Canada's Teekay Corporation has entered a joint venture with Danish company A2SEA to develop a new type of vessel for the installation of wind turbine foundations.
The aim of the co-operation is to design, deliver and operate floating transportation and installation vessels that can work in the deeper more challenging sites that the industry faces, and can cope with new-concept turbine foundations such as tripods and jackets.
The venture is based on A2SEA's background in offshore installation and Teekay's experience of operating large vessels controlled by dynamic positioning (DP). Both companies are planning to jointly develop the floating design through a technical study and subsequently deliver a vessel to the market by 2014.
"We believe that we have found the concept that will drive down the cost of foundation installation and will also reduce the installation time," says Kaj Lindvig, chief sales officer for A2SEA. "By having a floating installation vessel, we are able to carry pre-assembled foundations straight out to site, we are very excited by this venture and the prospect of developing a pioneering foundation installation technique."
Teekay will own and operate the vessel while A2SEA will provide project management and operational expertise.