Transport of 40 XXL monopiles

Handling monopiles measuring nearly 100 metres in length, around 10 metres in diameter and weighing more than 1,200 tonnes requires heavy equipment and careful planning. CS WIND Offshore A/S has produced 40 of these XXL monopiles for Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm, and BMS was responsible for both internal transport and load out.

SPMT transport throughout production

Since production began, BMS has supported CS WIND Offshore with the movement of plates and sections during manufacturing, as well as the transport of the finished monopiles. This has been made possible by an expanding fleet of SPMTs. The 40 monopiles are TP-less monopiles, meaning the transition piece is integrated into the monopile itself. This moves part of the assembly work onshore and results in a significantly heavier structure.

SPMTs are ideal in this type of project because axle lines can be added as the weight increases. For the internal transport, 48 axle lines were used.

Load out using newly acquired SPMT modules

BMS also handled the load out of the 40 monopiles. In sets of three, they were driven onto a barge at Lindø/Port of Odense before being transported to Eemshaven in the northern Netherlands for final shipment and installation. For this operation, 54 axle lines from the newly acquired SPMTs from TII Scheuerle were used.

Supporting the future of clean energy

Once completed, Borkum Riffgrund 3 will have an installed capacity of 913 MW, supplying clean energy to around 900,000 households. The wind farm is being constructed without an offshore substation, which means the turbines are connected directly to the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform via 66 kV cables.