AREVA Wind

De-Risking Current & Future Blade Installation on

Offshore Projects through Innovative Lifting Methods

SNS2013 - The Sea of Opportunity

5 March 2012

Stephen Ward
Head of Project Management - UK

Agenda
Full range of far offshore experience
Rotor star installation method
Single blade installation method
Comparison of both installation methods

350 AREVA turbines selected in major

offshore wind farms in Europe
2014 to 2015**

2013 to 2014**
MEG 1*

2013**

Deutsche Bucht*

Global Tech 1

42 turbines 210MW

80 turbines 400MW

120km to shore

110km to shore

80 turbines 400MW

2009

41km to shore

Alpha Ventus
6 turbines 30MW

2015 to 2017**

45km to shore

St. Brieuc*
100 turbines 500MW
23km to shore
INSTALLED:
SIGNED:

50 MW
1710 MW

* Subject to financial close

** planned time schedule for installation
AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

2004

2013**

Onshore

Borkum West II
40 turbines 200MW

4 turbines 20MW
Bremerhaven

45km to shore
p.3

First project - Alpha Ventus

Full range of far offshore experience
2009
March-July

2009
June-July

2009
August

2010
27 April

Transport and
mobilisation

Erection of tower
segments

Commissioning

Official
inauguration

2009
April-May

2009
July-August

2009/2010
October-March

Installation of
tripods

Nacelle and rotor

installation

Trial runs

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.4

Agenda
Full range of far offshore experience
Rotor star installation method
Single blade installation method
Comparison of both installation methods

Project Borkum West 2

Rotor Star Installation
Rotor Star

Rotor Star Installation Concept

u Successfully performed at the Alpha Ventus Project
u Rotor Star will be pre-assembled in the Baseport at

Eemshaven
u All necessary components will be delivered by feeder

barges from production ports to Eemshaven

u Pre-Assembled Rotor Star will be shipped together

with all other components

u Fast installation times offshore

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.6

Rotor tilting traverse

Rotor star installation

Rotor star tilting traverse

u Rotor tilting traverse is able to tilt the rotor during lifting

operation without any additional cranes

u Only one crane is required to install the rotor star
u Only one standard installation vessel need be used
u Less offshore operation time required
u Safer work with only one crane due to less interfaces

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.7

Rotor tilting traverse

Already tested and proven

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.8

Agenda
Full range of far offshore experience
Rotor star installation method
Single blade installation method
Comparison of both installation methods

Project Global Tech 1

Single Blade Installation
Blade Dragon

Single Blade Installation

Concept
u Blades will be assembled offshore

by use of newly developed Blade

Dragon tool (see picture)
u Hub will be pre-assembled to

Nacelle before FAS Delivery

u All necessary components will be

stored in the Base Port prior to

loading on the Installation Vessel
u Advantages of Single Blade

Installation
More WTGs stored on Installation
Vessel
Less logistics interfaces
No pre-assembly area necessary
Less weather risk
AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.10

Blade Dragon
Description
Blade Dragon is a remote
controlled yoke that handles
blades in wind speeds up to
12 m/s for installation on the
hub in all positions.
Lift capacity:

With the EC
Declaration of
Conformity the
Blade Dragon
is allowed
operate within
EU

u 20 tons
Approved and certified for:

u European Union (EU)

Manufacturer:

u The Blade Dragon has

been designed and

produced by LIFTRA, a
world leading company
with engineering and
production of lifting and
transportation equipment
for wind turbines.

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.11

The DNV
medium
Certificate the
Blade Dragon
is certified to
meet highest
level of
standards for
this type of
lifting
equipment

Development, Manufacturing and

Testing
2012
January

February

Production of Blade Dragon

Development of
test rig for single
Blade Installation

March
FAT
Test

Test & optimisation of

SBI installation
procedure

Development &
Manufacturing

Production in one of the

production facilities of LIFTRA.
The production of the Blade
Dragon was monitored closely
by AREVA Wind with weekly on
site quality inspections during
the whole production period.

Test Phase I
& Development

April

CE Cert.

May
DNV Low
Certificate

June

July

August

September

Onshore test
of Blade
Dragon (102m
hub height)

Onshore optimization phase: Test of new improvements,

optimized process and general Training on onshore turbines

Test Phase
II &
Development

Test Phase III

&
Development

Test Phase IV: Trainning and Implementation

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

November

Implementation of technical improvements

on Blade Dragon

Ground
Test of
Blade
Dragon

Test of the Single Blade

Installation process using
a special designed on-theground test rig and a 2crane test configuration to
train, test and optimize the
complete process prior to
delivery of the Blade
Dragon

October

Test of the Blade Dragon using

the on-the-ground test rig to
train and optimize the
installation performance prior
to the full onshore test
program.

Onshore test where a full test

incl. all relevant Single Blade
Installation steps and blade
installation positions were
successfully tested at WEC#2
at 102m hub height under low,
medium and high wind
conditions

p.12

Continious
Offshore training
and Optimization

Installation and deinstallation

in two prototypes at 102
meters and 120 meters under
medium and hogh conditions

AREVA Wind

Offshore Single Blade Installation

Focus on Fast, Flexible and Reliable Installation

AREVA wants to provide to our customers a flexible, safe, economic and highly reliable
concept to install blades at different rotor positions
Description
Flexible:

Conventional Single
Blade Installation
Cranes

2 or 1 with traverse

u installation in different
angles and wind
speeds up to 12 m/s

Areva Single Blade Installation

Concept

Safe and stable

u Certified tool controlled with Taglines to
provide stability

Economic
Manoeuvre
and Stability

Medium

High

Installation
and Removal
procedures

More complicated to
install and de-install in
vertical angles

Installation and de-installation

possible at different angles

u installation time 3:25 in average (during

test 3 hours). Our goal: 3 hours in
average

Reliable
u Thoroughly onshore tested during 6
months in several installations

With a specially developed installation tool, AREVA is capable of offering one-crane single blade
installation, as the first in the world, for +5MW Class turbines based on Medium Speed or Direct
Drive power trains.
AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.13

Agenda
Full range of far offshore experience
Rotor star installation method
Single blade installation method
Comparison of both installation methods

Rotor Star or Single Blade?

Situation:
There are different issues which will have influence on the overall installation period of an offshore
wind farm.

Following items have influence for a wind farm installation and can be mitigated by...
...new scheduling

Season of
Installation
The season of the year
will have a big influence
on the overall
installation time
because of higher
weather downtimes in
winter period

...engineering optimization

Weather restrictions

There are different kind

of restrictions in regards
to SBI / RSI and also for
operation of the
installation vessel which
has to be considered

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

...reduced # turbines

... using other vessels

...changing baseport

Number of turbine

Dimensions of used

Distance to

to be installed

installation vessel

baseharbor

High number of turbines

will lead to a high
number of trips (travel
back and forth to the
Base Port)

p.15

On a big installation
vessel the number of
turbines which can be
transported with one
cycle can be increased

The distance to shore

will have the biggest
impact on the transfer
time of the installation
vessel

Two Scenarios with parallel actions on site

1 Single - Blade Installation

2 Rotor - Star Installation

Blade 1
Blade 2
Star
Blade 3
Nacelle

Nacelle

S1

S1

S2

S2

S3

S3

For single blade installation 7 lifts for a complete turbine

are needed. Therefore the whole installation time
compared to rotor star installation per turbine is higher.
Hub will be pre-assembly to nacelle for single blade
installation.

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

For rotor star installation 5 lifts for a complete

turbine are needed. Therefore the whole
installation time compared to single blade
installation per turbine is lower.
The rotor star will be pre-assembled in the
base harbour.

p.16

Advantages and Benefits (1/2)

1

SPACE / Decks layout

Limited space
on the vessel for
rotor stars

LESS COSTS for single blade

installation
RSI: Depending on the
distance to shore
there will be a longer
period for installation
of the wind farm
u Longer charter period
of vessel higher
logistic costs
u SBI: Depending on the
distance to shore
there will be a shorter
period for installation
of the wind farm
u Shorter charter period
of vessel less
logistic costs
u

LESS TRIPS / WINDFARM

2-3
complete
turbines

Number of
units per
trip
depending
on vessel

5-6
complete
turbines

Installation
costs
M

Number of turbines

AREVA Wind provides both

concepts for cost effective
installation depending on
projects
AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

p.17

Advantages and Benefits (2/2)

Comparison of SBI and RSI based on middle-case
scenarios in dependence of distance to base-harbour

Distance to base-harbour

Influence of weather conditions / wind distribution

(site-specific, depending on weather windows)

frequency

10%
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%

199

240km
170km

193

100km

189

254

30km

186
0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Windspeed @ 90m hub height [m/s]

RSI: up to 8 m/s
wind speed for
operation

SBI: up to 12 m/s
wind speed for
operation

AREVA Wind Sea of Opportunity March 2013

Single
turbine

100

200

Project-duration [d]

More
turbines

Weather window

p.18

266

u
u

u
u

241
234

300

RSI: Less installation time per turbine compared to single

blade
SBI Higher installation time per turbine compared to rotor star
installation

RSI: but limited decks space due to rotor stars and

therefore higher installation time for a whole wind farm
SBI: but less installation time for a whole wind farm due
to higher number of turbine per trip

Thank you for your attention

Built for the Sea. Made for the Wind.

The AREVA M5000 5MW turbine.
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