Jack-Up Barge, the offshore self-elevating platform supplier, has pioneered a new cost-effective installation method for offshore wind turbine construction. The Netherlands-based based company successfully completed sea trials of a new, first-of-its-kind, portable DP2 system in the Dutch North Sea at the beginning of March.
The new system, integrated to one of Jack-Up Barge’s platforms, enables the vessel to operate between work sites offshore without recourse to a tug vessel. The system can be mobilised to either JB 117 or JB 118, and with minimal adaptation, to JB 114 or JB 115. This flexibility ensures wide system availability. The equipped platform will utilise the system exclusively for installation activities, and will receive equipment supply from a purpose-built feeder barge vessel currently in development. The system is currently integrated on board JB 118. Installation took place at the Keppel Verolme shipyard in the Port of Rotterdam. Each of the four retractable thrusters was lifted on board with the platform’s own 1,000t Favelle Favco crane and installed close to the respective legs of the platform. Each thruster is served by an independent generator set located in a container on board. An additional control room, located on the main deck, houses the DP system and a Cyscan system.
