February 1 - Sea Installer, 2SEA's second-generation offshore wind turbine installation vessel, has successfully installed two Siemens 6MW test turbines at the Gunfleet Sands 3 offshore wind farm in the UK.
The project was the first for the brand new Sea Installer vessel; it is also the first time ever that Siemens 6MW turbines have been installed offshore.
Gunfleet Sands 3 offshore wind farm, under construction by DONG Energy, is located 7 km off the south east coast of England.
Jens Frederik Hansen, CEO at A2SEA, commented: "The installation of the two 6MW turbines is a step into the future of offshore wind. The turbines are getting bigger, and the future sites are further out to sea. This calls for more flexible vessels such as our new Sea Installer."
Hansen added that the new Sea Installer vessel demonstrated some advantages over its older counterpart - the vessel was positioned to an accuracy of 3 cm and "after a penetration of the legs with large spud cans many metres into the seabed they were efficiently and quickly retracted from the seabed with the purpose built water injection system."
The Sea Installer's next assignment will be installing turbines at Anholt offshore wind farm, the Netherlands, before setting sail to the Irish Sea to install foundations and transition pieces at the West of Duddon Sands wind farm.
