GE Completes 2017 Merkur Nacelle Shipping Season

GE Renewable Energy has sent off the last set of GE Haliade 6MW nacelles for this year to Merkur offshore wind farm’s logistical operations hub in Eemshaven, the Netherlands.

By the end of the month, the hub will have received 24 nacelles, 24 blades, and several other tower fragments and transition pieces.

Once all these components are in place, local teams will perform some pre-assembly works while getting prepared for the installation phase set to begin mid-February 2018, GE said.

Laurent Verdier, GE’s Offshore Wind Project Office Leader, said: “With this shipment, one third of our 66 GE’s Haliade 150-6MW nacelles for Merkur Offshore windfarm will be in the logistical hub, where local teams will get ready for the installation phase.”

The remaining nacelles, blades and tower pieces will continue to be shipped to Eemshaven until mid-summer 2018, while the installation of the 66 nacelles is expected to be completed by the end of September next year.

The nacelles are being produced at GE’s Saint-Nazaire factory in France, and then being shipped to Eemshaven, where they are prepared for installation at the offshore site.

The blades are made in Castellon in Spain by LM Wind Power, and the towers are manufactured in Germany and China.

The 396MW Merkur wind farm, located approximately 35km north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, will be one of Germany’s largest offshore wind farms once completed in 2018.