Bakker Sliedrecht has been awarded a contract for the engineering, delivery and commissioning of the main electrical power package of the offshore installation vessel Orion. The DP3 vessel will be built at COSCO Qidong in China and delivered to DEME subsidiary GeoSea in 2019. It will then be deployed by GeoSea for the construction of large offshore wind farms and to deliver offshore construction services. With a total installed electrical power of 44,180kW, Orion will be equipped with a high-tech crane with a lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at more than 50m. The loads can be lifted to a height of more than 170m. The scope of supply includes: four Indar generators; four Indar main propulsion electrical motors; two retractable thruster motors; two tunnel thrusters; two 11kV switchboards; two 690V switchboards; four 440V switchboards for DP essentials; two LV electrical drive systems for eight-point mooring system; four LV electrical drive systems for azimuth thrusters; and two LV electrical drive systems for bow thrusters. Furthermore, Orion will be equipped with ABB’s new ACS 880 liquid-cooled low-voltage multidrive system. Jan Gabriel, head of DEME’s newbuilding department, said, “We look forward to working with Bakker Sliedrecht on a ship that is breaking boundaries. Our experience with Bakker Sliedrecht, gained during earlier projects, and the experience of Bakker Sliedrecht with delivering complex electrical systems for DP offshore installation vessels, strengthens our confidence in a great project execution.”