Empire Wind Awards Substations Contract to Newly Branded Seatrium
Seatrium the newly branded operations of the combined Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine reported its first major contract wind as the new company looks to build on its experience in offshore and the emerging wind energy sector. They are reporting a new contract from Empire Offshore Wind, the joint venture between Equinor and BP that is to be developed as one of New York state’s first offshore wind farms.
The new contract, valued at more than S$500 million (US$377 million) is for the engineering, procurement, construction, offshore hook-up, and commissioning of two offshore substation platforms. The two substations will be used at Empire Wind 1, an 810 MW wind farm, and the second phase of the wind farm, Empire Wind 2 which would be an additional 1,260 MW. Both of the projects are in the later stages of permitting with New York State having completed contracts for both locations. The federal government, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) timetable report that consent applications and the project plans have been submitted. They expect the process will be completed in early 2024 with Empire Wind reporting the first power is expected in 2026 and the following year from Empire Wind 2.
Sembcorp Marine Offshore Platforms, a subsidiary of the new Seatrium in 2022 had received the FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) contract for the wind farms. The company reports that construction work on the 810MW Empire Wind 1 Platform and the 1,260MW Empire Wind 2 Platform are expected to commence in 4Q2023 and 2H2024 respectively at Seatrium’s Singapore and Indonesia yards.
Seatrium won the contract for the two substations for Empire Wind I and II (Seatrium)
“We are heartened to be chosen by Empire Wind as a trusted partner for the engineering, procurement, construction, offshore hook-up, and commissioning of the Empire Wind 1 and 2 Wind Farm OSS Platforms,” said Chris Ong, Chief Executive Officer of Seatrium. “The contract win is an endorsement of Seatrium’s proven expertise in delivering a diverse suite of turnkey solutions for the offshore renewables and wind energy sector.”
The company highlights its heritage in the offshore wind sector which includes the WTIV Blue Tern (previously Seafox 5) built in 2012, an offshore substation platform in 2016 for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the UK North Sea, two offshore wind farm substations in 2021 for the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a Offshore Wind Farms in Taiwan, as well as 15 wind turbine jacket foundations for the Formosa 2 Offshore Wind Farm for the Taiwan market. They also completed the offshore substation platform and reactive compensation station platform for the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm in the UK North Sea in 2022.
The group is currently working on three 2GW HVDC (high voltage direct current) offshore converter platform projects for offshore wind farm projects in the Netherlands in a contract secured at the end of March 2023. Other key wind energy projects in progress include a 1.4GW HVDC offshore converter platform for the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm for UK North Sea operation, an HVDC offshore converter platform, and an onshore converter station for the DolWin 5 Offshore Wind Farm in the German North Sea. They also have contracts for two 440MW wind farm substation projects for the U.S. market and a 600MW offshore wind farm offshore substation platform for the Taiwan market.
Seatrium’s highest-profile project in the wind sector is the wind turbine installation vessel being built for Maersk Supply Service. Ordered in the spring of 2022, Maersk previously said the vessel is expected to reach the United States in 2025 with its first contract set for the installation of Empire Wind. It is part of a larger overall contract that also calls for Kirby Offshore Wind to build two U.S.-registered feeder barges and diesel-electric hybrid tugboats to transfer materials from the staging point in Brooklyn to the installation vessel at the site 15 to 30 miles southeast of Long Island, New York.
Seatrium, which operates shipyards and other facilities in Singapore, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, highlighted the awarding of the Empire Wind contract as a key development for the newly branded company. They look to leverage the combined expertise of the two companies to further expand their work in the wind energy sector.