Dutch marine contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster and Taiwanese partner Hwa Chi Construction have landed the deal to in install the turbine foundations for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ 600MW Changfang & Xidao project off the coast of Changhua county, Taiwan.

Operating as BoWei, the partners will carry out the assignment, which will involve transport and piling-in 62 three-legged steel jackets, using Boskalis’ new Boklift 2 crane vessel in its maiden outing.

“Boskalis’ strategy is aimed at benefiting from key macro-economic factors which drive worldwide demand in our markets: expansion of the global economy, increase in energy consumption, global population growth and the challenges that go hand in hand with climate change,” Boskalis said in a statement.

“This project is related to the development of generating renewable energy due to climate change and increasing energy consumption.”

Bokalift 2, like its sister vessel Bokalift 1, will be converted from an existing hull to create a unit featuring a 4,000-tonne revolving crane able to handle jackets more than 100-metres tall and with 7,500 m 2 of deck space for foundation transport.

“The Bokalift 2 will be a flexible value adding asset, well positioned for the installation of current and future generation offshore wind turbine foundations as well as oil and gas structures in addition to serving the decommissioning and salvage market,” said Boskalis.

The contract value, while not specified, was classed by Boskalis as “substantial”, which the company defines as “between €150-€300m”. Financial close of the Changfang & Xidao project is expected “later this year”.

Engineering and pre-construction works for Changfang & Xidao are underway, with the wind farm scheduled to be built between 2021-2023.

Boskalis and Hwa Chi have partnered on marine construction projects in Taiwan over the last 30 years.