According to Johan van Wijland, the offshore wind industry has certainly faced tough times, but there are many reasons to be positive about the future. We pressed the Director of Van Oord Offshore Wind Projects b.v. for more details and asked him about the scope of his company’s involvement in the sector.
PES: Welcome back to the magazine. How has business been since we last spoke?
Johan van Wijland: In the beginning of this year we finished the Teesside project and at the moment we are working on the inner array cables for the DanTysk Offshore Wind Farm. Looking to those projects I see that we are performing well, but at the same time I am convinced that the efficiency of the work could be improved substantially. Partly this has to do with the interface management by the client.
Having a number of contractors at one work is not easy to manage. If one contractor is delayed, this has an impact on the programme of the other. This increases costs. Another issue is the unpredictable behaviour of Marine Warranty Surveyors. What is allowed on one project with regard to the use of equipment and weather conditions is turned down by the other. And both are using exactly the same norms and standards. I see it as a sign that the offshore wind industry is still not mature.
PES: What’s your on-the-ground assessment of the state of the market at the moment?
JVW: We foresee that the competition in the coming two to three years will increase. Projects have been delayed, especially in Germany, and new capacity in terms of installation vessels are entering the market. At the same time, we see clear signals that from 2016 onwards the market will increase strongly: in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and in Germany.
That is the reason that we are investing in new installation vessels: our installation vessel Aeolus will be ready in the beginning of 2014. Recently we have ordered a new cable laying vessel that is capable of laying long export cables as well as inner array cables.
PES: We see that you’ve just announced a contract win for the Gemini offshore wind park. What will this involve?
JVW: Actually we have not announced a contract win. We have been working together with Typhoon Offshore for a number of years to get the Gemini wind farms on track. Recently it has been announced that the equity for the Gemini wind farms has been put together. Also Van Oord is taking a share of 10% in the project.
Apart from that, Van Oord is responsible for the complete Balance of Plant of the wind farms: the Design, Engineering, Procurement and Installation of the foundations, the inner array cables, the two Offshore High Voltage Substations, the export cables and one onshore high voltage station. We will also provide our vessel for the turbine installation.
