Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

Offshore Wind Installation and Cable Lay glossary (page 3)

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 132 on this page (page 3 of 3).

S

Section Modulus: hull girder property governed by IACS UR-S11 minima.
SEEMP: Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan required for all ships of 400 GT and above under MARPOL Annex VI; Parts II and III apply to ships of 5,000 GT and above.
Self-erecting crane: Tower based crane occasionally used on accommodation platforms or piles.
Semi-submersible floating wind: Floating wind substructure type with multiple columns and pontoons, exemplified by WindFloat.
SEP: Self Elevating Platform, generic synonym for jack-up.
Service Operation Vessel: Mid sized DP vessel supporting offshore wind technicians with walk to work gangways and onboard accommodation.
Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries: Chinese fabricator of offshore wind cranes, jacket components, and certain installation vessels.
Shell: Oil and gas major with offshore wind interests including Mayflower (now SouthCoast Wind), CrossWind, and Atlantic Shores.
Shipping lane: Established navigational route considered when laying out offshore wind farms and cable corridors.
Shore approach: Final marine section of an export cable bringing power to the landfall.
Side cast: Reference dredging method.
Siemens Energy: German energy technology company, majority owner of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy: Offshore wind turbine OEM with the SG 8.0-167 DD, SG 11.0-200 DD, SG 14-222 DD, and SG 14-236 DD platforms.
SIF Group: Dutch monopile and transition piece fabricator based in Roermond and Rotterdam Maasvlakte 2.
Silt curtain: Reference dredging mitigation measure.
SIMOPS: Simultaneous operations on or near an installation.
Single line diagram: Schematic representation of the offshore wind electrical system.
Sleipnir: Heerema semi submersible crane vessel with twin 10,000 t cranes used on offshore substation and foundation installation.
Smulders: Belgian fabricator producing transition pieces, jackets, and offshore substations.
SOFIA: FAO's biennial State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report.
South Fork Wind: US offshore wind project off the South Fork of Long Island developed by Orsted and now Global Infrastructure Partners.
SouthCoast Wind: US offshore wind project off Massachusetts developed by EDP Renewables and Engie via Ocean Winds.
Southwest Power Pool: US regional transmission organization; not central to offshore wind but referenced in interregional grid context.
SOV: Service operation vessel for offshore wind; DP2, walk-to-work, ~60 m+.
Spar Buoy: Long, vertical buoy of relatively small diameter, used in sheltered waters.
Spinning reserve: Power system reserve; included for grid context.
Splash zone: vertical area subject to spray, requiring protective coatings.
SPMT: Self Propelled Modular Transporter used to move monopiles and transition pieces during yard logistics.
Spool piece: Pre-fabricated cable or pipework section bridging final connection points.
SSE Renewables: UK utility renewable arm developing Beatrice, Greater Gabbard, Dogger Bank A B and C with Equinor, and Berwick Bank.
Stake out: Marking of pile positions on the seabed prior to driving.
Statkraft: Norwegian state owned utility with offshore wind interests including Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal.
Steel piling: Manufacturing process producing rolled longitudinally seam welded cans for monopiles.
Steelwind Nordenham: German monopile fabricator on the Weser supplying XL and XXL monopiles.
Stillstand: Reference operational term.
Stress concentration factor: Local stress amplification at structural details used in fatigue assessment.
Strike price: Guaranteed price per MWh paid to an offshore wind generator under a UK CfD.
Sub-Bottom Profiler: Acoustic survey instrument used in cable and pipeline route surveys to image sediment layers.
Submarine cable: subsea cable, occasionally affecting anchorage allocation.
Submerged arc welding: Welding process used to produce longitudinal seams in monopile cans.
Subsea structure: Generic term covering manifolds, J-tubes, and templates relevant to offshore wind interfaces.
Substation jacket: Steel lattice substructure supporting an offshore substation topside.
Suction bucket: Foundation type using suction to embed a steel skirted bucket into the seabed, deployed at Borkum Riffgrund 2 and Aberdeen Bay.
Sunrise Wind: US offshore wind project off New York developed by Orsted and now Eversource exited to Orsted.
SVB: Reference German bank.
Sway curve: Reference operational geometry term.
Swire Blue Ocean: Former owner of Pacific Orca and Pacific Osprey, since reorganized into Cadeler.
Symphony: Van Oord cable installation vessel ordered in 2023, a successor design to Nexus.
System impact assessment: Grid study evaluating offshore wind connection on transmission system stability.

T

Taiwan Offshore Wind Zone: Strait of Taiwan area hosting Formosa 1, Formosa 2, Greater Changhua, Hai Long, and Yunlin projects.
Take Five: Reference safety routine name.
TenneT: Dutch and German transmission system operator responsible for offshore wind grid connection in the Dutch and German North Sea.
Tension leg platform: Floating wind substructure tethered by vertical tendons under tension; demonstrated at PelaStar and Stiesdal TetraSpar variants.
Tensioner: Hydraulic system applying tension to drilling riser or pipe.
TetraSpar: Stiesdal floating wind demonstrator deployed off Norway.
Texas A&M Galveston: US institution supporting offshore wind workforce training.
Thanet: UK offshore wind farm off Kent operated by Vattenfall.
Thialf: Heerema semi submersible crane vessel with twin 7,100 t cranes, used on offshore substation and foundation installation.
Thornton Bank: Belgian offshore wind farm including the first commercial concrete gravity base offshore wind installation.
Tidal Current: Horizontal water motion associated with the tide.
Tip clearance: Radial gap between propeller tip and hull or duct, a key vibration parameter.
Top hat: Reference flange detail nickname.
Topside: Side of the hull above the waterline.
Torsional fatigue: Failure mode considered in dynamic cable design under repeated twisting.
TotalEnergies: French energy major with offshore wind interests including Seagreen with SSE, Eolmed floating, Erebus floating, and US Atlantic leases.
Tower section: Tubular steel cylinder section assembled to form the wind turbine tower.
TPC: Reference Taiwan Power Company.
TPI Composites: US blade manufacturer historically supplying onshore platforms, with limited offshore exposure.
Transition piece: Cylindrical steel structure connecting monopile to tower, housing access platform, boat landing, J-tube, and secondary steel.
Transmission asset: Offshore export system in UK regulatory framework transferred to OFTOs after construction.
Tripod foundation: Three legged steel substructure used at certain North Sea projects including Alpha Ventus.
Trolley assist: Reference lift planning aid.
TUV: Reference certification body grouping.

U

UKHO: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, publisher of Admiralty charts.
Ulstein: Norwegian shipbuilder and design house active in offshore wind support vessel design.
Ultimate limit state: Design check against structural collapse under extreme loads.
Umbilical: Composite hose/cable bundle (electric, hydraulic, chemical, fiber).
Unbonded flexible: Reference to flexible pipe construction; conceptually related to dynamic cable construction.
Undersea power link: Generic term encompassing offshore wind export cables and HVDC interconnectors.
Underwater Noise: Anthropogenic acoustic energy affecting marine life.
Unitech Zonda: Reference Norwegian SOV.
Upender: Hydraulic frame rotating a blade or monopile from horizontal to vertical during installation.
Uptower: Located inside the nacelle, as opposed to downtower at the tower base.
US Wind: US offshore wind developer with the MarWin and Momentum Wind projects off Maryland.
Utsira Nord: Norwegian floating offshore wind area awarded for development planning.

V

Van Oord: Dutch marine contractor active in offshore wind cable lay, foundation installation, and rock placement, operating Aeolus, Svanen, Nexus, and Boreas.
Van Oord Boreas: Van Oord next generation offshore wind installation vessel delivered for the European market.
Vard: Norwegian shipbuilder, builder of REV Ocean.
Vattenfall: Swedish state utility with offshore wind portfolio including Horns Rev 1 and 2, Kriegers Flak, Hollandse Kust Zuid, and Norfolk Vanguard.
VBMS: Former Van Oord cable installation subsidiary now reintegrated into Van Oord.
Vector inverter: Reference power electronics component.
Vertical lift: Hatch cover lifted bodily by hydraulic jacks.
Vestas: Danish wind turbine OEM with offshore platforms including the V164 and V236 series.
Vibrocoring: Geotechnical sampling technique using vibratory penetration for shallow seabed sampling.
Vidar: Subsea7 wind turbine installation vessel under construction by Vard for delivery to Subsea7's offshore wind business.
Vineyard Wind 1: US offshore wind project off Massachusetts developed by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners using GE Haliade-X turbines.
Virtual power plant: Aggregation of distributed energy resources; included for grid context.
VoltaInfrasea: Reference earlier vessel name; included for context.
Voltaire: Jan De Nul jack-up installation vessel delivered in 2022 with a 3,000 t main crane for next generation offshore wind turbines.
Vryhof: Anchor designer supplying drag embedment anchors for floating wind moorings.

W

Wagenborg: Dutch shipping company supporting offshore wind logistics in the southern North Sea.
Wake loss: Reduction in downstream turbine output due to upstream rotor wakes considered in wind farm layout.
Walk-to-work: Motion compensated gangway system on SOVs enabling crew transfer in higher sea states.
Walney Extension: UK offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea operated by Orsted.
Wave height: Vertical distance between crest and preceding trough.
Weather window: Period of suitable weather for an operation.
Welcon: Danish wind tower fabricator delivering offshore tower sections.
Wellhead: Pressure-containing equipment at top of wellbore.
West of Orkney: UK offshore wind project area in ScotWind leasing round developed by Corio Generation, TotalEnergies, and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group.
Wikinger: German Baltic offshore wind farm operated by Iberdrola using jacket foundations.
Wind Catcher: Reference floating wind concept; included for completeness.
Wind farm zone: Designated marine area within which wind farm projects are developed.
Wind Orca: Cadeler X-class wind turbine installation vessel, originally Swire Blue Ocean Pacific Orca.
Wind Osprey: Cadeler X-class wind turbine installation vessel, originally Swire Blue Ocean Pacific Osprey.
WindFloat: Principle Power semi submersible floating wind platform deployed at WindFloat Atlantic, WindFloat Pacific demonstrator, and Kincardine.
WindFloat Atlantic: 25 MW floating offshore wind farm off Portugal with three WindFloat units.
WindMW: Former operator of Meerwind Sud and Ost; later integrated into China Three Gorges.
WTG: Wind Turbine Generator.
WTIV: Wind turbine installation vessel; jack-up class for offshore wind.

X

X-class: Cadeler vessel class encompassing Wind Orca and Wind Osprey.
XLPE: Cross linked polyethylene insulation used in most modern submarine power cables for offshore wind.

Y

Yard delivery: Handover milestone at which a fabricator transfers a monopile, transition piece, or jacket to the developer.
Yaw bearing: Large slewing ring rotating the nacelle relative to the tower to align with wind direction.
Yaw drive: Geared electrical drive rotating the nacelle on the yaw bearing.
Yellow paint: High visibility coating applied to the splash zone of monopiles and transition pieces for navigational safety.
Yunlin: Taiwanese offshore wind farm in the Strait of Taiwan developed by wpd and Sojitz.

Z

Zaratan: Cadeler jack-up installation vessel inherited from Seajacks.
Zero subsidy: Bidding outcome where offshore wind developers accept the wholesale market price without a contract for difference top up, first achieved in the Dutch Borssele tender.
Zinc Anode: Sacrificial anode for cathodic protection.
Zonal pricing: Proposed UK electricity market reform model relevant to offshore wind locational signals.
Zoom lift: Reference rigging method.
Zwaluw: Reference Dutch reference vessel name.