Blue Water Handles Offshore Wind Turbines for Siemens Gamesa
Blue Water Port Services is involved in two projects for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. The first project is Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, consisting of two 6 MW wind turbines to be installed 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, USA, and is the nation’s second offshore wind farm. The second project is Borssele Wind Farm 1 and 2, where 94 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines will be installed 14 miles off the coast of the Dutch province Zeeland.
The first installation vessel ”Sea Challenger” was loaded for departure to Holland in early April, and this project will run for the entire summer. Borssele is the first project for which Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will be shipping their new B-81 blade forming part of Siemens Gamesa’s 8 MW turbine. Handling of the blades is performed by Blue Water using newly developed handling equipment from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
The second vessel “Coastal Virginia” left Esbjerg shortly before Easter and is now well under way across the Atlantic to the destination in Virginia, USA.
“Despite the COVID-19 situation, all work processes are performed in a safe manner. All teams involved are isolated from each other to avoid contamination. For instance, when loading the vessels, we enclose the work areas so that our stevedores can work independently without having others involved. In this way, we ensure that the vessel and crew as well as Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy’s Installation team are isolated from the people working ashore. Working 100% safely can only be accomplished through efficient and safe communication between all parties involved”, says Søren Messmann, General Manager Port Services Division, Blue Water.
