GustoMSC and NOV Lifting & Handling have developed equipment designed to bring about improvements in offshore wind turbine blade installations.
The Sjøhest (Norwegian for seahorse) Wind Blade Installation (WBI) solution connects to the tower, creating an aligned movement for safe and efficient blade installation.
Blades are highly susceptible to wind loads, so they take the most time to install.
Sjøhest offers an alternative installation methodology whereby the larger installation jack-up vessels equipped with heavy lift cranes install the towers and nacelles, while the dedicated Sjøhest WBI jack-up vessel with integrated equipment installs the blades.
The installation methodology with Sjøhest ensures major time savings as all three blades per turbine can be installed in one day.
In addition, the installation methodology with Sjøhest enables splitting tower/nacelle and blade mobilisation into separate onshore hubs.
Due to their size, existing and future blades create a huge necessity for space, while quayside blade loads are far less than towers and nacelles.
Sjøhest consists of a dedicated new build NG-5500XL, or a smaller converted jack-up vessel, equipped with a smaller handling crane that picks up the blades from the rack and feeds the trolley.
As a telescopic leader boom connects Sjøhest with the already installed tower, the leader boom connection aligns with the tower’s movements.
This creates an aligned movement between the blade and the tower.
Once connected to the trolley, the blade is horizontally transported up along the leader, rotated into a vertical position, and connected to the rotor.
Sjøhest combines the field-proven GustoMSC NG-5500XL design with NOV Lifting & Handling’s technologies to enhance offshore wind turbine installation efficiency and logistics.
Marc Doorduin, Commercial Director Fixed Wind at GustoMSC, said: “Large installation jack-up vessels have relatively high day rates; therefore, increased installation time or downtime is costly and needs to be avoided as much as possible.”