First Monopile Loaded at Sif’s Maasvlakte 2 Terminal
On 2 January Sif loaded its first monopile on board the Innovation, a heavy-lift jack-up vessel owned by GeoSea, part of the Belgian DEME Group. It was the first job at the new section of Maasvlakte 2’s deep-sea quay.
All in all, four monopiles were loaded for transport, together with the transition pieces. After loading the Innovation left en route to a windfarm off the coast of the United Kingdom where it will be installing the monopiles. This operation will be followed by a number of similar transports over the next few weeks.
In the summer of 2015, the listed steel construction company Sif started on the development of a new location for its monopiles business unit at a 42ha site on Maasvlakte 2. It has since taken its assembly and coating hall into use. Sif is presently completing two monopiles to a maximum length of 80m per week. Work on the industrial site is expected to be rounded off by July 2017.
The Innovation was taken into service just under five years ago. It has a powerful, 1,500t crane and a loading capacity of up to 8,000t. The heavy-lift jack-up vessels can transport and install 120-metre tall wind turbines with a rated capacity of 6MW+, as well as heavy foundations in water depths of up to 65m. The Innovation is entirely self-sufficient thanks to its all-in-one loading, transport and installation solution.