Huisman’s Cranes for Cadeler’s New Wind Turbine Installation Vessels

December 1, 2021 Editor

Dutch offshore crane maker Huisman has secured a contract from China’s COSCO Shipping (Qidong) Offshore Co., Ltd. to design and build two >2,000mt Leg Encircling Cranes (LEC) for Cadeler’s recently ordered two new build X-class vessels.

The identical Leg Encircling Cranes will have a 155-meter long boom, capable of reaching 180.5m above deck. Optionally, the boom can be upgraded to 175m in order to increase the lifting height to 200.5m.

With these cranes, Denmark-based offshore wind installation firm Cadeler will be capable of installing offshore foundations and next-generation wind turbines for its future offshore wind projects worldwide.

The scope of work for Huisman consists of the design, engineering, and construction of the two LECs at its production facility in Zhangzhou, China. The cranes will be commissioned at COSCO’s shipyard in Qidong, China, where the X-class vessels will be built.Credit: Huisman

Below are the specs of the Huisman Leg Encircling Crane, as shared by Huisman.

A fully electrically driven system, resulting in high positioning accuracy, reduced maintenance and high reliability.
The optimized energy grid reduces the energy consumption of the crane significantly.
In-house developed slew bearing system, providing highly reliable and accurate positioning of the crane.
The boom’s unique design makes it stiff and lighter in weight.
Stiff construction of the boom leads to reduced motion at the crane tip.
Small tail swing allowing for optimized utilization of free deck space.

The vessels

Cadeler ordered the two X-class wind turbine installation vessels in June 2021, for a total price of $651 million.

The new X-class wind turbine installation vessels will, per load, be able to transport and install seven complete 15MW turbine sets or five sets of 20+ MW turbines, cutting down the number of trips needed for each project.

The first X-class vessel will be delivered by Q3/2024 and has already been contracted by Siemens Gamesa to transport and install one hundred 14MW wind turbines at the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea.

The contract was announced in March 2021 – at the time without disclosing the project name. The second X-class vessel is planned to be fully ready and operational in Q1/2025.

The vessels will have a deck space of 5,600m², and a payload of over 17.600 tons.

To reduce the impact on the environment, Cadeler as part of the tender criteria requested minimized emissions, minimized environmental impact, CO₂ accounting during the building process, minimized use of hazardous substances, a requirement for biodegradable grease and oil in instances with any risk of discharge to the environment, and that the vessels must be recyclable.