The offshore wind farm industry continues to advance at an incredible pace. The most recent example of that fact is the heavy-duty maintenance pulled off on a floating wind turbine in the North Sea, the first time ever such maintenance has been accomplished — and it could revolutionize the offshore wind industry.
This was the world's first generator swap on a floating wind turbine completed offshore. Until now, to complete such a task, the turbine would have had to be towed miles to shore, often burning dirty energy to do so.
Earlier this year, the world's first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland, was towed to Norway for maintenance and returned earlier this month. But this new technology from Dutch firm LiftOff could do away with the need to tow floating turbines to shore.
The generator swap took place at the Kincardine floating wind farm in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland. The swap was possible because of LiftOff's GenHook, a crane that can be towed to the turbine and temporarily installed on top of it. The GenHook lowered the old generator down to a floater, then lifted the new generator and set it in place.
This same technology can be used for all different types of repairs.
"This solution for repairs has the potential to have positive sector-wide impact," said José Polimón Olabarrieta, project manager at Dragados, the wind farm owner. "With the floating offshore wind farm industry still in a fledgling state, it is crucial owners and operators across the world learn from projects such as this and share best practices."
It's no secret that in a lot of cases, the production of clean energy requires some use of dirty energy, though the benefits far outweigh the negatives. This is just one example of a new technology that will make it no longer necessary to use dirty energy in order to produce clean energy.
"By pushing the boundaries of innovation and embracing the requirement to improve previous processes," Olabarrieta said, "we have achieved a world-first solution that redefines the future for the renewables industry."
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