Siemens has concluded a logistics contract with deugro. The transport company will build two special transport vessels for rotor blades and nacelles for Siemens. The heavy components thus will be moved in tailor-made Roll-on/Roll-off process on and off the ships.
At the EWEA annual event 2015 in Paris Siemens presented the company’s new offshore logistics concept. A key element of this is an improved harbour to harbour transport solution. Siemens has signed a long-term framework contract with transport service provider deugro Danmark A/S, utilizing two purpose-built transport vessels to efficiently link Siemens’ existing production locations in Denmark with the new production facilities in Cuxhaven, Germany and Hull, UK.
Instead of loading the rotor blades and nacelles by crane, the large and heavy components will be rolled on and off these vessels. This “Roll-on/Roll-off” process is known as Ro/Ro and is said to be faster than loading by crane. deugro will therefore provide tailor-made transport vehicles. Siemens estimates cost savings of 15 to 20 % compared to current transport procedures, depending on the location of the offshore wind power plant.
“With our new logistics concept, we continue to leverage innovation and industrialization on our journey to lower the LCoE of offshore wind energy to below 10 €-ct/kWh,” states Michael Hannibal, CEO Offshore, Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division. “Our new production facilities are located directly at harbours to allow advanced Ro/Ro handling and cost efficient shipping of heavy components. This solution will enable us to save up to one fifth of the costs in the transportation chain, depending on the location of the specific offshore wind project.”
deugro will construct two special transport vessels, each with a length of approximately 140 m. One of the purpose-built vessels can transport eight nacelles of the current Siemens D7 wind turbine platform at a time. It will be launched as early as fall 2016. The second vessel will accommodate up to 12 rotor blades and transport them from the production facility in Hull, UK, or from Aalborg, Denmark, to the respective installation port. Both vessels can also be unloaded by crane when required.
Katharina Garus
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