Pile gripper delivery for offshore wind farm

Osbit, the UK-based offshore wind technology supplier, has successfully delivered a new monopile gripper system to Yunneng Wind Power Co. Ltd (Yunneng), which is building the Yunlin Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan.

“We’re delighted to have delivered this system. Our team has worked extremely hard to overcome a range of market and logistical challenges during this project, including a level of global supply chain pressure we have never experienced before and we are delighted with this successful outcome,” said Phil Pennington, Osbit’s project delivery director.

Installation support

Osbit’s system will be used to support installation activities at the new windfarm. Once completed, the farm will produce 2.4 terawatt hours of renewable energy per year, supplying enough renewable electricity to meet the power needs of 605,000 households annually.

The system is enabling monopile installation from a moored floating vessel and is designed to handle some of the largest monopiles in the world. It is deployed and stowed using a deck rail skidding system and is used to maintain the position and verticality of the monopile foundations.

Osbit’s gripper design is highly adaptable for future projects, accommodating monopiles between 6.5 to 10 metres in diameter, with push forces up to 300 tonnes. The system has also been designed for rapid mobilisation and can be adapted to suit different vessel structures.

It’s also environmentally considerate, incorporating an integrated Near Pile Noise Mitigation system, which minimises the subsea noise and vibration associated with piling activities. This is complemented by bubble curtain rings which are deployed to dampen the energy emitted into the environment and further protect marine life.

The system was fabricated in Singapore to suit Yunneng’s project needs, with many sub-systems being shipped across from UK & EU suppliers for assembly. A full project team has worked on site in Singapore throughout the build, closely collaborating with fabricator Baker Engineering to deliver the completed gripper.

It will now be mobilised on to the DLS-4200 vessel and will be deployed in the coming months. It will be used in conjunction with an upending hinge, which is also being delivered by Osbit.