Ulstein develops scaled up offshore wind foundation installer

Written by Nick Blenkey
Ulstein HX122

Ulstein HX122 is designed to handle installation of ever larger offshore wind farm foundations

With analysts and brokers predicting a significant shortage of offshore wind foundation installation vessels —and with the projected sizes of those foundations growing — Ulstein has expanded its portfolio with the Ulstein HX122 design. The design features an Ulstein X-Bow and an 8,000-tonne ultra-high-capacity crane.

New offshore wind foundation installation tonnage is quickly needed, with Ulstein citing Clarksons Platou Securities as saying that this part of the market is “the most under-ordered segment in offshore wind.”

“We identified and addressed that issue already some years ago,” says Nick Wessels, marketing & sales manager at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV. “Based on extensive market studies we developed what we believe is the most efficient solution for the industry; the Ulstein HX118 design.”

Wessels adds that the quick developments in the offshore wind industry create uncertainty and that, for some future projects, Ulstein now sees a preference to install even larger foundations of up to 5,000 tons. That creates a need for an even higher capacity vessel than the HX118, which was announced in February of this year and which has a 5,000 tonne crane. Enter the HX122.

“Significant R&D effort has been put into the development of our heavy lift vessel portfolio, working closely with industry partners on mission equipment integration, operability performance and lowering CO2 emissions, creating safer and more efficient installation vessels using proven technologies,” says Ko Stroo, product manager at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV. “The Ulstein HX122 is our latest and largest heavy lift vessel design, allowing contractors to keep pace with the rapid growth of wind turbine foundations.”

Main dimensions of the ULSTEIN HX122 are:

LOA 230.0 meters
Beam 61.6 meters
Crane capacity 8,000 tonnes
Deck area , ,10,000 square meters
Deck strength 15 – 30 tonnes/square meter
Draft 7.5 – 11.0 meters
Complement 180 persons

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