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Siemens welcomes a new era for offshore wind energy

Siemens has called upon its three decades of expertise in the wind energy business to invent a new wave of service operation vessels, in a bid to increase the efficiency and safety of offshore wind energy.

Acting as ‘floating service workshops’, the service operation vessels, or “SOVs” for short, can stay out at sea near the wind farm for up to several weeks at a time. The service ships are equipped with cutting-edge technology and enable faster and more efficient service.

The SOVs, which have capacity for 40 workers and eight containers, play host to everything they will need to carry out annual maintenance, allowing the crew to quickly and effectively carry out any work essential work to the wind park.

In addition, Siemens’ latest invention has resulted in increased productivity on site, while significantly reduced noise disruption.

The unique hydraulic gangway is a safe platform for workers on duty, bringing offshore work ‘onshore’.

Siemens’ smart service allows data from the SOVs to be analysed at the diagnostics centre, so any potential problems can be pre-empted and proactively combatted, thus reducing potential down time.

Achim Berge Olsen, Managing Director of wpd Offshore GmbH, knows that in order to lower offshore costs, it is essential to save money on the turbine maintenance, he said: The SOVs can do two things that normal service ships can’t do: They can stay in the wind park even in rough weather and wind conditions, and – thanks to the hydraulic bridge – they can reach the turbines more often than is possible using normal entry systems.

“Today, this makes them the most effective way to service offshore wind power plants. We are convinced of that. We predict that in the future all large wind power plants will be maintained with this kind of vessel.

Find out more about how Siemens is reducing the costs of offshore wind energy with cutting-edge technology.

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