Belgian heavy transport engineering and listing specialist Sarens has been in action at the Teesworks SeAH wind monopile factory in the UK, with 19 cranes onsite.
Sarens is helping to construct the factory, which will be responsible for building monopiles foundations weighing up to 3,000 tonnes for the offshore wind energy industry. The 90 ha site in Teesworks will be the largest factory of its type, globally, when it comes online in 2026.
Sarens is involved in the construction of the factory, carrying out erection and heavy transport services, on behalf of its customer Severfield UK and the owner of the facility, SeAH. A fleet of cranes is stationed onsite including seven LTR1100 units with a load capacity of up to 100 tonnes, seven LR130 units, one LTM1750, two LTM1650s (which can lift up to 650 tonnes in a single load), as well as a CC2800 crawler crane. Sarens is using these cranes to lift structural parts and steel frames, which are being moved onsite by SPMTs.
One of the main challenges of the job is high winds onsite, said Sarens. It is working directly with the crane manufacturer to obtain a wind speed increase based on the crane configuration, lifting criteria (radius, capacity, etc.) and load characteristics (sail area, weight, load coefficient). Thanks to this, lifting work can be carried out without worrying about strong gusts of wind affecting the process, endangering the operators, and compromising the integrity of the materials.
Ørsted will be first and main customer for the monopile foundations manufactured at the UK facility.
