Maersk partners with ECO to build wind farm feeder spread in US

Denmark-based offshore marine services provider Maersk Supply Service on Friday unveiled a partnership with US marine transportation company Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) to collaborate on the construction and operation of a wind farm feeder concept.

The wind farm feeder spread is specifically designed for Maersk Supply Service’s next-generation wind installation vessel. The feeder spread includes two tugs and two barges scheduled for delivery in 2026. They will be owned and operated by ECO and built by US shipyard group Bollinger Shipyards.

The newbuild feeder spread will ferry wind turbine components or foundations to the installation site, while the wind installation vessel (WIV) stays at the location to carry out successive installations.

“Maersk Supply Service’s new installation concept can make offshore wind farm installations significantly faster with estimated efficiency gains of 30%. The partnership with ECO makes this new technology available for the US offshore wind market enabling faster offshore wind installations in the US,” stated Maersk Supply Service CEO Christian M. Ingerslev.

Maersk Supply Service announced plans to build its new wind installation vessel for the US market in 2022, along with a contract for the installation of the Empire 1 and 2 wind farms.

The Empire Wind project was a joint venture between Equinor and BP but the two agreed on a swap deal in January, with Equinor taking full ownership of Empire Wind. The 810-MW Empire Wind 1 was selected as one of the provisional winners in New York State’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. The Norwegian company has said Empire Wind 2 will be matured for future solicitation rounds after the project terminated its offtake agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

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