Exchange Forum on Wind Turbine Installation Vessels

Offshore engineering and windfarm development was the topic of the GL First Class Exchange Forum in cooperation with Samsung Heavy Industries, Beluga Hochtief Offshore, Huisman, and BLM Jack up Systems. What are the solutions for offshore installations? What type of vessels are required? What kind of operational experience has been obtained in recent wind farm installation projects? What are the regulatory boundaries? And what can GL offer to ship owners, vessel operators and energy utilities? All these questions had been addressed during the offshore seminar which was attended by some eighty clients in Hamburg’s International Maritime Museum.

Wind energy is one of the key renewable energy sources that will make a significant contribution towards the goals of clean energy around the world. The wind energy industry is in a period of significant growth.
New capacity is installed predominantly offshore rather than onshore at least in Europe.

According to the European Offshore Wind Market Report by GL Garrad Hassan, there is a massive demand on the current supply chain, e.g.
turbine suppliers, installation vessels, transformers for offshore sub-stations and most critically experienced personnel as well as grid connection issues and funding. Offshore wind projects in Europe are at a stage of mass development with 1.5GW already operating and a further 100GW at the planning and development stages.

In respect to suitable installation vessels there seems to be a danger of insufficient number which could constrain offshore wind development in the coming years. It is planned to install some 800 foundations and wind turbines p.a. till 2020. Turbines are getting bigger and heavier.
The towers are growing, too. This requires new installation vessels capable of handling the next generation of offshore turbines of between three to five Megawatts. Installation vessels specially designed to handle bigger turbines will come into operation.

Since offshore wind farming is in its start-up phase with many players in field, a large number of different design concepts exist with a large potential for growth. GL’s Maritime business segment is already involved in more than 18 wind installation and maintenance newbuilding projects.
The combined experience from the renewable sector, offshore installations and maritime operations within GL Group provides the groundwork for a comprehensive service portfolio and offers the competence to assist in any step of the project across all industries.

At the forum, Samsung Heavy Industries presented a new wind turbine installation barge while Beluga Hochtief Offshore explained the project management of a next generation wind turbine installation vessel. This vessel could handle +5MW wind turbines in deeper waters and in large distances to port. BLM gave an introduction to rack and pinion systems.
Rack and pinion systems are a proven technology for jacking up self-elevating units, such as the vessels used for the installation of wind turbines. Huisman spoke on the requirements of offshore cranes. The crane manufacturer has expanded its heavy lifting product range with a customised range of wind turbine installation cranes. Cranes are one of the most important equipment for the installation of wind turbines.
Customised cranes are necessary to streamline the installation process of foundation structures, towers and turbines.

In addition, the attendees of the exchange forum heard a presentation on the regulatory framework for wind turbine installation vessels, wind turbine carriers, barges, and subsea support vessels. One common advantage of these latest generation vessels is that DP2 (dynamic positioning of level 2) has become the quasi standard. This leads to the big advantage, that these vessels do not require anchors to be run while maneuvering, allowing to operate significantly quicker.