UK engineering company Osbit is to design and build an offshore wind turbine pile gripper system for Malaysian outfit Sapura Energy to support the development of WPD’s 640MW Yunlin offshore wind farm off Taiwan.
The gripper will be installed on Sapura’s heavy lift vessel and will support the installation of the wind farm’s 80 monopile foundations, which are each eight-metres in diameter.
Osbit said the system is designed to facilitate monopile installation from a moored floating vessel.
“The pile gripper will maintain the position and verticality of monopile foundations and be deployed and stowed using a deck rail skidding system,” the company said.
The gripper will be able to accommodate monopiles between 6.5 and 10 metres in diameter, with push forces up to 300 tonnes, it added.
The deal also includes a control cabin design and an integrated near pile noise mitigation system to lessen subsea noise associated with piling activities.
Work on the system is underway at Osbit’s Northumberland headquarters and will be delivered to meet a 30-week lead-time.
Osbit said the contract is its first with Sapura Energy and expands its existing footprint in the east Asian offshore wind market.
Osbit managing director Brendon Hayward said: “We are delighted to add Sapura Energy to our client-base and to expand Osbit’s footprint in the emergent East Asian offshore wind market.
“We are now applying our offshore handling expertise and closely collaborating with Sapura Energy to deliver a high-quality solution on spec, to budget and in time.”