Project Manager Peter Kyhl:
"On Wednesday, 13 June 2018, Swire Blue Ocean (SBO) kicked off the mobilisation phase for what is going to be our largest windfarm installation to date, Beatrice. The project consists of 84 wind turbine generators (WTGs) rated at 7 MW each to be installed by Pacific Orca off Scotland’s north-east coast.
Our client, Siemens Gamesa, was given access to the vessel 3 days ahead of schedule which they used to mark up the locations on deck for their equipment. Making sure the measurements of the markings are precise is extremely important as understanding exactly how the weights and stresses of an entire load are propagated into the vessel is vital for its stability and integrity.
The most important business during the mobilisation period is the construction of the sea fastening. The sea fastening is basically a holster with the purpose of securing the wind turbine components during transport. For the Beatrice project, the sea fastening is built to carry 5 complete WTGs, adding up to a total load of approximately 5,000 tonnes. WTGs are transported in sections with each turbine consisting of a tower and a nacelle which both weigh around 400 tonnes and 3 blades weighing in around 30 tonnes each.
The mobilisation period ended successfully on the 26th of June then Pacific Orca transited from the Port of Esbjerg to the Port of Nigg, situated in northern Scotland, for her first load-out.
I have personally just returned from Scotland where I oversaw the initial loading of the first WTGs. Witnessing the lifting of a 400 tonne, 85-metre-high tower was very impressive. I hope that the good cooperation we have had with the client during the mobilisation process will continue during the installation phase and with all the different stakeholders involved in this huge project.
I am proud to be a part of the team delivering a facility which will produce up to 588 MW, equivalent to the usage from ca. 215,000 households, of CO2 neutral electricity every day to the consumers in the United Kingdom.
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Picture above: Pacific Orca leaving Port of Esbjerg on 26 June 2018. Photo by Peter Kyhl, SBO
Peter Kyhl, Project Manager. Peter has a decade long experience in the offshore industry and has been with Swire Blue Ocean since April 2018.