In the next few days, HOCHTIEF Solutions will commission a further powerful jack-up vessel for the construction of offshore wind farms. In the company of around 300 guests from the European offshore market the ship named VIDAR will officially be commissioned in Bremerhaven on December 12, the company said in its press release.
The jack-up vessel was developed especially for construction and servicing of offshore wind farms and oil and gas plants at sea. Thanks to its large deck surface, its high deck cargo and the powerful 1,200-ton crane, the ship is ideal for the safe and fast assembly of foundations and components for wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic. VIDAR can install latest-generation wind turbines of all dimensions at water depths up to 50 metres.
HOCHTIEF has chartered the jack-up vessel to a client even before completion, it will be used for blade installation at the North Sea wind farm Global Tech I from December 2013.
Marcelino Fernández Verdes, CEO of HOCHTIEF: "With VIDAR, HOCHTIEF makes an important contribution to the expansion of renewable energies. The powerful vessel speeds up processes during construction of the offshore wind farms and thus reduces costs. With our investments, we have taken responsibility for the conversion of the energy sector and are looking optimistically into the future."
VIDAR - just like its sister vessels THOR and INNOVATION - was built at the Crist shipyard in Poland. There is market demand for this equipment and it is all working to good capacity. INNOVATION and THOR are currently being used for the installation of foundations, towers and turbines at the Global Tech I wind farm.
Martin Rahtge, Senior Vice President HOCHTIEF Solutions AG, Civil Engineering Marine and Offshore: "With VIDAR, we are putting to use our third special equipment item into service in the construction of Global Tech I. With its large deck, big payload and powerful crane, VIDAR provides for high efficiency in the project—even under harsh conditions. We are happy that we can make available VIDAR and our experienced crew to the project."
HOCHTIEF is one of the biggest players in the offshore wind market, and not only through chartering its large-scale equipment. HOCHTIEF Solutions builds and installs offshore components or entire wind farms. In addition to its key contribution to the construction of Germany‘s first offshore wind farm alpha ventus, the company also played a significant part in the erection of Bard Offshore 1 by chartering its special equipment THOR. Among the large-scale projects currently in progress are the wind farms Global Tech I in the North Sea and EnBW Baltic 2 in the Baltic Sea, with a combined rated capacity of approximately 700 megawatts.
Moreover, HOCHTIEF together with an investment partner is developing six North Sea farms at its own initiative. 425 wind turbines with a total capacity of well over three gigawatts are being planned at the moment.
HOCHTIEF is involved not only in electricity generation but also in expanding the landside grid, and in the storage of energy, for example at pumped-storage power plants. The company also has experience and know-how in dismantling nuclear power plants. Using its great technical expertise, HOCHTIEF Solutions is constantly developing new solutions with which the energy turnaround can be implemented faster and better. The development of both energy infrastructure and transportation routes is among HOCHTIEF Solutions‘ most important growth markets.
