Offshore Wind Engineering Tomorrow
- Published: 28 February 2017 28 February 2017
Marine Consulting Firm LOC Looks Towards Offshore Wind Innovation
Since its establishment in Fenchurch Street, London, in 1979, LOC Group has focused on delivering independent specialised marine engineering consultancy to the maritime and offshore energy industry. Since 2002 LOC has been closely involved in many of the offshore renewable energy sector’s most advanced engineering developments and continues to push for innovation in offshore wind – whether fixed or floating.
By R.V. Ahilan, LOC Group, UK
DualLift GmbH, a company based in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Germany, is a manufacturer of drive systems for wind turbine service lifts. With its new development of a roller-chain-based drive system instead of one using a wire rope, the company offers a new technology for the industry that improves safety and comfort.
As the inventor of the aluminium ladder in Europe 50 years ago, it was Hailo that introduced ladders to wind turbine towers. So Hailo was on board right from the start of our industry. Its fall arresters and service lifts made important contributions to the development of the industry as the height of towers increased. Today, Hailo is a supplier of tower equipment that is installed all over the world and the company is present in all key markets, providing support to its customers. With its versatile range of products, Hailo offers solutions for all applications – onshore, offshore and in lattice towers.
The German firm of Gebr. Eickhoff GmbH has been family-owned for five generations and since 1864, has had its headquarters in Bochum near Dortmund. It also has other subsidiaries worldwide. The firm specialises in producing foundry, mining machinery, and industrial and wind turbine gearboxes. In this article Eize de Vries finds out more about the history, capabilities and aims of the company.
Spares in Motion is an independent e-business platform for the wind turbine aftermarket. Its services range from spare parts to repair capabilities and used wind turbines. The wind turbine aftermarket is experiencing double-digit growth. To support turbines you need parts and services. By creating transparency in the wind turbine aftermarket the availability of parts and services will increase, leading to a higher, more efficient end turbine output with lower stocking costs.
About three years ago, while I [Bruce] was sharing a drink with some friends, the evening’s conversation turned to wind turbines. One of the gentlemen at the table was managing a blade refurbishment project in Iowa, USA, that was behind schedule and over budget. His problem was related to the removal and re-installation of the blades. The project was constantly being held up by weather conditions unsuitable for crane operations, and the additional time delays and crane costs were threatening his project. Having experience with industrial robotics and composites, I asked him if it was possible to paint the blades in place and eliminate the crane entirely. ‘You’re nuts, that would never work!’ was his reply, and the next morning Helical Robotics was born. The following story outlines the solutions we have created to fix this sort of problem, and the machines that make it possible.