tons, will be replaced by a crane with a lifting capacity of 1,600 tons.
At the same time, the transport capacity will be extended, which will enable Van Oord to continue to install the increasingly larger foundations and heavier turbines at wind farms. Van Oord says the crane has been ordered from heavy installation equipment specialist Huisman and that the modification of the Aeolus will be completed in early 2018.
In 2017, Van Oord will start the installation of the foundations of the Arkona offshore wind farm project for E.ON in Germany and is contracted by DONG Energy on the installation of the foundations for the Walney wind farm project in the U.K.
