DEME’S Orion finishes foundation installation job at Moray West

Belgian marine contractor DEME said today its flagship offshore installation vessel Orion has completed monopile installation works at the Moray West offshore wind farm project in Scotland, having installed 29 monopiles in about two months despite challenging winter conditions.

The 882-MW offshore wind farm, located in Scotland's Moray Firth, is being developed by Ocean Winds, a partnership between EDP Renovaveis SA (ELI:EDPR) and Engie SA (EPA:ENGI). It will have 60 wind turbines of 14.7 MW each.

Orion transported the 29 monopiles, weighing up to 2000 tonnes each, from the port of Invergordon and installed them in full DP mode, without the use of anchors, employing an innovative pile gripper and a combination of Vibro Hammer and a hydraulic Impact Hammer.

DEME’s jack-up vessel Apollo is currently installing the transition pieces and is expected to complete this task in the coming months.

Orion, meanwhile, has started travelling back to the US for its next project in Virginia.

"The ‘Orion’ is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Norfolk, Virginia in late April where she will prepare for the installation of 176 foundations on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project for our client Dominion Energy," said Jan Klaassen, Business Unit Director Americas at DEME Offshore.

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