Damen Shipyards Group will showcase its offshore wind power designs at next week's annual U.S. Offshore Wind 2019 Conference and Exhibition in Boston. Damen said its attendance reflects the company’s belief in the enormous potential of offshore wind in North America.
Damen has been an active player in the European offshore wind industry since its beginnings around a decade ago. Since then the company has built up a diverse portfolio of successful designs that can be deployed throughout the lifecycle of an offshore wind farm, the company said.
Relevant Damen vessels for the North American market include 27-meter and 34-meter versions of the fast crew supplier (FCS) and the accommodation support vessel (ASV) 9020. The FCS 2710 and FCS 3410 can respectively carry 24 up to 80 technical personnel to their offshore work place in safety and comfort.
The first ASV 9020 proved to be an effective and highly productive “walk-to-work” vessel so swiftly that the launching customer ordered a second ship within a year of operations, Damen said.
“Importantly, these designs are proven solutions,” said Damen director business development and market intelligence David Stibbe. “These include vessels specifically designed for construction, installation, and cable-lay operations, in addition to crew transfer and operations and maintenance.”
The Jones Act is another U.S.-specific issue that Damen has several years’ experience with. To this end, the company has embraced the Jones Act by forming cooperative relationships with local U.S. yards that have the capacity to build Damen designs. This process of building Damen vessels in local yards is called Damen Technical Cooperation (DTC).
The combination of Damen’s proven vessel designs and local construction methods will give the emerging North American offshore wind industry the means to benefit from the learning curve that the European offshore wind industry has experienced. “North American players will have the advantage of multiple lessons learned,” said Stibbe. “To this end, we are looking forward to working closely with the North American offshore wind industry.”
The U.S. Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition is the largest offshore wind event in North America. This year’s edition, which will be held in Boston Monday and Tuesday, is due to be the largest yet, with around 60 different exhibitors and more than 100 speakers.
