Is that possible in the offshore environment? The answer is yes: Readiness to accommodate the demands of the project and the customer allows Vestas Offshore to break yet an installation record at Bligh Bank.
The message about the 55 installed turbines at Bligh Bank creates a special euphoria at the HQ office in Denmark – the mood here is light and laughs come easy. Today is a great day for the Bligh Bank team who now looks forward to the next phase of the project where, the customer, Belwind will connect the wind power plant to the electrical grid.
Behind the scenes of this record-breaking installation is a man with years of experience from the logistics industry and a comprehensive insight into customer needs. Knud Just Andersen, Vestas Offshore Project Director, does not want to boast before he has concrete results “We are aiming to start up 10–20 turbines a day following energisation,” he says when asked about the project. “That will be a record for Vestas Offshore.”
What will make such speed possible is the fact that Vestas has already completed most of the commissioning work in a series of “pre-commissioning” stages. Using temporary electrical hook-ups at the harbour side and from the installation vessels, the crews have been able to test almost all of the turbines’ electrical functions.
“This degree of completeness at the end of the installation phase is unique in a wind power project,” Andersen adds and points to concrete learnings which will benefit future offshore projects as well.
Installing further out at the sea
Although future projects are likely to get their grid connections earlier in the cycle, Vestas Offshore will still be able to re-use the two main lessons learned at Bligh Bank, Andersen says.
First, the shore-based pre-commissioning pioneered by Installation and Commissioning Manager Stefan Hoonings has cut the amount of work that needs to be done at sea, where everything tends to take longer and cost more.
Second, leaving a pre-commissioning crew on each newly-installed turbine definitely pays off. “By staying on the turbine until all the pre-commissioning work is done, the crews need fewer boat trips – and that will become even more important as wind farms move further offshore,” Andersen says.
“Our relationship with Belwind is based on an easy working dialogue. They are a small company who depend a lot on external consultants, and certainly it can be a bit tiring to work in that way. But the consultants are very competent – dedicated wind turbine people, many of whom worked for Econcern and Eneco on the Princess Amalia project.”
“So overall they are a delight to work with. Like any project we have had occasional issues, but we’ve been able to resolve them without getting the lawyers involved. Customer satisfaction is cardinal for Vestas, and we have worked hard to make Belwind feel that we care about them.” Knud concludes and looks forward to the energisation phase before he is fully able to enjoy the fruits of the teams work.
