Feature: Power
continue to turn to wind energy to sustain their energy mixes and the increase in demand suffered in recent years. And within this relevance of wind energy, its offshore option is particularly important. In this regard, and in the absence of definitive data for 2024, Bloomberg has already pointed to offshore wind power generation of more than 18 GW, a figure which, compared with the 10.7GW reached in 2023, reaffirms the evolution of a very reliable source, which minimises the generation of waste and pollutants and whose impact on the environment is minimal. However, this energy source also poses significant challenges.
To get each individual wind turbine up and running, it must first be transported from the site where it is manufactured, then stored and transported, either together or separately. Structures such as monopiles or jacket foundations, which can sometimes weigh more than 2,000 tons, have to be transferred to their final location, sometimes hundreds of miles off the coast. In this context, companies such as Sarens have specialised in being able to offer a one-stop shop service, from the marshalling of the monopiles to the loading and unloading of the materials onto the barges in which they travel to their destination. Over the last few years, there has been a growing awareness of
the usefulness of these wind farms, especially on the European continent. Examples such as the Sofia Offshore Windfarm on Dogger Bank (UK), which will serve more than 1.2 million homes, or Saint Nazaire and Saint Brieuc in France, are some of the projects Sarens has recently worked on. In the USA there are also some interesting examples of offshore wind farms already under development. One of
them is Empire Wind 1, off the coast of New York. Tis is a wind farm located between 15 and 30 miles south
of Long Island, which will have more than 130 wind turbines producing 2.1 GW of renewable energy each year, enough to power more than one million homes in New York. Sarens will work together with Vestas at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal on various logistics and storage tasks with its SGC-140 crane, also known as Big Benny XL, a ring crane model with a load capacity of more than 3,200 tons. Tus, we can say that Big Benny XL will soon be visiting the Big Apple. In addition to this important renewable alternative, wind power
generation, there are other initiatives, especially in Europe, to renovate and optimise the performance of a multitude of thermal power plants, thereby reducing their environmental impact and reducing the still significant dependence on coal burning. In Belgium, for example, a major renovation and upgrading of plants such as Les Awirs in Flémalle, which will be responsible for power generation for one million households, or the Seraing combined cycle plant in Liege, the second phase of which will come on stream this year, is underway. As we can see, there are many initiatives underway to reduce
the environmental impact of energy generation and continue the transition towards a more sustainable supply and demand. At Sarens, with our motto ‘Sustainability Accelerators,’ we reaffirm our total commitment to the energy sector in order to exploit all available energy sources as respectfully and efficiently as possible without harming the future of future generations.
www.electronicsworld.co.uk February 2025 27
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