Singapore-based Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) has taken delivery of Pacific Orca, the world’s largest windfarm installation vessel (WIV), built by South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).
Pacific Orca has a length of 161m, breadth of 49m and depth of 10.4m, and is the world’s largest vessel for installing Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs), capable of transporting and installing 12 units of 3.6MW design.
The vessel will provide services for the Danish utility company Dong Energy.
Pacific Orca will also allow installation of wind farms to a depth of 60m, as well as enable installation of ultra-large WTGs with a capacity of 10MW or higher, which are being developed to meet the demand for larger wind farms.
The vessel can be floated up to 17m above sea level using its six jack-up legs and the 1,200t crane fixed on the vessel allows the installation of power generation towers, power generation rooms and wings.
The vessel provides DP2 station keeping, transit at a speed of more than 13 knots and has a single cabin that is capable of accommodating 111 people.
Pacific Orca offers flexibility in carrying and installing offshore wind foundation and turbines of different types and sizes with a usable deck area of more than 4,000m² and a total jackable weight of not less than 8,400mt, according to SPO.
The vessel also allows the installation of wind farms under extreme conditions like 20m/s wind speeds and 2.5m waves.
The demand for offshore windfarm installation vessels is expected to grow with the expansion of the marine wind power market, which has been predicted to increase from 3.55GW installed capacity in 2012 to 239GW in 2030.
SPO has another windfarm installation vessel on order with SHI, which is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2012 and is expected to be deployed to the Dan Tysk project.
SHI had won the order to build Pacific Orca in July 2010, a contract that had an option for a second vessel to be delivered in 2013.
Image: Pacific Orca, which is capable of transporting and installing 12 units of 3.6MW, will be deployed to provide service for Dong Energy. Photo: Samsung Heavy Industries
