Keppel FELS on Track to Deliver Offshore Wind Turbine Installer

Keppel to deliver one of the world’s largest multi-purpose offshore wind turbine installers.

Keppel FELS say they are on track to deliver Seafox 5, one of the largest and most advanced multi-purpose offshore wind turbine installers of its kind to the Seafox Group, ahead of time and with an impressive safety record.

Built to Keppel's proprietary Multi-Purpose Self-Elevating Platform (MPSEP) design, Seafox 5 is a new-generation offshore wind turbine installation vessel that can withstand harsh offshore environmental conditions all year round in the deeper waters of the North Sea.

It has been chartered to the joint-venture company of Aarsleff Bilfinger Berger (ABJV) Dan Tysk to install offshore wind foundations in the 288 megawatt (MW) Dan Tysk wind farm in the German Sector of the North Sea.

Measuring 50m wide and 151m end-to-end, Seafox 5 will be among a handful of purpose-built jackups with a 1200-tonne heavy lift capacity and capable of installing both turbines and large foundations exceeding 800 tonnes in weight. 

Together with its environmental capabilities, stability coverage, deck space of 3,600m2 and a variable load of 7,000 MT, it is able to outperform most other jackups and be competitive with the floating heavy lift vessels.

The global offshore wind market is expected to reach nearly 95 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity by 2025, according to IHS' Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies: 2012-2025 report. The report forecasts that global offshore wind investment between 2011 and 2025 is set to climb nine-fold from US$6 billion to US$52 billion.