Houlder’s TAS on Trial at Thanet Wind Farm

Houlder’s TAS (Turbine Access System) has taken a step closer to meeting operator requirements by completing a trial period within the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme on the Vattenfall’s Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, Kent.

The system has been installed on CWind’s Coastal Knight 20t composite crew transfer vessel throughout June 2014. During this time it was used by Vattenfall technicians to transfer – enabling secure access to the turbine from a fixed position.

The OWA is a joint industry programme aiming to reduce the cost of offshore wind by 10% for UK Round 3 sites, with one of its areas of activity focussed on supporting the offshore wind industry in providing safe, reliable personnel transfer in the future. Marc Costa Ros, manager from the Carbon Trust, states “Sea trials are a very important input for the OWA Performance Evaluation assessment, since they provide raw data to validate our current R&D hypothesis and results.” Carbon Trust’s OWA has been responsible of collecting the vessel performance data during the trial.

This latest set of trials has demonstrated the importance of successful integration between vessel and chosen access system. The height of the TAS was considered carefully in regards to visibility from the bridge. TAS’s weight, despite being well within the Coastal Knight cargo capability was assessed in regard to its impact on transit speed and fuel consumption. The biggest impact was on sea keeping performance while the Coastal Knight engaged with the turbine for example.

Rupert Hare, Houlder’s Chief Executive Officer commented “We always knew providing safe and reliable access would involve more than developing a standalone piece of equipment. Through our work with CWind, Vattenfall and the Carbon Trust we’ve learned a lot about how TAS and the vessel interact and the impact on smaller, lighter vessels in particular.”

The offshore industry has, quite rightly, set the bar high for access solutions. TAS’s development reflects Houlder’s desire to make a lasting impact.