Yunlin offshore wind farm has been a challenging project and has met a series of issues since it first began offshore installation in 2020. On the vessel side of this project, issues with using heavy lift vessel have been apparent as this type of vessel has not been optimal for the task of foundation installation. Besides installation difficulties, cost has been an issue as the project is far over its original budget. However, recent news suggests that the project is getting additional capital to finish the project.

Shimizu’s jack up vessel “Blue Wind” will be a nice change for the project as it will hopefully fast track the monopile installation. It should be mentioned that the heavy lift vessels that have worked on the Yunlin project installing monopiles are not equipped with motion compensation grippers which make the work much more difficult. Blue Wind, which is a jack up vessel, will be fixed to the ground with its legs, making the job much easier. No doubt that Blue Wind will breeze through monopile installation, as long as there are no other problems in the supply chain.

Image source: Fred Olsen Windcarrier