VESSEL REVIEW | Baihetan – China’s newest turbine installation jackup boasts 2,000-tonne lifting capacity

Chinese conglomerate the Three Gorges Group has taken delivery of a jackup wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) from Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.

Classed by China Classification Society, Baihetan has a length of 126 metres, a beam of 50 metres, a depth of 10 metres, a full load displacement of 37,000 tonnes, and a total deck area of 4,200 square metres allowing for the transport of up to 6,500 tonnes of offshore wind turbines and associated components. The WTIV can operate in a water depth of 70 metres and can lift up to 2,000 tonnes, which makes it the first Chinese-built offshore wind installation vessel to possess this maximum lifting capacity.

The vessel is designed to perform both transport and installation duties, hence the dimensions allowing for its enhanced capacities. Also fitted are a dynamic positioning system and electrically-driven azimuthing thrusters to reduce emissions.

For operation in deep waters, the vessel relies on a set of four triangular truss legs that each measure 120 metres long. The legs are designed to penetrate through silt on the seabed right through to a hard top layer to push the platform high enough above the surface.

Baihetan will be used primarily for the installation of 8MW and 15MW offshore wind turbines. Its initial area of operations will be in the waters off Fujian and Guangdong provinces in south-eastern China.