Transition piece defects beset German offshore wind farm

German offshore wind operator has issued a contract notice for repair works on transition pieces across a wind farm in the German North Sea.

The contract is scheduled to start in October 2021 and be completed by the end of April 2022.

The contract notice was issued by Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum II GmbH & Co. KG, the operator of the 203 MW Trianel Windpark Borkum II (TWBII) offshore wind farm.

Located 45 kilometres north of Borkum, TWBII comprises 32 Senvion 6.33 MW wind turbines installed on monopile foundations. The wind farm was fully commissioned in June 2020.

Seaway 7 (Seaway Heavy Lifting) was the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contractor for the wind farm’s foundations.

SHL then selected the joint venture of Sif Holdings and Smulders to manufacture and deliver the monopiles and the transition pieces for TWBII.

Sif produced the monopiles and the primary steel for the transition pieces and Smulders was responsible for the secondary steel and outfitting of the transition pieces.

The final foundation was installed at the site by Seaway Yudin (formerly Stanislav Yudin) by the end of 2018.

Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum II is now seeking ”correction of defects on the transition pieces of all TWB2 wind turbines…”

This includes the exchange of 17 ventilator fan drives on the TPs; mechanical retrofits on handrails, swinggate stoppers, as well as WTG tower door bumpers and holders on main access platforms of 31 TPs; and testing and re-setting of Draeger H2 / Cl sensors on 31 TPs.

Interested parties have until 21 June to submit their bids.

OffshoreWIND contacted Seaway 7, Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum II, Sif, and Smulders for additional comments.

Photos: Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum