Wärtsilä and Aker Solutions to jointly develo...

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade Press release, 29 March at 11 am (EET)

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading solutions provider, and Aker Solutions,
the international oil and gas services company, have agreed to combine their
fields of expertise to develop a new and environmentally sound concept for
offshore wind farm installation vessels. According to the contract, which was
signed earlier this year, Wärtsilä will provide the new installation vessels
with the ship design, electrical power generation, propulsion machinery and
high-end automation, whilst Aker Solutions will supply the jacking system.
Wärtsilä, together with Aker Solutions, will also offer a 24/7 global support
service for maintenance, repairs, and component supply to the vessels.

The two companies have selected the best technologies for this custom designed
installation vessel, which enables a highly efficient way of setting up offshore
wind power generation. The three Wärtsilä 6L34DF and two Wärtsilä 9L20DF dual-
fuel engines, that will provide main and auxiliary power for the vessel, can
operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) with low emissions. Similarly, heat from
the engine cooling system will be utilized to generate drinking water, and to
supply hot water for use by the crew. The accommodation heating on board will
also use the same heat source, while absorption chiller units will provide air
conditioning during summer months.

Aker Solutions has applied its in-depth knowledge of the offshore drilling
market to develop a continuous hydraulic jacking system for truss legs, which
has been customized for high performance turbine installation vessels. This jack
system has great benefits in regard to redundancy, and has a robust design for
operations in harsh environments.

The new vessel concept will be marketed as a complete package. It will fulfil
the industry's requirements for large deck space, sufficient crane capacity,
year-round and all-weather operational capability and cost-efficient operating
systems. It is designed for operating in the International Maritime
Organization's emission control areas (ECAs).

"This new concept is already generating significant interest among that segment
of the industry involved with the installation and maintenance of offshore wind
farms. There is a notable demand for a high technology, and fully integrated
installation vessel design having significant environmentally sound features. We
are delighted to be in co-operation with Aker Solutions to fill this need that
is especially significant in the North Sea area. We expect to get the first
orders this year," says Riku-Pekka Hägg, Vice President, Wärtsilä Ship Design.

The market for offshore wind farms is rapidly developing as demand for renewable
energy sources increases. Since Northern European offshore wind farms tend to be
in shallow waters of 50 metres or less in depth, so-called jack-up vessels are
used for the installation work. At the installation site, the vessel lowers
massive legs to the seabed on which the vessel is jacked-up until it is above
the waves. A hydraulic grip system is used for this jack-up operation.

Caption to picture Turbine Installation Vessel: This HPTIV can operate in year
around weather conditions with an operational water depth range of 4.5 to 50 m.

Caption to picture Turbine Installation Vessel: Thanks to the optimized deck
space around the 1000 ton offshore type gantry crane, three windmill foundations
or five complete wind turbine assemblies of the 5 MW class can be stored on
deck, thus increasing the installation efficiency.

For further information, please contact:

Henning von Wedel
Senior Mechanical Engineer
Wärtsilä Ship Design
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Tuula Franck
Senior Manager, Media and Stakeholder Relations
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine
and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total
efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the
vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2010, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with more than 17,500
employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around
the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com


Aker Solutions in brief:

Aker Solutions ASA, through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Aker Solutions"),
is a leading global oil services company that provides engineering and
construction services, technologies, product solutions and field-life solutions
for the oil and gas industry. The Aker Solutions group is organised in a number
of separate legal entities. Aker Solutions is used as the common brand/trademark
for most of these entities.
Aker Solutions has aggregated annual revenues of approximately NOK 46 billion
and employs approximately 20 000 people in about 26 countries.

www.akersolutions.com






High Performance Turbine Installation Vessel: 


http://hugin.info/131481/R/1500905/436458.jpg

High Performance Turbine Installation Vessel : 


http://hugin.info/131481/R/1500905/436453.jpg




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Source: Wärtsilä Oyj Abp via Thomson Reuters ONE

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