Poland – Van Oord has secured a contract to construct the massive Baltica 2 offshore wind farm in the Polish Baltic Sea.

Developed by Ørsted and PGE, Baltica 2 will boast a 1.5 GW capacity, making it the largest renewable energy project in Polish history. Its 111 extended monopiles – 107 for turbines and 4 for substations – will be transported and installed by Van Oord, generating enough green energy to power approximately 2.4 million households.

Van Oord will deploy two key vessels for this task, the offshore installation vessel Aeolus and the heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen. Notably, Svanen is undergoing a major upgrade this year. The extension of its gantry crane will transform it into one of the world’s largest floating heavy-lift vessels, capable of handling the next-generation 14 MW wind turbines used in Baltica 2.

Extended monopiles

The project utilizes “extended monopiles,” a novel design combining the monopile and transition piece into one element. This streamlined approach reduces offshore lifting operations, leading to faster and safer installation. For precise and efficient rock placement at each foundation site, Van Oord will employ their flexible fallpipe vessel Nordnes.