Cuxport Supports Innovative Monopile Operations for Amrumbank West

Cuxport has been supporting the Dutch company Ballast Nedam Offshore in the use of an alternative technique to transport and install monopiles at the “Amrumbank West” wind park on behalf of E.ON since the middle of August.

The foundation piles are no longer just transported to the offshore site on board the setup vessel, but are now lowered into the water by crane in Cuxhaven; tugs then haul them to the wind farm. A special ship erects them there.

However, before it is possible to transport the monopiles in the water – and each one weighs approx. 600 tonnes – it is necessary to seal them and make them airtight. Cuxport is working with the specialists from Ballast Nedam Offshore to achieve this; they seal the monopiles with covers while the units are still on dry land.

The Cuxport crawler crane then lifts the foundation piles into the water from the pier. The berth used for this work is right next to berth 8, where the jack-up vessel “MPI Discovery” can moor. “Then we’re able to serve both berths with just one crawler crane at the ninety degree corner where vessels can dock on two sides,” says Hans-Peter Zint, Managing Director of Cuxport, explaining the benefits. Once the steel pipes are in the water, tugs haul them to the offshore site.

One of the world’s most powerful floating cranes, the “Svanen”, is operating at the “Amrumbank West” wind park. The special vessel raises the monopiles and then installs them. “Now that we’re relying on two technologies to complete the project, we’ve become even more flexible and can more easily make up for any disruptions in the construction work or delays,” says Peter Voigt, Logistics Package Manager for the E.ON Amrumbank project.

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Press release, September 11, 2014; Image:  Cuxport GmbH