190 PIN PILES FOR SAINT-BRIEUC OWF

Brittany (France) is more than just oysters and scenic landscapes. Strong winds and high tides from the Atlantic Ocean shape the region’s landscape, economy and way of life – and also make it an ideal site for wind energy. Designing the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm would leverage the region’s full energy potential and help France transition to more sustainable energy sources. It is the first large-scale offshore wind farm in Brittany and one of the first in France to obtain all the necessary government permits for its construction and operation. Jumbo-SAL-Alliance proudly supported the first construction phase of the Saint-Brieuc OWF by transporting 190 pin piles from Aviles, Spain to Cherbourg, France.

Jumbo-SAL-Alliance has extensive experience in transporting dredging equipment and wind foundations – good reason for the client, Royal Van Oord Offshore Wind B.V., to hire them to ship 190 piles for the new French offshore wind farm. “Our client was convinced that we would transport the piles safely and properly – and appreciated our strong flexibility when it came to scheduling. We have access to a fleet of over 30 vessels capable of transporting this kind of cargo,” explained Holger Krenz, Head of Project Management at SAL.

IT TAKES THREE

The project team decided to use three vessels: MV Annemieke, MV Combi Dock 1 and MV Emma to transport the 190 pin piles from Aviles, Spain to Cherbourg, France. “It took eleven voyages in three campaigns to complete the project,” described Holger Krenz, adding: “Thankfully, we were able to keep everyone involved in this complex project communicating clearly and effectively over the duration.” Among the 190 pin piles, 186 were for the WTG jackets (three pin piles per jacket) and four for the offshore substation jacket.

SOME CHALLENGING CARGO

“Pin piles may look like easy cargo at first sight, but they come with their very own unique challenges,” explained Maria Collado Rabanillo, Project Engineer at SAL Engineering and Bin Wang, Senior Project Engineer at SAL Engineering, who acted as Lead Engineers for this project. They continued: “The pin piles are designed for offshore usage, which limits possible lifting points. They also vary in size and weight, which impacts lifting and stowage planning and operations.”

Our engineers made full use of the cargo hold and weather deck during each voyage to accommodate as many pin piles as possible on each vessel while ensuring safe lifting and lashing. This was the right way to provide an efficient, flexible and reliable solution for our client.

JUMBO-SAL-ALLIANCE – ALWAYS PREPARED

Our engineering experts ordered tailor-made cradles, lashing hooks and soft slings to ensure the safe lifting and lashing of the cargo, which were certified before usage. This also included detailed engineering documentation along with weather-routing specifications.

“We decided to use a tandem lift to lift the pin piles. We also chose a combined rigging design consisting of rounded soft slings, steel grommets and shackles. This enabled us to easily hook-on and hook-off the pin piles while preventing any damage to the painted surface,” Maria Collado Rabanillo and Bin Wang revealed.

Our engineering experts ordered tailor-made cradles, lashing hooks and soft slings to ensure the safe lifting and lashing of the cargo, which were certified before usage. This also included detailed engineering documentation along with weather-routing specifications.
“We decided to use a tandem lift to lift the pin piles. We also chose a combined rigging design consisting of rounded soft slings, steel grommets and shackles. This enabled us to easily hook-on and hook-off the pin piles while preventing any damage to the painted surface,” Maria Collado Rabanillo and Bin Wang revealed.

When stowing the cargo cradles, inserted wood blocks provided vertical and transverse support without damaging the cargo. Tailormade lashing hooks lashed the cargo in a longitudinal direction.

Each vessel needed between five and a half and nine days for each journey – from mobilizing and loading in Avilés to discharging and demobilizing in Cherbourg and back to Avilés.

A SUCCESSFUL OPERATION

Despite the challenges posed by a global logistics crisis and COVID 19, Jumbo-SAL-Alliance and their client Van Oord managed to uphold the highest health, environmental and safety standards throughout the entire operation and transit phase, and successfully finishing the project on schedule.

The first phase of the work at the wind farm began in spring 2021 and ended in the late autumn of the same year. The work was concentrated in the northern zone of the wind farm to allow for fishing activities in the southern part of the development zone. The northern area of the wind farm is characterized by the presence of extremely hard rocks such as sandstone, but the installation contractors have overcome the challenges by application of advanced piling tools.

Construction work in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc resumed in early March 2022. Plans for 2022 include finishing the installation of the cables, pinpiles, 62 three-legged jacket foundations and the offshore substation. Offshore construction work is expected to be completed in 2023. If everything stays on schedule, the wind farm will be commissioned and ready for operation by the end of that year.

DID YOU KNOW?

This was the first project for the vessel MV Emma after joining the Harren & Partner fleet – and just before the last (and heaviest) batch of pin piles was scheduled for transport. She needed additional work to ensure deck strength and space. Our Engineering team came up with a safe and suitable solution utilising additional weight spreaders and cradles.

ABOUT SAINT-BRIEUC OWF

The Saint-Brieuc OWF is located at Saint-Brieuc Bay, about 16 km off the coast of Brittany, France. It spans an area of about 75 km². It is one of the biggest commercial-scale offshore wind projects in France. The wind farm will consist of 62 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 Direct Drive turbines with 8 megawatts (MW) each, mounted on jacket foundations in seven rows. Each turbine will have a hub height of 207 m, 81.5 m-long blades, 167 m-diameter rotor and a swept area of 21,900 m². Once operational, it will have a total installed capacity of 496 MW. This will generate enough clean energy for 835,000 people.

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