News
04-04-2008
Ceremonial Keel laying of the BARD installation vessel
“Wind Lift I” is build at a shipbuilding yard in Klaipeda in Lithuania
On Friday (4.4. 2008 14:00 MET) the BARD-Group has celebrated the official keel laying of its jack-up vessel in the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda. The crane vessel with helicopter platform has a total length of 101.80 metres, a width of 36 metres and can lift itself out of the waves by means of 71 metres long jack-up legs. Thereby the ship offers a stable work platform independent from weather and waves for the installation of offshore wind turbines. The construction time for the ship will be almost one year. The building shell of the deckhouse with the crew quarters is also already finished.
At the official ceremony in the PC Western Shipbuilding ship yard on Friday afternoon Anton Baraev the managing director of BARD Engineering GmbH talked about this remarkable innovation in offshore wind farm installation: “Our logistic concept is unique.” Until now one has depended on crane ships and lifting platforms for the installation of offshore wind farms as they are being used by the oil and gas industry. The “Wind Lift I” however has been especially designed for the installation concept of BARD. The ship is powered by four pivoting rudder propellers with a power of 1520 kW each and possesses besides a heavy weight crane and a supporting crane a special template with which the three up to 95 metres long foundation piles of the BARD foundation structure can be exactly positioned and then driven into the sea bed. Mr. Baraev „With the help of this drive template we can assure only minor deviations in the range of centimetres while installing the foundation, in spite of the size of the structure.”
When the vessel with satellite supported navigation system has reached the designated site of the wind turbine, it will “jack-up” itself on the four hydraulic legs above sea level. At the same time tugboats will transport the necessary foundation structures, towers, rotors and nacelles on heavy weight pontoons to the project area. The crane will lift the foundation piles and positions them precisely in the North Sea with help of the hydraulic Grippers and the drive template. Then the ship-own hammer drives the piles into the sea bed. After the 450 ton heavy transition piece has been mounted, the tower is installed. The main crane will than lift the nacelle and afterwards the rotor star with diameter of 122m in one piece.
Special advantage of the BARD installation vessel is that even in harsh environment it will provide a secure working platform. Anton Baraev said: “ It is a sophisticated and highly efficient concept”. In the last months the University of Berlin tested a 1:40 model of the installation vessel in their wave canal under extreme conditions which means sea conditions you will find only every 100 years.
The shipyard in Klaipeda belongs to the Estonian “BLRT- Group”. We placed the order because PC Western Shipbuilding Yard stands for high qualifications and experience in shipbuilding”, stated Anton Baraev at the keel laying ceremony of the “Wind Lift I”. Also the delivery time fitted perfectly into the BARD time schedule to start installation of the first German commercial offshore wind farm.
The Yard PC Western Shipbuilding Yard belongs to “AB Vakaru laivu gamykla” (VLG) and therefore to the Estonian “BLRT Group”. The yard employs in Klaipeda 160 people and is already sold out in a long term run with the production of medium sized ferries as well as special vessels for the offshore oil and wind industry. “ The BARD project is unique and very interesting because it is build in two different docks” said the Marketing and Sales Director Jevgenij Petrov. Both parts will be later on assembled in the water.
The purchase order has an investment of about 50 million Euros. An investment which will be easily amortized said Anton Baraev: “ We are independent from the charter market which relies on the needs and the prices of the oil industry”. “Wind Lift I” will have up to 50 crew people. The 500 tons crane has a 121 metres lifting capacity and will be delivered from the Dutch company Gusto MSC which also constructed the jack-up system for the platform.
Port of registry for the” Wind Lift I” will be Cuxhaven. The installation vessel will be delivered spring 2009 and will right after arrival starting the installation of the 80 BARD-VM- 5 megawatts offshore turbines for our wind farm “BARD Offshore 1” about 100 kilometres distant from Borkum. The installation will take place in two phases. In times of unpleasant weather conditions BARD will start with the setting of the foundations and during the summer period the towers and nacelles will be installed. For a well trained team the installation of an BARD offshore turbine should not take longer than 48 hours. After the installation of the “BARD Offshore 1” wind farm in 2010 the installation vessel will be used for service and maintenance.