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Up to $3bn to be spent on new anchor handlers to meet floating wind demand

Billions of dollars are likely to be spent on new anchor handlers to meet floating wind farm installation vessel demand through 2035.

According to research carried out by analytics firm Intelatus Global Partners, an investment of around $3bn will be needed to meet floating installed capacity, which is forecast to reach 63 GW by 2035. This translates to the installation of close to 4,000 floating turbines, over 16,000 anchors and close to 17,000 mooring lines. 

The largest anchor handlers and light subsea construction vessels will be deployed for floating wind projects to pre-install mooring systems designed to maintain the position of the floating wind turbines, tow the structures from the port, and connect the floating turbines to pre-existing moorings.

Intelatus identified the optimal size of AHTS for mooring pre-lay as having a bollard pull of at least 250 tonnes and a clear back deck of over 800 sq m.

The segment has seen only five vessels delivered in the last five years, according to Intelatus, and with oil and gas activity picking up, availability for wind floater projects will be a challenge, further accentuated by an aging fleet, much of which becomes technically uncompetitive by 2030. 

“Our forecast identifies a large anchor handler shortage of around 30 vessels after 2030. Newbuilding prices for large anchor handlers were around $80-85m in 2015/16, when large anchor handlers were last contracted. Since then, there has been limited activity to guide price estimates. However, a capital cost estimate of at least $100m per vessel seems reasonable, meaning that potentially $3bn will be invested in new built optimal anchor handlers to meet floating wind demand,” said Philip Lewis director of research at Intelatus Global Partners.

Global floating wind commissioned capacity at the end of 2022 was less than 200 MW. By 2030, close to 11 GW of commercial-scale wind farms are planned to be commissioned in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. According to Intelatus, a period of high commissioning activity is expected by 2035 with the US joining these established markets.

Adis Ajdin

Adis is an experienced news reporter with a background in finance, media and education. He has written across the spectrum of offshore energy and ocean industries for many years and is a member of International Federation of Journalists. Previously he had written for Navingo media group titles including Offshore Energy, Subsea World News and Marine Energy.
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