SOVs can deliver twice as much

Excellent performance by ESVAGT’s unique Service Operation Vessel (SOV) concept has freed up capacity – and we need to make the most of it.

ESVAGT’s purpose-built SOVs for servicing offshore wind farms have proven to be more efficient than anticipated when work in the farms began in 2015.

The starting point was that a SOV needed to be able to service a wind farm with 80 turbines. That number of turbines has, however, not come close to fully using the capacity of the SOVs,” says Ole Ditlev Nielsen, Business Development Manager for ESVAGT:

“After two and a half years with SOVs, we can conclude that the vessels can do much more. We need to take advantage of that potential so that we can help to drive down the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) from offshore wind,” says Ole Ditlev Nielsen.

According to Ole Ditlev Nielsen, a SOV with a capacity of 40 technicians can service an offshore wind farm with 150-200 turbines – more than double the size of current parks.

Well documented performance

ESVAGT will go into more detail about these sensational results at ACI’s Operating Specialists Wind Vessels conference in Hamburg 27-28 September 2017, where Ole Ditlev Nielsen, as one of the speakers, will present the new opportunities that the increased SOV capacity will open up for.

ESVAGT will now be able to draw on solid operational experience and several different designs both in existing farms and in future tenders, which together with a simulation tool, will help to find optimal logistical solutions for its customers. This will enable ESVAGT to tender for servicing tasks with a far more documented and substantiated basis. As Rune Østergaard, Head of Commercial Wind for ESVAGT, evaluates:

“Our SOVs, equipped with a Walk-to-work gangway and one or more Safe Transfer Boats (STB), have given us the best concept on the market. They bring efficiency and flexibility to operations; offer a wide operational radius in the wind farm and reduce costs as a CTV can be replaced by a STB. At the same time, we are the only ones that can deliver SOV trained and SOV experienced personnel to do the job. These are competitive advantages recognised both by us and by our customers,” says Rune Østergaard.