Last Friday, Navantia Seanergies delivered its first project for an offshore wind farm in the United States. This consists of two modules for substation connection built in Puerto Real (Cádiz) for a wind farm on the East Coast of the United States, a country that offers great opportunities for the offshore wind industry. The modules left the Puerto Real shipyard on Sunday the 25th.
Complex structures and corrosion protection
The structures delivered to the client, one of the leaders in offshore wind energy internationally, are complex pieces with high quality and reliability requirements, as they connect the substation’s superstructure module to the monopile foundation. Both structures have been strongly protected against marine corrosion thanks to a sophisticated and delicate coating of their entire surface through the direct projection of molten metal, an alloy of zinc and aluminum known as Thermal Spray Zinc Aluminium (TSZA). This innovative procedure guarantees protection of these structures against corrosion in a marine environment throughout their entire life cycle, and has never before been applied to such an extensive surface as these structures.
Commitment to the potential of offshore wind energy
Detailed engineering, material procurement, and construction have been carried out at the Puerto Real shipyard. “With this delivery, Navantia Seanergies consolidates its position as a supplier beyond the European continent. Navantia is firmly committed to the future potential of all its centers and is making significant investments to strengthen its facilities. We are actively bidding for opportunities in the United States and hope to confirm new orders soon,” said Javier Herrador, Director of Navantia Seanergies.
Aspiring offshore wind energy goals in the U.S.
The development plans for offshore wind farms in the United States are very ambitious. The country set a target in March 2021 to have 30 GW of fixed offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, with the possibility of reaching 110 GW or more by 2050. For floating technology, the target is to achieve 15 GW of capacity by 2035.
Investments and workload in Puerto Real
As part of its commitment to optimize the competitiveness of all its centers, the Navantia shipyard in Puerto Real has made significant investments to enhance offshore wind energy, notably installing a new fully automated flat panel manufacturing line in the Flat Block Workshop that will be the largest in the world.
These pieces represent a workload of over 200,000 hours and about 200 direct jobs for the Puerto Real shipyard.
Complex logistics and ongoing projects
The load-out maneuver of the two modules in Puerto Real began on August 19. The shipyard loaded the pieces, which, due to their size and weight, require complex logistics and work on the transport vessel itself to secure the structures that will travel across the Atlantic Ocean for several weeks.
At the Puerto Real shipyard, two jacket projects for a substation are currently under construction, one for the Norwegian builder Aibel and another for Ocean Winds. This latter developer also signed a capacity reservation agreement with Navantia Seanergies for offshore wind elements. Additionally, several substation projects are in advanced commercial phases, which will generate between 600 and 800 jobs and activity until 2032.
Projects at the Fene shipyard
Meanwhile, the Fene shipyard is immersed in the construction project of 62 large jackets for the French offshore wind farm Le Treport, as well as several monopile projects for fields in the UK, Germany, and Poland.