WindFlip: A barge to transport and position wind turbines

Innovative System from WindFlip AS

 Electric generation by wind turbines is increasing dramatically in Europe and other areas and placement of turbines at sea (offshore) is one of the booming posibilities due to the increased performance and environmental advantages that are got. However transport operations and placement of wind turbines at sea pose a significant cost and require the use of special vessels dedicated to these tasks.

 Recently, new ideas are being released to solve or ease these problems and one of the most recent is the use of special barges, towed, low cost, as the type called WindFlip.

 WindFlip is a simple barge which loads the complete wind turbine, is towed to its site at sea and there is ballasted and flipped by stern up to the vertical and then the turbine pedestal end is buried in its working position. WindFlip is unballasted then by injecting pressurized air in the tanks and proceeds returning to port. So simply said it seems easy, but I suppose it will be quite complicated, nevertheless it seems a bright idea and hopefully satisfactory.

This video briefly shows an outline of the operation, where nothing can be seen how to move the turbine from its location on shore up to its place on WindFlip, but I do not think it will be a big problem.

A typical WindFlip is about 100 m long and 30 m wide and such a barge could carry a complete wind turbine of 65 m and 15 MW  power.

WindFlip uses an old idea, the pivotting ship type named FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), to solve a new problem. The FLIP is as old as 1962 and was used by the United States navy as an ocean research platform, providing to the involved scientists  a still and comfortable workstation, compared to that offered by a ship floating and moving among the waves. The Ship-Technology.com site describes and shows the ideas and reality of this ship.

Container vessels capacity

In the form that follows the cellular container vessel dimensions are input and her 20 ft TEUS capacity is estimated
This 2nd. edition fixing some errors and adding drawing of Containers in holds

Click to begin calculation

(updated on 21 Feb 2012)

"La Naval" shipyard of Sestao(Spain) launches the "Joseph Platou"

 "Fall-Pipe" type vessel for Jan de Nul

On August 3, 2012 "La Naval" shipyard, in Sestao (Spain), of the CNN group (Construcciones Navales del Norte =  Northen Shipbuilding) proceeded to launch this vessel for the Belgian shipowner Jan de Nul, a regular customer of this shipyard which has already delivered a twinship, "Simon Stevin", and several suction dredges, including the two largest in the world, in its class, "Cristobal Colón" and "Leiv Eiriksson". About these ships I already included posts  stressing their notability and the "La Naval" capacity to build such a high technology ships and competing worldwide with major shipbuilders .

The shipyard invited me to attend this launching, that I thanked especially in these times of shipbuilding drought , as evidenced by the absence of a keel laying after this launch, as was to be the norm in old good times when shipyards laid the keel of following ship waiting her turn in the queue of orders. I have news, unconfirmed, that "La Naval" will finish the construction of two medium-sized vessels begun in the late Seville shipyard, what will lead to an easing of shipyard situation in the absence of "serious" contracts, matched to its proven category and capacity. I hope that the "tax lease" system  resolves soon, after many months of stand-by, without which the shipyards in this country would have many difficulties to survive.

In this post about the "Simon Stevin", first ship of this series, I summarized the main features of this vessel whose dimensions are

Overall length (m)	191,50
Breadth (m)	40,00
Depth (m)	13,20
Draught loaded (m)	8,50
Deadweight (tonnes)	32.500
Speed (knots)	15,50
Crew	70
Propulsion
Azimuthal propellers	4 x 4.500 Kw
Retractable propellers	2 x 2.000 Kw
Electric generators	5 x 3.300 Kw

Delivery of "Joseph Platou" is scheduled for early next year.

I wish I had taken pictures and video of the launching from the other side of the river, but as I saw it from the guests platform visibility was very poor and I include here some photos of the event only as a recollection, nothing to be with quality.

Ship launching seen from the visitors platform