Maintenance on world’s first floating wind farm demands specialist crane
The world’s first floating wind farm, the 30 MW Hywind Scotland pilot park, is currently undergoing maintenance works include replacement of bearings and other repairs on its five turbines.
Hywind Scotland, located 25 kilometres offshore of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, comprises five Siemens Gamesa 6 MW turbines mounted on SPAR-type foundations. The turbines are undergoing maintenance at the Wergeland Base, Norway’s west coast, before being reconnected.
Operated by Hywind (Scotland) Limited, the wind farm delivers enough power to supply around 35,000 homes in the UK. The current total global offshore wind power capacity is 64.3 gigawatt (GW) with the United Kingdom contributing 22% making it the second-largest contributor after China (49%).
Sarens, a world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental services, was commissioned by the port of Wergeland, in Gulen (NO), for the replacement of the bearings in the turbines. Sarens’ scope of work includes the provision of cranes to lift nacelles and blades from the floating wind turbines, transport of these components, and delivery of a skidding system to move the generator in and out of the workshop.
Sarens deployed a range of advanced equipment, including the LR12500-1.0 crane with a tagline system. This posed a significant challenge in terms of delivery and setup, which required precise timing and coordination. Featuring an HDWB2 configuration with a 90-metre main boom and a 66-metre luffing jib, the crane was pivotal in this project, says Sarens.
The crane’s configuration included four tagline winches, ensuring safe and efficient lifting operations. Specialised SPMTs were used for transporting blades and nacelles. A custom-designed lightweight spacer beam was also employed to facilitate the transport of the 75-metre long, 26,5-ton blades.
