James Fisher, OMS Perform Wind Turbine Oil Exchange at Thornton Bank

James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) and its partner Oil Management and Services (OMS) have carried out oil exchange on wind turbines at Belgian Thornton Bank offshore wind farm.

The operation involved the removal and disposal of oil from three Senvion wind turbines with JFMS Ship-to-Turbine oil exchange system for direct extraction and refill of offshore wind gearbox oils directly from an access vessel, which eliminates the need to fill and hoist oil containers via the nacelle crane.

This was the first time an operation of this kind took place in Belgium, due to the highly controlled and regulated contamination laws in the area, JFMS said.

Pieter Dumoulin, site manager at Senvion’s Thornton Bank offshore wind farm, said: “We have been extremely impressed with the team’s ingenuity on this project. STT has changed the way we manage our oil exchange process. We place a lot of emphasis on protecting the environment and JFMS’s solution along with OMS’s management not only vastly reduced the risk of contamination, it also met our strict environmental standards.”

Martin Sisley, managing director of renewables at JFMS, said: “Environmental containment was the main issue, especially as we were working in Belgian waters with its very strict environmental laws, and we are very pleased that the project was completed with zero contaminants or spills.”

Thornton Bank comprises 54 Senvion wind turbines installed some 30km off the coast of Belgium in water depths of up to 30m.

Construction of the offshore wind farm was executed in three phases.