Deutsche Windtechnik’s new multi-brand offshore wind turbine servicing unit achieved reduced response times between October 2020 and April 2021.
Using helicopters to reach the Alpha Ventus and Riffgat offshore wind farms achieved response times of under three hours, the company said.
Logistics and personnel costs were reduced by 8% during the period, it added.
Deutsche Windtechnik’s offshore wind service operations base is located at its new service hub in Emden.
The building, which was inaugurated in the summer of 2020, is located in the vicinity of the heliport of the coastal city, allowing maintenance and troubleshooting deployments to be initiated and carried out quickly by helicopter, the company said.
In order to make deployments even more effective, the service work was organised to encompass multiple wind farms and technologies to the greatest extent possible.
Three-person service teams were assembled in such a way that different system expertise was available as needed.
The traditional troubleshooting concept that was in use up until autumn 2020 specified teams with expertise in just one single system technology.
Teams were previously either mobilised from Borkum by crew transport vessel or, if the deployment had to be carried out at short notice, by helicopter from Emden with a stopover on the island of Borkum.
Both of these options increased the costs in the overall calculation of the projects.
The evaluation of the campaign based on concrete figures shows that the multi-brand service hub, which was put into operation for the first time, has resulted in reduced downtimes for the wind turbines at the two offshore wind farms.
Dirk Warnecke, the managing director of the Riffgat offshore wind farm, said: “Deutsche Windtechnik informed us about their plans last year.
“We supported them and are pleased that the innovative approach was successfully implemented in practice. Since it was possible to reduce costs, we can say that the project was successful for everyone involved.”