Equipment from Cometto is being deployed across Europe to support the construction of Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms, off the coast of Germany.
According to Joachim Kolb, sales manager of Cometto, the 242 MW Gode Wind and 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund wind farms are expected to go online in spring 2025. Danish renewable energy company Ørsted has tasked various manufacturers with the construction of the wind farm components for the projects. Getting these cargoes to the project sites requires the use of Cometto SPMTs.
Kolb said: “The monopiles come, for example, from Steelwind of Nordenham in North Germany, where the load-out takes place with the aid of 72 Cometto SPMT axle lines and three power pack units (PPU), each with an output of 368 KW.”
Monopiles are also produced by Bladt Industries in Munkebo, Denmark. “A gigantic fleet of self-propelled Cometto transport vehicles is in operation there, too, so that the entire production process is secured,” Kolb continued.
“Here, in addition to the SPMTs, there are two compact two-axle Eco1000s with PPUs underneath the loading platform for the transport of the circumferential weld millers, as well as two 10-axle ETL industrial transporters with driver’s cab underneath the loading platform for the transport of the sheet metal plates.”
At both locations the monopiles are loaded onto barges. These are then towed to Eemshaven in the Netherlands, where Cometto equipment is once again on the scene. “At the offshore base terminal of BOW Terminal, the steel giants weighing up to 2,100 tonnes are received by 76 Cometto SPMT axle lines for unloading. These are used and operated by Q3 Heavy Lifting,” Kolb explained.
Vincent de Wilde, ceo of Q3 Heavy Lifting, said: “With our hydraulically adjustable load securing system for the monopiles, we are able to drive under such an element on the barge, to lift it and to bring it ashore, all within an hour. 60 minutes is the natural timeframe that the North Sea allows us with a tide of 2.8 m in Eemshaven.”
Q3 Heavy Lifting is also responsible for transporting the monopiles from the storage area to the quay ahead of installation. For these the SPMTs move the components next to the offshore installation vessel, which uses its onboard cranes to lift and the steel structures.
