Offshore installation company Jan De Nul said Thursday that Les Alizés, its next-generation heavy lift vessel, had sailed away from the CMHI Haimen Shipyard in China and is currently heading for Europe.
The vessel was delivered by the shipyard on January 16 and departed Thursday.
Les Alizés is designed for loading, transporting, lifting, and installing offshore wind turbine foundations.
The main features are a main crane of 5,000 tons, a deck loading capacity of 61,000 tons, and a deck space of 9,300 m².
"With these characteristics, the vessel can easily transport the heavier future foundations, several in one trip, to the offshore installation site, with direct benefits in planning, fuel consumption, and emissions reduction. Les Alizés is a crane vessel for floating installation, which means that she is not dependent on the water depths and the seabed conditions," Jan De Nul said.
Les Les Alizés’ First Project
Les Alizés’ will now sail to Europe for its first mission in Germany, where it will transport and install 107 monopile foundations and one offshore substation topside at Ørsted’s Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm
At the time when the first contract was announced back in November 2021, it was said that Ørsted would, for the first time, be using monopiles without the need to install a transition piece for connecting the turbine and foundation. Before installation, scour protection will be installed at all 107 monopile locations.
Once completed, these wind farms will generate enough electricity to power approximately 1.2 million German households every year.
The wind farms are expected to be fully operational in 2024 (Gode Wind 3) and 2025 (Borkum Riffgrund 3).