Roll Group transports offshore wind farm components

Construction has begun on a new windfarm that is located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The wind farm is a cooperation between Dominion and Ørsted Wind Power North America, with Jan De Nul Group as subcontractor.

 Roll Group is playing a part in the completion of the project, that wll generate a combined 12 MW of power when it is operational. On March 31, teh first foundation components of two windmills were loaded onto the BigRoll Beaufort at the EEW facility in Rostock, Germany. For safety purposes, the in-house engineers of Roll Group designed dedicated grillage for Jan De Nul. This grillage was installed onboard the BigRoll Beaufort in Gdynia, Poland, before loading.

After loading in Rostock, the BigRoll Beaufort made a port call in Esbjerg, Denmark, to load the towers and blades. In mid-April the ship set sail to Halifax, Canada. The foundation components will be discharged by Jan De Nul’s installation vessel Vole au Vent, which will sail to the wind farm to install the foundation components. In the meantime, Jan De Nul will assemble and commission the tower sections onboard the BigRoll Beaufort and prepare it for installation by the Vole au Vent.

“This project is important to us,” said Bastian Bojko, Operations Director Roll Group. “Because it gives us the opportunity to show that Roll Group has vessels that are highly suitable for the offshore wind industry. Being part of this pioneering and complex project where our vessel is an integral part of the shipping and assembly scope shows the true added value we can deliver from a technical and operational perspective.’’

Philippe Hutse, Offshore Director of Jan De Nul Group. said, ”This contract is an important milestone for the international maritime industry. It opens the door for non-US marine companies to work in the United States. Moreover, this wind farm is the first American wind farm located in Federal Waters. We are proud to be the first European marine contractor to pave the way.”