OMNI Features｜METCentre Announces Tender for Floating Offshore Wind Test Slot．Ørsted Awards Blade Inspection and Repair Contracts with RTS Wind for German Offshore Wind Farms

METCentre: Unitech Zefyros in the front, TetraSpar Demonstrator in the background
（Photo source: The Marine Energy Test Centre (METCentre)）

｜METCentre Announces Tender for Floating Offshore Wind Test Slot
The Marine Energy Test Centre (METCentre) for floating offshore wind has an available berth. METCentre is now announcing a tender process with qualitative criteria to ensure that a new test project contributes to positive ripple effects for the offshore wind industry.

Companies or consortia wishing to test their floating offshore wind technology can submit a bid to the test centre located outside of Karmøy on the West coast of Norway. Additionally, they must account for the project's carbon footprint, impact on nature and the environment, and coexistence with other industries at sea. Potential test customers must demonstrate how the project provides positive effects for the supply chain. They must also be able to explain how their solution contributes to reducing costs in the field of floating offshore wind.

Before Christmas, METCentre received the decision from the Ministry of Energy stating that their new concession has a final approval. In total, 5 new projects are planned. The test concessions granted to METCentre are up to 20 MW per unit. In early January, Aker Solutions announced that they have signed a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) with METCentre to develop the world's first underwater power distribution system for floating offshore wind.

｜Ørsted Awards Blade Inspection and Repair Contracts with RTS Wind for German Offshore Wind Farms
Ørsted has awarded RTS Wind a multi-million-euro contract for inspection and repair of wind turbine blades on its offshore wind farms in Germany.

Ørsted held the tender last year, looking for a provider of internal and external blade inspection and repair for three of its offshore wind farms: Borkum Riffgrund 1, Borkum Riffgrund 2, and Gode Wind 1 & 2.

In November 2023, Ørsted signed a Framework Agreement[1] worth more than EUR 7 million with RTS Wind, which ranked first in the competitive tender, as well as backup agreements with Muehlhan Wind Service and Swire Renewable Energy, which ranked second and third, respectively. The framework agreement is in effect until the end of 2028.

The 312 MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 is located in Germany's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea and consists of 78 Siemens Gamesa 4 MW turbines that have been operational since 2015.

Borkum Riffgrund 2 comprises 56 Vestas V164-8.3 MW turbines installed on two different types of foundations, monopiles with bolted transition pieces and suction bucket jackets. The 450 MW offshore wind farm was fully commissioned in November 2018 and inaugurated in June 2019.

The 582 MW Gode Wind 1 and 2 have 97 Siemens Gamesa SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines and were inaugurated in 2017.

Note: [1] A 'framework agreement' is 'an agreement between one or more contracting authorities, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantity envisaged.'
Reference: Norwegian Offshore Wind｜Offshore Energy Biz