OP innovate offshore wind turbine access

The trials were conducted with the backing of Siemens Wind Power and Statoil, at the Hywind Demo floating offshore wind turbine off Norway’s coast.

MaXccess was installed on the wind farm service vessel Bayard 3, operated by Fred Olsen Windcarrier, for the duration of the trials conducted over the past month from Statoil’s Hywind operations base at Skudeneshavn, Norway. The trials saw successful safe transfer of personnel taking place in conditions ranging from 1.2m up to 1.9m significant wave height (Hs). During the nine days of offshore operations, over 100 connections were made.

Dr Tony Trapp established OP 18 months ago with the aim of improving offshore technologies, particularly those related to wind. He said: “Transferring personnel is not only one of the most hazardous activities on a wind farm but also a major bottleneck due to the weather limits of current transfer technology. With MaXccess OP has created both a safer, more predictable means of transfer and a route to cost reduction through greater accessibility to turbines.”

The MaXccess system provides a stable platform from which personnel can transfer to and from the boat landing platforms mounted on turbine foundation structures using a friction based clamp connected to a vessel. The system uses instrumentation to measure and log load and position data.

There is also a traffic light warning system to indicate when safe transfer conditions are present and the lack of a requirement to continually thrust into the boat landing at high power results in less strain on vessel engines, and can therefore help reduce engine maintenance and fuel costs.