【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Delivery of the first jacket for Europe’s largest offshore wind project built in China, 2922-2025

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Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Progress in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Regular updates and summaries are available – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** The first jacket for Europe’s largest offshore wind project, manufactured in China, was delivered on December 23rd. According to Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd., as the barge slowly left the dock, the jacket for the Inch Cape offshore wind project in Europe, constructed by Offshore Oil Engineering, was delivered at its deep-water equipment manufacturing facility in Zhuhai (referred to as the Zhuhai site). This is the largest offshore wind jacket of its kind manufactured in China, and it signifies that China’s core manufacturing capabilities in this field have reached international leading levels. It holds great significance for promoting the high-quality and sustainable development of the marine economy. The Inch Cape offshore wind project in Europe is located in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. Each wind turbine has a capacity of 15 megawatts, with an overall planned capacity of 1.08 gigawatts. It was developed and constructed through a joint venture between Red Rock Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SDIC Power, and an Irish utility company. Once fully operational, it will be able to supply electricity to more than half of the households in Scotland. The Zhuhai site is responsible for the construction of 18 jacket structures along with the associated steel piles, as well as 24 single-pile transition sections. This includes material procurement, processing and design, construction and installation, testing, and loading onto ships; the total weight of the structural components exceeds 60,000 tons. The infrastructure delivered this time includes 3 jacket structures and 11 single-pile transition sections; the jackets are 95.19 meters tall and have a total weight of approximately 6,400 tons ； The single-pile transition section is 31.73 meters high, weighs approximately 7,450 tons, has a maximum diameter of 8.31 meters, and its wall thickness is 125 millimeters. Compared with suction-cylinder-type wind turbine jacket structures, steel-pile-type wind turbine jacket structures present greater challenges in terms of structural connection and protection, and their construction is more complex. The central cylinder wall of the transition section has greater thickness and diameter; the flange forging base material is made of ultra-high-strength S420NL series steel, which doubles the difficulties associated with weld process development and precision control. Previously, the construction technology for steel-pile wind turbine jackets was in the hands of a few European companies. According to Luo Jianmin, deputy manager of the Zhuhai site project of CNOOC Engineering, the project led domestic research institutions to form a technical collaboration team in order to develop high-strength steel welding techniques on their own. Tests were conducted for low-temperature impact welding at -50°C, enabling 100% domestic production of the core structural components and filling a technical gap in this field in China. During construction, the project team pioneered a global \"side V\" construction method for wind turbine jackets. By using a 4,000-ton crawler crane for the closure process, and employing \"modular prefabrication + real-time monitoring and calibration\" techniques, precision checks were carried out throughout the entire process to ensure that the jacket closure accuracy was within the sub-millimeter range. To address the challenge of welding thick-walled cylinders in the transition section of single piles, the project team optimized the welding parameters, carried out welding in segmented and orderly stages, precisely controlled the welding temperature and structural deformation, effectively avoided deformation risks caused by thermal stress, and achieved a first-pass welding success rate of over 99%. Next, the project team will advance the construction and delivery of subsequent equipment efficiently, aiming to complete the project with higher quality and greater efficiency, and to continue enhancing the reputation of \"Made in China\" in the field of international offshore engineering.