Denmark’s offshore wind installation supplier Cadeler has firmed up an order for another newbuild at COSCO Heavy Industries in Qidong, China.
The firm said it placed an order to build its third A-class wind farm installation vessel which is set to be delivered in the first half of 2027, with a price tag of around $400m.
The Oslo and New York-listed Cadeler, with already two P-class, two M-class and two A-class vessels under construction, noted that this will be the eleventh vessel in its fleet.
It also revealed that it achieved a deal ‘at a very competitive price’ for this third A-Class vessel due to the strong collaboration that Cadeler has built with COSCO Heavy Industries, synergies from building several similarly designed jack-ups, and the fact that Cadeler negotiated an LoI for this vessel in 2022.
The third A-class vessel will be built on similar specifications to the first two A-class vessel, with a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of more than 17,000 tons, and a main crane capacity to be disclosed at a later date.
The A-class vessels will be able to transport and install seven complete 15MW turbine sets per load or six sets of 2XL monopile foundations, cutting down the number of transits needed for each project.
Each A-class vessel can also convert from being a foundation installation unit to a wind turbine generator installation vessel within a short period of time.
Mikkel Gleerup, chief executive of Cadeler, said: “The decision to build a third A-class vessel is based on the strong market demand for assets specialising in installing foundations. We have already signed firm contracts and entered a long-term agreement with Orsted for our first A-class vessel from 2027 to 2030 and we are in advanced contract negotiations to secure capacity from our second A-class.”
