Conquest Offshore, together with deugro Denmark A/S, has developed a highly efficient installation system for monopiles and transition pieces, supported by the engineering knowledge and experience of Temporary Works Design (TWD) and Barge Master.
To meet the offshore wind industry's demand for cost effective and innovative solutions to optimise the installation process, the parties involved have developed a new floating installation concept. To create this concept, Conquest Offshore, deugro, TWD and Barge Master combined their knowledge of floating installation, offshore skidding, upending, pile handling and motion compensated tools.
Floating Installation
A newly designed and time effective skidding system makes a full deck load on the 136 metre barge possible. The ability to upend monopiles (from deck and floating) and the use of a specially designed motion compensated pile gripper provide the means for floating installation. During hammering hydraulic cylinders actively compensate the motions of the barge to ensure the right inclination of the pile.
Conventionally, monopiles are installed by jack-up units with higher day rates and less deck space than floating barges. By taking advantage of the large deck space on the barge, the time and costs needed for transportation of monopiles and transition pieces can be reduced and the barge can also be used as floating storage.
On top of this, the floating installation concept is completely independent of the soil conditions and water depth.
