Van Oord has reached agreement on the acquisition of 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 parks and harbour construction. The agreement covers the acquisition of assets and employees related to the offshore wind activities.
This acquisition will give a strategic boost to Van Oord’s Offshore Wind Projects business unit. The acquisition will be finalised after it has been approved by 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 tonnes, will be replaced by a crane with a lifting capacity of 1,600 tonnes. At the same time the transport capacity will be extended. This will enable Van Oord to continue to install the increasingly larger foundations and heavier turbines at wind farms. The crane has been ordered from Huisman, a heavy installation equipment specialist based in Schiedam/Rotterdam. The modification of the Aeolus will be completed in early 2018.
Van Oord’s wind division was strengthened in recent years through the acquisition of Ballast Nedam Offshore’s operations. The fleet was also recently expanded with the arrival of heavy lift installation vessel Svanen, installation vessel Aeolus, and cable-laying vessel Nexus. Currently, Van Oord is completing the construction of the Dutch Gemini offshore wind farm. Recently, the installation of the British Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm foundations for Dong Energy was completed. 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 again contracted by Dong Energy on the installation of the foundations for the Walney wind farm project in the United Kingdom.