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Deutsche Windtechnik Successful With New Offshore Wind Service Concept

Bremen, Emden, Oldenburg / Germany - The offshore wind industry is undergoing a dynamic development process. In the area of service and maintenance, too, there is still a lot of potential for optimising operating times and costs. This is demonstrated by the new service concept of Deutsche Windtechnik.

In the 2020/21 winter season, Deutsche Windtechnik successfully implemented a new service concept for multi-brand operations by helicopter for the Alpha Venuts and Riffgat offshore wind farms (OWPs). This has reduced response times and significantly lowered logistics and personnel costs.

Deutsche Windtechnik tests new service concept at Alpha Ventus and Riffgat

Until autumn 2020, Deutsche Windtechnik's classic troubleshooting concept for offshore services that was in use specified teams with expertise in just one single system technology. The teams were either transported from Borkum by CTV (Crew Transport Vessel) or, in the case of short-term assignments, by helicopter from Emden with a stopover in Borkum. Both conditions had proven to be cost drivers in the overall calculation of a project.

In order to further increase the effectiveness of the deployments, Deutsche Windtechnik successfully implemented a new service concept for the Alpha Ventus and Riffgat offshore wind farms from October 2020 to April 2021. he base of operations for the service work was Deutsche Windtechnik's new service hub in Emden. The building, which was inaugurated in the summer of 2020, is located in the immediate vicinity of the heliport of the coastal city, allowing maintenance and troubleshooting deployments to be initiated and carried out quickly by helicopter. According to the new concept, service work was carried out across wind farms and technologies wherever possible. For this purpose, three-person service teams were assembled in such a way that different system expertise was available as needed.

New approach brings advantages in terms of response times and costs

According to Deutsche Windtechnik, the evaluation of the campaign shows that the multi-brand service hub, which was activated for the first time, fulfils all expectations: Response times from fault detection to the helicopter lifting off were partially under three hours, meaning that the contractually agreed response times during this maintenance interval were fulfilled without exception. This resulted in reduced downtimes for the wind turbines at the two offshore wind farms. The costs for the use of transport vehicles as well as the expenses for personnel were reduced by eight percent compared to the same period of the previous year. One important factor here is that the distance from the starting point to the place of deployment at the offshore wind farms has been reduced.

For Omexom Renewable Energies, the positive figures speak for the new service concept. Omexom Renewable Energies had supported Deutsche Windtechnik and was pleased that the innovative approaches were ultimately successful in practical implementation. Dirk Warnecke, Managing Director of the Riffgat OWP, welcomes the new concept: " Since it was possible to reduce costs, we can say that the project was successful for everyone involved".

About the companies

Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore (Omexom Offshore) has been supporting offshore wind projects as an independent service provider since 2012. The company provides consultation to owners and operators in the industry based on its own experience in project development and operations management, and it provides support in all matters relating to the generation of electrical energy at sea and its transmission to land stations. More than 160 employees take care of the operational management of offshore wind farms as well as the maintenance and servicing of substations and transition pieces.

Deutsche Windtechnik AG, headquartered in Bremen, offers the complete package for the technical maintenance of wind turbines (onshore and offshore) nationally and internationally from a single source. More than 7,000 wind turbines from a wide range of manufacturers are serviced worldwide by more than 1,900 employees under fixed maintenance contracts (basic maintenance and full maintenance).



Source: IWR Online, 03 Aug 2021

 


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