Vattenfall has launched a tender for helicopter transport services for its offshore wind farms in Denmark and Germany.

The offshore wind owner/developer is looking for a helicopter service for the transport of personnel and equipment for troubleshooting offshore wind turbines at its Horns Rev 1 and Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farms in Denmark. The company is seeking to procure the same service for its DanTysk and Sandbank offshore wind farms in Germany, where the work will also include crew transfer between the offshore accommodation platform and shore.

The tender is divided into two lots, one for the services sought for the Danish offshore wind farms and one for helicopter transport for Vattenfall’s German offshore wind farms.

The contracts, valued at a total of EUR 30 million, will start on 1 July 2025 and will be in effect until 30 September 2030 for the work in Denmark and until 31 May 2027 for operations in Germany.

According to the contract notice, Vattenfall intends “to enter into a contract with either one party in LOT 1 or with one or two parties in LOT 2 providing suitable access and availability of the suitable helicopters for hoisting [personnel] to wind turbines and crew transfer in relevant locations (Denmark and / or Germany)”.

The deadline for the submission of requests to participate is 19 September 2024.

The company plans to hold two rounds of bidding, an invitation to tender (ITT) and the best and final offer (BAFO). Bidders that have passed the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) phase will be invited to tender, and then the two top bidders from the ITT round will be invited to update their offers in the BAFO phase.

Horns Rev 1, built off the western coast of Jutland between 2002 and 2003, is the world’s first large-scale offshore wind farm and was also the first wind farm to be installed in the North Sea. The 160 MW offshore wind farm comprises 80 Vestas V80-2.0MW turbines.

Vattenfall’s 407 MW Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm was inaugurated in 2019 and was Denmark’s largest operating offshore wind farm at the time. Located 25 to 40 kilometres off the west coast of Jutland, Horns Rev 3 comprises 49 MHI Vestas 8.3 MW wind turbines.

The 288 MW DanTysk offshore wind farm in Germany is located some 70 kilometres west of the island of Sylt and comprises 80 Siemens Gamesa 3.6 MW turbines that have been in operation since 2014.

The Sandbank offshore wind farm, which also has a 288 MW capacity, has 72 Siemens Gamesa 4 MW turbines that have been in operation since 2017. The Sandbank offshore wind farm is located some 90 kilometres west of Sylt.