First shipment of pin piles for Changhua offshore windfarm loaded out

In total, seven batches of pin piles will be loaded at the South Korean yard on flat top barges towed by ocean-going tugs.

Load-out and transport of the 21 jacket type foundations will start in May 2020.

Jan De Nul Group procured 80 pin piles with a diameter of 3.1 m, a maximum length of 82 m and maximum weight of 310 tonnes at a South Korean fabrication yard managed by the Scottish company Edgen Murray.

Four other pin piles were ordered in Taiwan at the steel fabricator Ming Rong Yuan Business Co Ltd. These four pin piles are the first Taiwanese-made foundation components for offshore windfarms in the country.

On arrival in Taiwan, the pin piles from South Korea will be cleared through customs before being transported to their final destination approximately 8 km off the coast of Fangyuan in Central Western Taiwan, where Jan De Nul Group is responsible for their installation.

The pin piles will be used to anchor the jacket foundations for the turbines. Each jacket will be anchored by means of four pin piles.

Under the terms of the contract awarded to Jan De Nul and Hitachi, Jan De Nul is responsible for the design, fabrication and installation of the foundations, installation of the wind turbines, supply and installation of the offshore and onshore cables and for upgrading the electrical substation.

Hitachi is responsible for manufacturing, assembly and other works related to the downwind wind turbines selected for the offshore windfarm.

The Jan De Nul-Hitachi consortium is also responsible for operations and maintenance on the Changhua offshore windfarm for an initial period of five years.