Ireland’s Combilift has moved into the offshore wind energy sector with the launch of a product designed to meet the load handling demands of large-scale offshore wind manufacturers.
The Combi-LC, designed in collaboration with Siemens Gamesa, allows for the movement of wind turbine blades and towers – some as long as 115 m and weighing in at around 70 tonnes, through production stages and on to storage locations. The patent-pending design is based on two fully customisable remote-control units with low-level chassis beds that can work in tandem master and slave operation, with dimensions and wheel configurations that vary according to load type and weight.
Siemens Gamesa has signed a multi-million dollar order for a number of Combi-LC units and Combilift said that it is in active discussions with other manufacturers with similar demands.
Combilift expects to generate over EUR50 million (USD53 million) in revenue per year in this market segment by 2026. “We are thrilled to have launched this new product and we hope it will act as a gateway for us to further progress within our venture into the wind energy sector,” said Josh Moffett, heavy equipment manager at Combilift. “The scale of offshore wind projects around the world leads to a very unique set of challenges, one of which being the ability to transport the very large components that make up a wind turbine. We recognised this and used our expertise in load handling to develop a solution to support those in the industry. The product is specifically made to order and therefore can be uniquely customised to fit specific applications.”
