China’s SinoOcean Offshore Assets Management has taken delivery of two jack-up rigs that are set for new lives working in the country's offshore wind market.
One of the units, which is of JU2000E design, has already been converted into an offshore wind installation vessel, while the second, of GustoMSC CJ46-X100-D design, in undergoing a similar conversion.
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The GustoMSC unit SinoOcean Jade, built by Wuchuan Shipbuilding Industry, was ordered in 2014 from British Virgin Islands-registered single-purpose vessel company Cyclotech Offshore, which is understood to be controlled by Blue Ocean.
The rig, completed in 2017 at a cost of $205 million, is capable of operating in water depths of about 375 feet, with a drilling depth capacity of 30,000 feet and accommodation for 140 people.
The drilling equipment package was supplied by Cameron.
The unit was converted into an offshore wind installation vessel at Weihai Jinlin Shipyard in Shandong province before being handed over to PowerChina Guizhou Engineering, a power facility engineering, procurement and construction contractor owned by power utility China Huadian.
It will be used to install a wind farm off Yangjiang city in Guangdong province.
Contracting sources said the jack-up conversion work involves dismantling the drilling tower and beam cantilever as well as re-modifying the deck and installing a giant lifting crane.
The conversion is scheduled for completion on 20 June.
In September last year, PowerChina Guizhou Engineering won an award from China Huadian to install part of the facilities needed for the wind farm off Yangjiang.
The installation workscope covers foundations for 33 offshore wind turbines, power cables and other offsite facilities.
(Video: WUCHUAN)
The Yangjiang project — considered China’s deepest offshore wind farm, in water depths between 41 metres and 46 metres — lies 55 kilometres from shore.
It includes 37 6.8 megawatt turbines and 30 8.3MW units, and will cost 10.2 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) to build.
The JU2000E jack-up already remodified was built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. The rig was ordered by China State Shipbuilding Company Leasing in 2014 and completed in 2018 under the internal hull number 1348.
The 400-feet, ABS-classed rig, named as SinoOcean Faith, is also being chartered by PowerChina Guizhou Engineering.
SinoOcean and PowerChina Guizhou Engineering signed two bareboat agreements to separately charter the SinoOcean Faith and SinoOcean Jade early this year.
The government has ruled that offshore wind projects endorsed before the end of 2018 must be completed and in operation before the end of this year.
If not, project developers will be deprived of a subsidy of 0.85 yuan ($0.13) for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated.
Under the current policy, approved offshore wind projects that are commissioned before the end of 2021 will still be granted subsidies.
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