The start of delivery of electricity from Hywind Scotland was celebrated on Wednesday at an event in Aberdeen, where First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, officially opened the wind farm. All the way up until the opening, Aibel has been involved in the commissioning and installation of the five wind turbines situated approx. 25 kilometers off Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
This summer, Aibel assisted Statoil with installing the wind turbines on the floating substructures at the facility at Stord, where Aibel also installed temporary equipment to be used during the actual installation in the field. In addition, Aibel was responsible for installing various telecommunication equipment on the turbines.
Late in July, Aibel mobilized the first employees to assist with the installation in the field off the coast of Scotland. At peak, Aibel and its subcontractors had 30 people engaged in the installation phase in the field and onshore in Peterhead.
“Among other things, our tasks included closing punches, disassembling of temporary equipment such as winches and generators, and termination of fiber and high-voltage cables between the turbines. It has been hectic, and especially the weather has been challenging, but the feedback on our work has been positive,” says Aibel’s Project Manager, Marianne T. Kvåle.
The start of production brings the Hywind project towards the end for Aibel. In the course of next week, demobilization of remaining personnel will begin, and early in November, the project is finished. However, with its involvement in the project, Aibel has gained important knowledge, which may become a competitive advantage in the battle for new contracts within offshore wind.
Facts
Aibel was awarded the contract for the FEED study and EMA (Engineering Management Assistance) in the summer of 2014.
Subsequently Aibel has also worked on detailed design of the tower and EIT system, in addition to responsibility for procurements.
In February 2017 Aibel was awarded the contract for assistance in connection with commissioning of the five wind turbines on Stord. The contact also included assistance during installation in the field.
Published 23 October 2017
