Ampelmann Gangway to Back Volstad Maritime at French Offshore Wind Project

Dutch offshore access provider Ampelmann will supply an E5000 motion compensated gangway to Norway-based Volstad Maritime to assist with cabling and commissioning operations on the Saint-Brieuc wind farm offshore France.

Unveiled in 2019, the E5000 is a full motion compensated system that is capable of transferring personnel and cargo of up to approximately five tonnes.

The up to 28-metre long gangway can operate in high sea states which extends the weather window of operations, increases operational efficiency, and eliminates the need to maintain both a crane and a gangway on the same vessel, Ampelmann said.

Based on E-type technology, the unit can switch between personnel transfer and cargo mode in less than a minute and is suited for construction, commissioning, and repair operations on offshore wind turbines, according to the manufacturer.

The system will be fitted on the offshore construction vessel (OCV) Deep Cygnus in early September 2022 for a duration between 50 to 180 days.

Volstad Maritime will support Nexans during the installation of the power export cables at the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm site.

This marks the first entry of the E5000 in French territorial waters and Ampelmann’s second major contract in the French renewable energy sector since 2021.

“It comes at an opportune moment, as the French pledge to increase their offshore wind energy capacity to 50GW by 2050, this will lead to an increasing demand for safe and flexible access solutions for cargo and personnel”, said Ralph Schnee, Ampelmann’s Business Developer for Europe remarks.

The 496 MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm is located in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, 16.3 kilometres from the Breton coast. 

The wind farm will have 62 jackets that will support Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines.

Once operational next year, Saint-Brieuc will be producing 1,820 GWh of electricity per year.

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