OSBIT Power (OP), Siemens Wind Power and Statoil say they have completed offshore trials of OP's offshore wind turbine access system, MaXccess. The trials were conducted with the backing of Siemens Wind Power and Statoil, at the Hywind Demo floating offshore wind turbine off the coast of Norway.
MaXccess was installed on the wind farm service vessel Bayard 3, operated by Fred Olsen Windcarrier, for the duration of the trials conducted over the past month from Statoil's Hywind operations base at Skudeneshavn, Norway. According to the companies, the trials saw successful safe transfer of personnel in wave heights ranging from 1.2 meters to 1.9 meters.
During the nine days of offshore operations, over 100 connections were made, with MaXccess being clamped to the turbine buffer tube for over 12 hours in total, during which time 36 personnel transfers were made.
OP says the MaXccess system provides a stable platform from which personnel can transfer to and from the boat landing platforms mounted on turbine foundation structures. A friction-based clamp connected to the vessel by a carefully engineered linkage geometry ensures that the bow of the vessel is held stationary while the vessel is allowed to roll, pitch and yaw freely, according to the company. The system incorporates instrumentation to measure and log load and position data.
MaXccess also incorporates a traffic light warning system to indicate when safe transfer conditions are present.
