NAVANTIA and WINDAR ship off the first Hywind structures for Statoil
08 May 2017 | Madrid
The Navantia-Windar consortium began today, at the Fene shipyard, the shipment of the first two floating substructures of the “Spar” class, of the five which it has manufactured for the Hywind project for Statoil. Each of these structures has a 91 meter length, a 14.8 meter diameter, and a weight of 3,450 Tons. The shipments of the remaining units will take place at the end of May and at the beginning of June.
The transport ship used is the semi-submersible Albatross, of the OHT Company. This vessel is one of the largest of its class, with a length of 204 meters and a beam of 42.5 meters. The loading method involves the use of hydraulic trucks for the wheeled transfer of the load, the so-called load-out procedure. This loading process represents an historical landmark for the Fene Shipyard, since this will be the first time which a transfer of loads of this type takes place at this facility; to make it possible it has been required to adapt the quay no. 10 and to improve the surface of its point of access, as well as dredging the sea bottom beside the quay for allowing the ship to submerge and to align its deck to the quay’s height.
The units will be transported to the shipyard which Kvaerner has in Stord, Norway, where they will be put on water and made vertical through the use of ballast water and aggregates, reaching the units a draft of more than 75 meters. Work has already began on the installation of the subsea trees for the offshore wind turbines on the transition parts, both built by the Spanish company Navacel, the gondolas and the blades, for being raised above the substructures manufactured by Navantia-Windar. The set will be later towed to Scotland in order to being anchored on its final location. It is envisaged that the offshore wind farm will begin to operate in 2020.
The Hywind’s contract, which was won by the consortium made up by Navantia and Windar in June 2015 has entailed more than 450,000 hours of work, requiring a significant modification of the facilities and the purchase of machinery. Equally, it has meant an important step towards the consolidation of the Consortium within the offshore wind industry, and especially as a reference builder for midwaters and deep waters.
About Windar:
Windar Renovables is a company belonging to Grupo Daniel Alonso in which also participates the new giant Siemens-Gamesa. It enjoys a world leading position in the manufacture of towers for land-based wind farms, with factories in Asturias, Andalusia, and in Navarre; furthermore, a significant part of its production capacity is abroad, since it has facilities in Brazil, Mexico, and India.
Thanks to the introduction of new production procedures and of new self-designed machinery, Windar Renovables is a pioneering company in the manufacture of structures for the offshore wind industry, a field in which it entered with its participation in the construction of the transforming substation for the Anholt offshore wind farm, in Denmark. It has a large R&D department, which is supplemented in the engineering and manufacturing field with a highly qualified and flexible human team, which allows it to take over works with prototypes. Besides towers, jackets, and spars, it can manufacture single piles and other steel parts which are required by the offshore wind industry.
About NAVANTIA:
Navantia constitutes a world reference in the design, construction and integration of warships with a high-technological content, as well as ship repairs and upgrades. Besides, its activity lines include the design and manufacturing of combat and command and control systems, integrated platform management systems, firing control systems, propulsion engines and the Life Cycle Support for all its products. Although its main activity is in the naval field, NAVANTIA also designs and manufactures systems for the Army and the Air Force.
NAVANTIA belongs to Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding which includes a total of fifteen state-owned companies in which it has direct, majority shareholding participations, with a workforce of more than 73,000 professionals in 2015; the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation, Corporación Radiotelevisión Española, which is attached to SEPI, and one public foundation. Equally, SEPI has direct minority shareholdings in a further nine companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.