Dutch fabricator Sif is adapting its production facilities in Roermond and Maasvlakte in response to new design standards for bigger offshore wind foundations and stricter requirements for coatings.
The changes are the result of the wind industry’s ambition to develop projects in deeper waters, lower costs and generate more energy, the company said.
Sif said that the maximum diameter of a monopile foundation will grow to 11 metres from 8.3 metres currently, while the weight will increase to 2000 tonnes from 1234 tonnes.
The coating surface will double from 1500 to 3000 square metres internally and externally.
The company is preparing a section of the production halls at Roermond for larger diameters and as a result heavier cans.
Roller racks and other equipment are being modernised or adapted so that thin-walled cans can be used, it added.
At Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the company is currently building two extra coating halls that are due to be operational by early July.
The 54-metre hall will also be extended to 106 metres by the end of the year in order to install new machinery in the first half of 2020, Sif said.
“At the moment, all the cans are rolled and welded in Roermond and assembled into monopiles on the Second Maasvlakte,” the company said. “From 2020 onward, we’ll also start rolling and welding cans in Rotterdam.”
Sif monopiles operational manager Bart Overbeek (pictured) said: “We need to do this so that we can meet the future demand for larger diameters. Roermond can’t meet that demand on its own.
“But this doesn’t mean there will be less work in Roermond. Across the entire line, we can see that the variation in requirements is growing.
“And the demand for smaller diameters is growing too. Internationally, the Netherlands has signed agreements to achieve specific targets in the area of sustainability. Wind energy – and therefore Sif – can make an important contribution to this.”