Offshore Floating
Installation and major component replacement of floating wind turbines at quayside, inshore or at site – offshore – performed from a variety of existing vessels and barges.
Benefits of WindSpider for Offshore Floating wind market
WindSpider offers a solution to one of the biggest challenges the offshore floating wind is facing – namely, major component replacement. By eliminating the relative motion between the wind turbine tower and the crane, WindSpider allows for major component replacement on site, consequently, eliminating the need for the costly and time-consuming tow-to-port approach – which is also environmentally strenuous.
Similarly, installation of floating wind turbines can be performed from port, in sheltered waters or offshore, allowing for never-before flexibility and reducing the need for quayside upgrades required to accommodate large cranes and eliminating issues with water depths.
WindSpider can be scaled to perform lifts of over 1500 tonnes, without any height restrictions and requires no design changes to wind turbine or tower, making it a solution for the existing and future generations of wind turbines.
Several studies were performed to evaluate multiple floating foundation designs, showing good results and compatibility of the solution.
Another advantage of WindSpider, is its compatibility with a variety of existing vessels and barges with better availability, and day rates that allow for significant cost savings of the operations. The fact that operations can be performed from a floating structure also make the water depth and the soil conditions irrelevant, and allow for offshore wind expansion beyond previously assumed borders.
With effective mobilization and demobilization time, and improved operability at windy quaysides and inshore, WindSpider is a big step towards a sustainable offshore floating wind industry.