800t Monopiles for Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm
In May 2019, the first pipe for the Danish offshore wind farm Kriegers Flak was made in the Rostock production site for the Swedish energy company Vattenfall.
By September 2019, all 72 monopiles will have been produced and coated.
The foundations are being manufactured in Rostock in Germany by EEW Special Pipe Constructions. The up to 800t monopiles will be sailed from Rostock directly to the offshore construction site for installation 15-40 kilometres off the Danish coast.
Installation of the foundations will be carried out by the Van Oord heavy lift installation vessel Svanen. The Svanen central pile gripper is currently the largest monopile installation tool available, capable of handling piles for diameters up to 11 meters. It makes Van Oord HLV Svanen ready for large monopiles installation in the future offshore wind farm projects. The Hammer seafastening foundation next to the gripper can store hammers up to 1200 t. Both the gripper and hammer platform can skid along the moon bay of Svanen. The hammer platform can skid over the top of the gripper during transit leaving enough free space in the moon bay. The Noise Mitigation System is also designed to be integrated under the gripper. The system opens and closes together with the pile gripper. This equipment was designed by Temporary Works Design (TWD) for Van Oord.
HLIV Svanen receiving a monopile for installation
Overview of the gripper
The integrated skidding system
Photographs courtesy of EEW / Van Oord / TWD