Norwegian offshore installation specialist Ocean Installer (OI) has been appointed by floating offshore wind company Cerulean Winds to join the alliance of companies developing the Aspen floating offshore wind (FLOW) project in the UK North Sea.
OI will work in conjunction with fellow alliance member Haventus, owners of the Port of Ardersier, on dry storage of the structures, batched installation and quick connect/disconnect systems to optimise processes and create a convention for how future FLOW projects are installed.
"Using OI’s capabilities, we believe we can develop a standardised process to cut installation costs and make FLOW’s levelised cost of energy (LCOE) comparable to fixed offshore wind," said Dan Jackson, Founding Director of Cerulean Winds.
OI will provide engineering expertise and installation services, post-FID, for the mooring system installation, inter array cables system and marshalling of the floating units during the fabrication phase, tow-out and hook up.
The Aspen project will be one of three FLOW projects to be developed by Cerulean Winds in the North Sea off Scotland. The three projects have the potential to deliver over three GW of renewable power.