ENERGY Ӏ SECTOR REPORT
LG1550 was rigged in luffing
jib configuration. The turbine was lifted and installed first, followed by the generator, with both being lifted directly onto their final positions with the meticulous precision that was required to negotiate the limited clearance.
OFFSHORE WIND Wind is one of the world energy game-changers, both on- and off- shore. Offshore wind is involving huge effort and investment globally – see, for example, the box on p34 – with, so far, one curious exception: there are currently only 12 wind turbine generators off the entire Eastern coast of the USA. Regulatory ambivalence during
the Trump presidency gave way to an optimistic target under the Biden administration of building 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030; but after initial enthusiasm, rising costs and disputes over the price that generating companies could charge for electricity has led to cancellations of over 3GW of large offshore projects off the coasts of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. One large project that is going
ahead, however, is the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm, a 2.6-gigawatt offshore wind energy project of 176 wind turbines with three offshore substations, between 26 and 40 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Over the next two years
Sarens will receive and load out the monopiles and the transition pieces, jackets and topsides for the substations. Sarens’ on-site involvement
commenced in October 2023 with the arrival of the vessel SunShine after the Sarens team in Rostock, Germany, had successfully loaded it with the first eight monopiles. Over three days the Sarens
team successfully unloaded the monopiles, swapped out the shipping saddles, moved the piles to storage, and returned the shipping saddles to the vessel. Construction at the site will be finished in time to receive the transition pieces in early 2024. With those eight units safely at the storage site there are therefore currently 168 more monopiles to be transported across the Atlantic, unloaded, stored and installed.
MONOPILE GRIPPER For offshore wind innovations continue apace. In February, Huisman announced the signing of a contract with Danish offshore windfarm installer Cadeler for the design and production of a Monopile Gripper. Huisman already has 13 main cranes and auxiliary cranes already on order by Cadeler.
The Gripper, with a substantial Liebherr's
LG 1800 1-0: designed for windfarms
13-metre diameter, is engineered for the efficient and controlled installation of monopiles ranging in length from 80 to 120 metres, with a weight of up to 3,000 tonnes.
Notably, this gripper can be entirely stored on deck, facilitating future maintenance procedures and thus operational longevity. An interesting feature is an
option for the integration of a noise mitigation system. This is designed to minimise the impact of noise on sea life, showing both companies’ commitment to environmentally responsible practices. Production of the Gripper will take place at Huisman’s production facility in China. "This new contract with Huisman solidifies our strategic commitment and collaboration in pushing the boundaries of what's possible as we prepare for the future of offshore wind farm construction,” says Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler. “If we are to reach our global goals for renewable offshore wind energy we will need cutting-edge technologies and scale, which our strengthened partnership embodies." "A long-term partnership like this one enables us to remain at the forefront of delivering step- changing solutions that contribute to the advancement of sustainable energy projects worldwide,” adds David Roodenburg, CEO of Huisman. The gripper, a first for
Cadeler, will play a key role in delivering on the North Sea Hornsea Three project. Huisman also successfully delivered two Motion Compensated Monopile Grippers for DEME's Orion and Boskalis' Bokalift 2 installation vessels. Currently, Huisman is in the process of building one for Heerema's Thialf semi-submersible crane vessel. Offshore monopiles have also been the focus of Utrecht, The Netherlands-headquartered heavy lift and transport specialist Mammoet. The company has developed a new jacking and cradle system that can lift large
36 CRANES TODAY
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