China's star is rising in the field of new energies, including offshore windparks. The first offshore windpark in China was built in 2009 and since then, the Chinese have been thinking big when it comes to expansion of wind energy in the country. By 2019, China ranked third in offshore wind energy with 5 GW output. According to figures from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), that figure had now increased to 6.8 GW.
So wind energy represents a gigantic future market in which it is worthwhile for Rolls-Royce to gain a foothold. That is because, as the number of windparks increases, so does the demand for wind park service vessels, which are absolutely essential for operation and maintenance of the huge turbine towers out at sea. These are vessels that require powerful and reliable propulsion systems to fulfil their mission.
Furthermore, since the new offshore wind parks are being built at ever greater distances from the coast, an even higher performance is needed from the vessels that serve them. And since they have a service life of some 20 to 25 years, they also need regular maintenance throughout that time to keep operation up and running. This is where the wind park service vessels come in, which bring the service engineers out to the parks, where they climb up to the turbine on a ladder. While the engineers make the transfer from ship to ladder, the vessel must stay in contact with the base of the turbine tower the whole time, however rough the sea conditions. That demands a very powerful drive. Furthermore, the bringing of personnel, spare parts, consumables and auxiliary supplies to the wind parks requires vessels that can be relied upon, however challenging the sea and weather conditions.
