The Netherlands: Voith and DOI Develop TFliner Concept for Wind Turbine Installation Vessel

In cooperation with Voith, Dutch Offshore Innovators BV, (DOI) developed together a new concept for economical operations of a wind turbine foundation installation vessel. The so-called TFliner concept is a move towards compact design and simplicity, which drastically reduces construction costs. An increase in operability is offered by the Voith Roll Stabilization (VRS) feature of Voith Schneider Propellers (VSP).

This was the reason for VSP being chosen as propulsion system for sailing and station-keeping. The aim of DOI, a young company of naval architects, was to design an economical vessel. Therefore both the construction costs as well as the operating costs had to be kept to a minimum. For the operations, innovative installation techniques have been developed that reduce the size and therefore the costs of the mission equipment. The first vessel has been designed to carry monopiles of up to 75m in length and 900t in weight. For the handling of the monopiles the vessel can be equipped with a system of rollers and translators that move the monopiles over the deck.

Subsequently, up to 16 transition pieces can be carried on the main deck of the vessel. The transition pieces can be installed directly using the motion- compensated crane with a capacity of 350t. Alternatively, the vessel will be fully equipped for installation of jacket type foundations, comprising state-of-the-art tools for installation and piling of foundation piles, and installing the jacket. In this design version the ship will carry two jackets and thus reduce the overall construction time.

In cooperation with Voith, Dutch Offshore Innovators BV, (DOI) developed together a new concept for economical operations of a wind turbine foundation installation vessel.

The so-called TFliner concept is a move towards compact design and simplicity, which drastically reduces construction costs. An increase in operability is offered by the Voith Roll Stabilization (VRS) feature of Voith Schneider Propellers (VSP). This was the reason for VSP being chosen as propulsion system for sailing and station-keeping.

The aim of DOI, a young company of naval architects, was to design an economical vessel. Therefore both the construction costs as well as the operating costs had to be kept to a minimum. For the operations, innovative installation techniques have been developed that reduce the size and therefore the costs of the mission equipment. The first vessel has been designed to carry monopiles of up to 75m in length and 900t in weight. For the handling of the monopiles the vessel can be equipped with a system of rollers and translators that move the monopiles over the deck. Subsequently, up to 16 transition pieces can be carried on the main deck of the vessel. The transition pieces can be installed directly using the motion- compensated crane with a capacity of 350t. Alternatively, the vessel will be fully equipped for installation of jacket type foundations, comprising state-of-the-art tools for installation and piling of foundation piles, and installing the jacket. In this design version the ship will carry two jackets and thus reduce the overall construction time.

[mappress]

Source: maritimebyholland, September 7, 2011;