First Turbines Up at Hai Long 2A, He Dreiht; First Monopiles Being Installed at Dogger Bank C

Several "firsts" this week in the offshore wind industry as the first wind turbines are now up at Hai Long 2A in Taiwan and He Dreiht in Germany, and the first monopiles are currently being installed at the third phase of the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK. This week, we also reported on Google's first offshore wind PPA in Taiwan and the first barge-type floating wind turbine in Japan going into operation. Find a quick overview of these and more news in our recap 👇

First Turbine Stands at Taiwan’s Hai Long 2A Offshore Wind Farm

The first Siemens Gamesa 14-222 DD turbine has been installed at the Hai Long 2A offshore wind farm in Taiwan, which is being developed by a joint venture between Northland Power, Mitsui & Co., and Gentari.

The 1 GW Hai Long will feature 73 Siemens Gamesa 14-222 DD turbines, making it the largest offshore wind farm in Taiwan to date, said CDWE.

The nacelle was produced at Siemens Gamesa’s expanded Taichung facility, which ramped up operations in January 2024. According to the company, this is the first SG 14-222 nacelle produced in Taiwan and installed at sea.

In addition to a nacelle fully assembled in Taiwan, the wind turbine includes a range of locally sourced products and components, from towers to blade resin.

First Vestas 15 MW Turbine Up at EnBW’s 960 MW Offshore Wind Farm

The first of 64 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines has been installed at EnBW’s He Dreiht project site offshore Germany. Completed on 24 April, the project milestone also marks the first time Vestas’s flagship wind turbine has been installed at an offshore wind farm.

The wind turbine installation is being carried out by Cadeler’s installation vessel Wind Orca, which recently completed the same work in Scotland, on the now-operational Moray West offshore wind farm.

The installation of monopile foundations at the He Dreiht site, located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Borkum and about 110 kilometres west of Helgoland, was completed in August 2024.

According to EnBW, with a total output of 960 MW, He Dreiht is Germany’s largest offshore wind farm currently under construction, and can produce enough electricity to supply the equivalent of 1.1 million households.

Monopile Installation Kicks Off at Third Dogger Bank Wind Farm Phase

After installing all 95 monopiles at Dogger Bank B, the offshore installation vessel Seaway Strashnov has moved on to the third phase of the UK’s Dogger Bank Wind Farm, where it has now begun foundation work at Dogger Bank C.

Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift commenced the installation work at Dogger Bank B in the spring of 2024, after completing the work at Dogger Bank A, where wind turbine installation is currently underway.

Seaway Strashnov completed the installation of the remaining two monopiles, while Seaway Alfa Lift will return to the site to install the final five transition pieces (TPs).

On 22 April, Seaway Strashnov kicked off the same work on the third phase of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, according to the latest notice to mariners. The monopile installation is expected to take place until approximately the fourth quarter of 2025.

Google Inks First Offshore Wind PPA in Taiwan

Google has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for electricity generated at the 495 MW Fengmiao 1 offshore wind farm in Taiwan.

The agreement in Taiwan is not only Google’s first offshore wind PPA in the country but also its debut in the Asia Pacific region.

CIP was awarded capacity for Fengmiao 1 in the first round of Taiwan’s Round 3 Zonal Development Offshore Wind Auction in 2022. According to the developer, the wind farm is the first of Taiwan’s Round 3 projects to reach financial close and the first to start construction.

The wind farm will feature 33 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines, expected to produce renewable energy in 2027. Once operational, Fengmiao 1 will provide power to support Google’s data centre, cloud region, and offices in Taiwan.

Japan’s First Barge-Type Floating Wind Turbine Enters Commercial Operation

The consortium behind the Hibiki floating wind turbine in Japan has announced that the 3 MW two-bladed project entered commercial operation.

The Hibiki barge-type floating system, the first of its kind in Japan, features the Aerodyn SCD 3 MW two-bladed turbine installed on Ideol’s Damping Pool floating foundation.

Located 15 kilometres off the Kitakyushu coast, the turbine was commissioned in May 2019.

The project was part of a New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) demonstration project run by Glocal.

After the completion of the demonstration study at the end of March 2024, Glocal took over the entire project from NEDO and established Hibiki Floating Wind Power (HFWP) as the management and operating company of the wind farm.

The electricity generated by the 3 MW wind turbine will be supplied to Kyushu Electric Power Company.

Prysmian’s Monna Lisa Picks Up Its First Cable for Largest US Offshore Wind Farm-To-Be

Prysmian’s new cable laying vessel (CLV) Monna Lisa has been loaded for the first time with submarine cable, destined for what will become the largest US offshore wind farm once operational.

Prysmian reported a few days ago that the submarine cable for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project was being loaded on Monna Lisa at the Arco Felice plant in Italy.

The keel-laying ceremony for Monna Lisa, a sister vessel to Leonardo da Vinci, was held in Tulcea, Romania, in April 2023 to mark the start of construction, which took around 24 months. VARD launched the 171-metre vessel at the beginning of June 2024, after completing steel cutting, keel laying, generator installation, and hull erection.

The CLV then began its journey of 4,000 nautical miles from Romania to Norway, towed down the Danube River, across the Mediterranean Sea, and up the coast of Portugal and Spain to VARD’s shipyard in Søvik to undertake final fit-out and trials.

Prysmian reported on February 6 that the vessel had joined its fleet.

EEW SPC Delivers First Monopiles for RWE’s Danish Offshore Wind Farm

EEW Special Pipe Constructions (EEW SPC) has delivered the first monopiles for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark.

In March 2025, the first of twelve shipments for the 1.1 GW Thor project was completed at Rostock Port. So far, 15 out of the total 36 monopiles being produced by EEW SPC have been collected, according to the company.

The remaining shipments are expected to take place by July this year.

The monopiles measure an average of 82 metres in length and weigh 1,300 tonnes each. In April 2023, RWE selected Dajin Offshore and EEW SPC to deliver 36 monopiles each, together with secondary structures, for the Thor offshore wind farm.

The foundations will be installed by Jan De Nul, who will provide the vessel for the work that is expected to be carried out this year.

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