Norwegian offshore wind vessel operator Edda Wind last Saturday launched Commissioning Service Operation vessel (CSOV) C490 at Astilleros Gondan Shipyard in Spain. The vessel will serve the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK.
The newbuild is a purpose-built CSOV of a similar design as all five vessels being built at Gondan plus additional two vessels ordered at Colombo Dockyards, Sri Lanka.
Together with the two SOVs being built at Astilleros Balenciaga, these nine vessels form the expansion program of Edda Wind with all vessels being delivered from now until 2024.
All nine vessels will be prepared for emission-free operations with a hydrogen-based propulsion system based on the Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) concept.
The vessel will serve as a mother vessel for wind turbine technicians as they perform commissioning and maintenance work on offshore wind turbines. The CSOVs are 88.3 in length and can accommodate 120 persons while the SOVs can accommodate 60 persons.
C490 will start operations for SSE Renewables at the Dogger Bank wind farm after delivery in 2023. The contract with SSE is for two years firm plus one optional year.
Edda Wind CEO Kenneth Walland said: "The first four of the new building series plus two existing vessels in the Edda Wind fleet are committed on medium- to long-term contracts. The five vessels scheduled for delivery from late 2023 and 2024 are so far not committed. They will be delivered into a market that will have a considerable surplus of demand for these types of vessels for the foreseeable future, further increasing the attractiveness of these assets.
"We consider having vessels already on order and under construction as a great advantage for Edda Wind. We are currently observing significant increases in building and equipment costs, which make the options Edda Wind hold for further newbuilds increase in attractiveness almost by the day."