Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

Offshore Wind Installation and Cable Lay glossary (page 2)

The offshore-wind installation vocabulary: jack-up installation vessels (Aeolus), AC export cables, transition-piece access platforms, the installation contractors and named vessels, and the monopile and turbine-erection terms. Grounds each term in the installation campaign or the cable-lay operation it belongs to.

632 defined terms.

Showing 250 on this page (page 2 of 3).

H

Hornsea Two: 1.32 GW UK offshore wind farm operated by Orsted, adjacent to Hornsea One.
HSE case: Vessel and project specific safety case documenting hazard identification and risk controls.
Hub height: Vertical distance from mean sea level to the rotor hub center, a key turbine selection parameter.
Hugin: Reference autonomous underwater vehicle used in offshore wind seabed surveys.
Hull penetration: Welded sealed entry point of a J-tube or cable conduit through a vessel or platform hull.
HVAC export cable: Three core armored submarine cable transmitting offshore wind power at voltages from 132 kV to 275 kV.
HVDC converter platform: Offshore platform housing AC to DC conversion equipment for long distance wind power transmission.
HVDC export cable: Mass impregnated or extruded XLPE submarine cable transmitting offshore wind power as direct current.
Hywind: Equinor floating offshore wind technology using spar substructures, deployed at Hywind Demo, Hywind Scotland, and Hywind Tampen.
Hywind Scotland: World's first commercial floating offshore wind farm, operated by Equinor since 2017 off Peterhead.
Hywind Tampen: Floating wind farm in Norwegian waters supplying power to the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields.

I

I-tube: Vertical or near vertical pipe inside a foundation through which the array cable enters the structure.
IBA: Important Bird Area, designation considered in offshore wind environmental impact assessment.
Iberdrola: Spanish utility, parent of ScottishPower Renewables and developer of Wikinger, Saint Brieuc, and Vineyard Wind 1 (with Avangrid).
Ice cone: Sloped sacrificial deflector on monopiles in icing regions diverting drifting ice.
Idle pile: Pile parked in seabed sleeves at the end of a shift awaiting completion of driving in the next campaign.
IHC IQIP: Royal IHC subsidiary supplying hydraulic hammers, gripper frames, and noise mitigation systems.
IHC S-1800: Royal IHC hydraulic hammer rated 1,800 kJ used on offshore wind monopiles.
IHC S-2500: Royal IHC hydraulic hammer rated 2,500 kJ, used on extra large monopiles in the North Sea.
IJmuiden Ver: Dutch offshore wind zone under future tender located west of IJmuiden.
Iliad: Reference offshore vessel; included for completeness.
In-Service Inspection: Periodic survey of cables and pipelines after commissioning to detect exposures, free spans, or third-party damage.
Inch Cape: UK offshore wind project off Angus, developed by ESB and Red Rock Power.
Inertial measurement unit: Sensor providing motion data used in dynamic positioning and lift planning.
Inner array cable: Synonym for array cable, the medium voltage submarine cable network within a wind farm.
Innovation: HGO InfraSea Solutions jack-up installation vessel widely deployed in European offshore wind projects.
Installation port: Quayside facility for marshaling and loadout of offshore wind components, examples being Esbjerg, Eemshaven, and New London.
Installation vessel: Generic term for jack-up or heavy lift vessels installing offshore wind foundations or turbines.
Inter-array cable: Synonym for array cable.
International Maritime Organization: IMO, UN specialized agency for shipping, based in London.
Intervention vessel: Multipurpose support vessel handling cable repair, foundation inspection, or scour remediation.
Inward investment: Public funding or grants attracting offshore wind manufacturing facilities to port regions.
IOGP: International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, whose standards influence offshore wind H&S documentation.
IRPWind: Past European research initiative supporting offshore wind innovation.
ISO 19901: Series of ISO standards for offshore structures.

J

J-Tube: Curved steel conduit on platform legs and monopiles through which cables and small pipelines transition between seabed and topside.
Jack-up: Vessel with retractable legs that elevates the hull above the sea surface to provide a stable platform for installation.
Jacket foundation: Tubular steel lattice substructure pinned to the seabed, used at Beatrice, Wikinger, East Anglia ONE, and others.
Jacket pile: Driven or drilled pile fixing each leg of a jacket to the seabed.
Jan De Nul: Belgian marine contractor operating Voltaire, Vole au vent, Taillevent, and cable installation assets including Isaac Newton and Fleeming Jenkin.
Japan Marine United: Shipyard active in offshore wind support vessel construction for the Japanese market.
Jay Cashman: US construction firm with US offshore wind interests historically.
Jeumont: Reference French manufacturer; included only as a historical reference.
Jib boom: Spar extending the bowsprit forward.
Joint design: Engineering of subsea cable joints including conductor connector, insulation rebuild, and armor termination.
Jones Act: US cabotage law restricting domestic offshore trades to US vessels.
JV: Joint venture, commonly used corporate structure for offshore wind developers and installation contractors.

K

K-Type cable joint: Reference legacy joint terminology in three core submarine cable repair.
K2 Management: Consultancy supporting owner's engineering services for offshore wind projects.
Karm Sund X: Reference Norwegian heavy lift project; included as fabrication context.
Kashima: Japanese port handling offshore wind component logistics.
Keel laying: Symbolic placement of first block in dock.
Kentish Flats: Early UK offshore wind farm off Whitstable owned by Vattenfall.
Keppel AmFELS: Brownsville, Texas shipyard building Charybdis under contract to Dominion Energy.
Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind Farm: 50 MW floating wind project off Aberdeenshire using WindFloat substructures.
Klaipeda: Lithuanian port hosting EU-listed ship recycling facilities including Vakaru Baltijos Laivu Statykla.
Kongsberg: Norwegian supplier of dynamic positioning, automation, and survey systems used on cable lay and installation vessels.
Kriegers Flak: Baltic Sea offshore wind farm developed by Vattenfall and the world's first project sharing an offshore grid connection with Germany via the Combined Grid Solution.
KS One: Reference Korean offshore wind installation vessel.

L

Landfall: First sighting of land after ocean passage.
Lay back: Horizontal distance between the cable touchdown point on the seabed and the lay vessel stern chute.
Lay Tension: Force applied along a cable or pipeline during installation to control catenary and touchdown stresses.
Lay vessel: Vessel performing submarine cable installation.
LCOE: Levelized Cost of Energy, the discounted lifetime cost per unit of energy produced, used in offshore wind economic assessment.
Lead anchor: Foremost anchor in an anchored cable lay or installation barge spread.
Leadenhall: Reference London insurance market location for offshore wind risk underwriting.
Lease area: Geographic block awarded to an offshore wind developer by a seabed manager.
Leonardo da Vinci: Prysmian cable lay vessel delivered in 2021 with two carousels and DP3 capability.
Lifting eye: Padeye welded to a monopile or transition piece allowing engagement of slings or shackles for offshore lifts.
Lillgrund: Operational Swedish offshore wind farm in the Oresund with gravity base foundations.
Liquefaction: Loss of shear strength in fine wet bulks (Group A); cause of capsizes.
Living Stone: DEME multipurpose cable lay and rock installation vessel with two carousels.
LM Wind Power: GE Vernova subsidiary manufacturing offshore wind turbine blades.
LNG Bunkering: Process of supplying liquefied natural gas as marine fuel.
Load case: Combination of environmental and operational actions evaluated in offshore wind structural design.
Loadout: Movement of fabricated components from quay to vessel deck for transport offshore.
Local content: Share of project value executed by domestic suppliers, frequently a tender criterion in EU and US offshore wind auctions.
Long Island: US Atlantic location adjacent to Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind projects.
Lowestoft: UK port serving operations and maintenance bases for southern North Sea offshore wind farms.
LPG hammer: Older pile driving technology largely superseded by hydraulic hammers in offshore wind.
Lump sum turnkey: Contracting structure transferring scope risk to the EPCI contractor at a fixed price.

M

MAATS: Reference logistics contractor.
MacGregor: Common type of folding steel hatch cover.
Macheliso: Reference placeholder; omitted from active glossary.
Maersk Installer: Maersk Supply Service vessel name; not in service as a WTIV; included to disambiguate from Maersk Supply Service's offshore wind support fleet.
Maersk Supply Service: Danish offshore vessel owner contracted on US offshore wind feeder operations.
Magnetometer: Survey sensor detecting ferrous objects along proposed cable corridors during pre-lay surveys.
Main bearing: White metal lined bearing supporting crankshaft journals in the bedplate.
Manor Solutions: Reference Korean offshore yard.
Marine coordinator: Role coordinating concurrent installation, cable lay, and crew transfer operations within a wind farm site.
Marine growth: Biofouling on subsea structures considered in hydrodynamic load assessment and operational inspection.
Marine Warranty Surveyor: Independent assurance role on heavy lift, tow, and salvage moves.
MARPOL: International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the 1978 and 1997 Protocols; the IMO treaty governing marine pollution across six annexes.
Maryland Offshore Wind: BOEM lease area off Maryland with developers including US Wind.
Massachusetts CIP zone: Federal lease area off Massachusetts containing Vineyard Wind 1 and SouthCoast Wind.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy: US state maritime academy at Buzzards Bay.
Matrix tooling: Specialized blade mold infrastructure used by Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, and LM Wind Power.
Maximus: Reference offshore wind installation tool name; included only for completeness.
Mayflower Wind: Former name of the SouthCoast Wind offshore project off Massachusetts.
McDermott: US offshore contractor with limited offshore wind involvement; reference for context.
Mean sea level: Datum used in offshore wind structural design and elevations.
Mediterranean Sea: Marginal sea between Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Mediterranean shore approach: Specific landfall planning context for southern European projects.
Medway: UK reference port for offshore wind logistics support.
Mermaid: Cross-cultural maritime mythological figure.
Methocel: Reference grout admixture brand.
MetOcean: Combined meteorological and oceanographic data set underlying offshore wind structural and operational design.
MGO: Marine gas oil, distillate fuel per ISO 8217 DMA.
MHI Vestas: Former joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Vestas, now fully integrated into Vestas Offshore Wind.
MingYang Smart Energy: Chinese offshore wind turbine OEM and developer of large rotor platforms.
MMOPS: Marine Mammal Observer, role required on certain pile driving operations.
Monopile: Single tubular steel pile foundation driven into the seabed, the dominant offshore wind foundation type to date.
Mooring buoy: Buoy to which a ship may secure.
Mooring chain: Studless studlink steel chain forming a primary component of floating wind platform mooring lines.
Moray East: Operational UK offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth led by Ocean Winds.
Moray West: UK offshore wind project led by Ocean Winds adjacent to Moray East.
Mortar: Cement based fill historically used in early offshore wind grouted connections, since refined to UHPC and ultra high performance grout.
MPSV: Multipurpose support vessel; subsea, ROV, light construction.
Mukran: German Baltic port acting as a marshaling base for Baltic offshore wind projects.
Multi-purpose installation vessel: Self propelled DP vessel performing combined cable lay and foundation installation tasks.
Multibeam echosounder: Hydrographic sonar emitting a swath of beams to map bathymetry.

N

Nacelle: Housing on top of a wind turbine tower containing the drive train, generator, and converter.
National Grid: UK transmission system operator interfacing with offshore wind export cable connections.
National Transmission System: UK onshore high voltage network into which offshore wind power is exported.
Natura 2000: EU network of protected areas under the Birds and Habitats Directives.
NDT: Non-destructive testing of welds in monopiles, transition pieces, and jackets.
NEC4: Suite of construction contracts increasingly used on UK offshore wind balance of plant scopes.
NEPA: US National Environmental Policy Act, applied to BOEM offshore wind permitting through Environmental Impact Statements.
NEXANS: French cable manufacturer producing HVDC and HVAC submarine power cables at its Halden facility in Norway.
Nexans Aurora: Cable-lay vessel of Nexans commissioned in 2021, with 10,000 t turntable capacity.
Nexans Skagerrak: Older Nexans cable installation vessel based in Norway.
NJ Wind Port: Purpose built New Jersey offshore wind marshaling facility on the Delaware River.
NKT: Danish manufacturer of HVDC and HVAC submarine power cables, with factories in Karlskrona, Sweden, and Cologne, Germany.
NKT Victoria: Cable installation vessel of NKT, commissioned in 2017, with 9,000 t turntable capacity.
NMA: Norwegian Maritime Authority, regulator for Norwegian flag offshore wind support vessels.
Noise mitigation: Measures such as bubble curtains, hydro sound dampers, and noise mitigation screens reducing pile driving sound exposure.
Nominal voltage: Reference voltage of an array (33 kV or 66 kV) or export (132 kV to 525 kV) cable circuit.
Norfolk Boreas: UK offshore wind project formerly progressed by Vattenfall, paused in 2023.
Norfolk Vanguard: UK offshore wind project progressed by Vattenfall in the southern North Sea.
Normand Maximus: Reference deep water construction vessel; included for context.
Northern Light: Reference Norwegian CCS project sharing seabed corridors with offshore wind.
Northland Power: Canadian developer with offshore wind interests including Gemini and Hai Long.
Northumberland: UK county adjacent to several offshore wind onshore substation locations.
Norwegian Continental Shelf: Offshore area covering Hywind Tampen and Utsira Nord floating wind.
Notice of intent: BOEM administrative step initiating Environmental Impact Statement preparation.

O

Oasis tools: Reference subsea pull-in tool series; included for context.
Ocean Breeze Energy: BARD Offshore 1 project operating entity.
Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition: Industry coalition supporting offshore wind grid integration.
Ocean Winds: Joint venture between EDPR and Engie developing offshore wind globally including Moray East, Moray West, and BC Wind.
Off-take: Power Purchase Agreement or merchant route under which offshore wind generation is sold.
Offshore substation: Platform mounted electrical hub stepping up array cable voltage for export.
Offshore wind operations and maintenance: Lifecycle activities including turbine servicing, cable monitoring, foundation inspection, and component exchange.
Oilstate: Reference subsea connector brand; included for context.
Olde North: Reference legacy UK round zone naming convention.
Omega seal: Reference cable sealing component name.
One Maritime Center: Reference port building.
Onshore substation: Electrical facility converting export cable voltage to transmission level and providing reactive compensation.
Operation and maintenance base: Shoreside facility supporting offshore wind operations including jetty, warehouse, and control room.
Orsted: Danish offshore wind developer operating Hornsea One and Two, Borssele 1 and 2, Race Bank, Walney Extension, and US East Coast projects.
OSS: Offshore Substation.
OST: Reference offshore stowage tool.
OSV: Offshore support vessel; umbrella term for AHTS, PSV, MPSV, etc.
Outage: Planned or unplanned period during which an offshore wind asset is unavailable to generate.
Outer Continental Shelf: Distal portion of the continental shelf approaching the shelf break.

P

Pacific Orca: Swire Blue Ocean wind turbine installation vessel transferred into the Cadeler fleet on demerger.
Pacific Osprey: Sister vessel to Pacific Orca operated by Cadeler.
Padeye: Welded eye fitting for securing rigging on deck.
Parkwind: Belgian offshore wind developer, since 2023 part of JERA Nex.
Pasta plate: Reference flange detail nickname; included for context.
PB Offshore: Reference Australian project developer.
Pelican Pier: Reference port facility.
Petrobaltic: Reference Polish operator; included for context.
PFC: Reference component class abbreviation.
Pillar Point: Reference geographic marker.
Pin pile: Pile driven through a jacket leg sleeve to secure the foundation to the seabed.
Pitch system: Electromechanical or hydraulic system rotating turbine blades around their longitudinal axis to control aerodynamic loads.
PLEM: Pipeline end manifold.
Plough: Towed seabed implement creating a trench for simultaneous cable burial during lay.
Polar King: Maersk Supply Service flagged offshore vessel deployed on US East Coast offshore wind support.
Power buoy: Reference wave energy device; included only to distinguish from wind technologies.
PowerNova: Reference grid analytics tool.
PPA: Power Purchase Agreement, contract under which offshore wind output is sold to an off-taker.
PPVA: Reference administrative term.
Pre-piling template: Subsea frame guiding pile installation for jacket foundations.
Primary steel: Main load bearing structural components of a monopile or jacket including the cans and tubular legs.
Prysmian: Italian submarine cable manufacturer with plants in Pikkala, Arco Felice, Charleston, and Brayton Point.
Pull-in winch: Heavy duty winch on a substation or foundation pulling the array or export cable into the J-tube.

Q

Quadripod: Reference foundation concept; not in commercial offshore wind use, listed for completeness.
Quayside loadout: Movement of fabricated monopiles, transition pieces, or jackets onto the installation vessel by skidding or self propelled modular transporter.
Quiet Pile: Trade name for a noise mitigated pile driving system reducing underwater sound emission.

R

Race Bank: UK offshore wind farm off Norfolk operated by Orsted.
Rampion: UK offshore wind farm off Sussex operated by RWE.
Rated power: Maximum continuous electrical output a wind turbine is designed to deliver, ranging from approximately 6 MW to over 14 MW for current offshore platforms.
Reactive compensation: Shunt reactors and STATCOM equipment installed on offshore substations and onshore to manage AC export cable reactive power.
Recirculating drilling: Method removing cuttings during drilled monopile installation in hard ground.
Redox potential: Geochemical parameter relevant to cathodic protection design.
Repair Joint: Cable splice made to reinstate continuity at a damaged section, using a final-splice procedure.
Repower: Replacement of older smaller turbines by larger units on the same site, increasingly considered for early European offshore wind farms.
Reservation tax: Levy under certain seabed lease frameworks securing exclusive lease area development rights.
Reverse circulation drilling: Drilling method used for socketed monopile installation in rock.
Revolution Wind: Joint Orsted and Eversource project (now Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners) supplying Rhode Island and Connecticut.
RFI: Request For Information, a procurement step during offshore wind tendering.
Rhine Estuary: Reference area for Dutch landfall and grid corridors.
Rib stiffener: Welded plate stiffener inside transition pieces increasing local buckling capacity.
Riffgat: German offshore wind farm in the North Sea developed by EWE.
Riser: Conduit from seabed to surface; drilling, production, export, or workover.
Riser cable: Synonym for dynamic cable on a floating wind platform.
RIVO: Reference Dutch acronym; included for context.
Rock dumping: Placement of graded rock for scour protection or cable protection using flexible fallpipe vessels.
Rock placement vessel: Specialized side stone dumping or flexible fallpipe vessel installing graded rock for scour or cable protection.
RoCom: Reference command and control system.
Roll on roll off: RoRo loading and discharging.
Root section: Inboard cylindrical end of a wind turbine blade with bolted root joint to the hub.
Rotor: Combined assembly of hub and blades on a wind turbine.
Rotor diameter: Tip to tip distance of the swept rotor, ranging from approximately 150 m to over 250 m on current offshore platforms.
Round 1: UK Crown Estate first offshore wind leasing round in 2001 awarding 18 small lease areas.
Round 2: UK Crown Estate second leasing round in 2003 awarding 15 medium sized projects.
Round 3: UK Crown Estate third leasing round launched in 2008 enabling gigawatt scale zones including Dogger Bank and East Anglia.
Round 4: UK Crown Estate fourth leasing round concluded in 2021 with seven projects across English and Welsh waters.
RPS: Reference engineering consultancy active in offshore wind environmental services.
RWE: German utility, formerly RWE Innogy and Innogy SE, with offshore wind interests across Europe and the US including Sofia and Community Offshore Wind.

S

Saint Brieuc: French offshore wind farm in Brittany developed by Iberdrola.
Saipem FDS: Saipem field development ship, a pipelay vessel; included as marine logistics reference, with Saipem also building the cable lay vessel Saipem CastorOne.
Saipem S7000: Heavy lift semi submersible used historically in offshore platform installation, supporting offshore wind substations in certain campaigns.
Salish Sea: Reference Pacific Northwest body of water assessed in early US floating wind studies.
Salzgitter: German steel mill supplying plate to monopile fabricators.
Sapporo Wind: Reference Japanese onshore wind project; excluded as not offshore.
Saturated diver spread: Diving system rarely used in offshore wind but applicable on certain cable repair operations.
Saudi Aramco: Reference oil and gas major; included for disambiguation.
Scotland Net Zero: ScotWind leasing supports Scottish 2045 net zero target, framing for floating wind expansion.
ScottishPower Renewables: Iberdrola UK subsidiary developing East Anglia ONE, TWO, and THREE.
ScotWind: Crown Estate Scotland leasing round closed in 2022, awarding 17 projects with significant floating wind allocation.
Scour Protection: Rock or mattress placed at the base of offshore foundations to prevent seabed erosion that would expose cables.
Sea Challenger: DEME Offshore wind turbine installation vessel, originally A2SEA built in 2014.
Sea Installer: DEME Offshore wind turbine installation vessel, originally A2SEA built in 2012.
Sea Power: Ability to influence events at and from the sea.
Seabed Lease: Property right granted by a state authority such as the Crown Estate for cable, pipeline, or wind installation.
Seajacks: UK based jack-up operator now part of Eneti and then Cadeler, owning Scylla, Zaratan, Leviathan, and Hydra.
Seajacks Hydra: Earlier generation Seajacks jack-up.
Seajacks Kraken: Earlier generation Seajacks jack-up.
Seajacks Leviathan: Earlier generation Seajacks jack-up.
Seajacks Scylla: Large jack-up installation vessel built in 2015, now within the Cadeler fleet.
Seajacks Zaratan: Jack-up installation vessel within the Cadeler fleet.
SeaMade: Belgian offshore wind farm developed by Otary, combining Mermaid and Seastar.
Seastar: Belgian offshore wind farm subsequently combined into SeaMade.
Seaway 7: Subsea7 offshore wind subsidiary specializing in jacket and inter array cable installation.
Seaway Aimery: Seaway 7 cable lay vessel.
Seaway Phoenix: Seaway 7 cable lay vessel.
Seaway Strashnov: Seaway 7 heavy lift vessel used on offshore wind foundation and substation installation.
Seaway Yudin: Seaway 7 heavy lift vessel.