Huisman, the Dutch-based worldwide specialist in lifting, drilling and subsea solutions, has currently expanded its heavy lifting product range with a customised range of Wind Turbine Installation Cranes. Building on the successful operation of the existing Huisman heavy lifting equipment for the installation of wind turbines and the increasing demand for customised equipment by the fast growing market for renewables, the company has now designed a range of tailor-made cranes that will be able to efficiently install current turbines, as well as future turbines.
The new designs for Wind Turbine Installation Cranes are a result of many years of design and operational experience and based on the company’s drive to design and deliver new solutions that add value to the market’s existing technologies. The customised crane range includes pedestal and ringer cranes for mainly jack-up vessels. In addition to the low construction weight, small footprint and minor tail swing of the existing Huisman cranes, additional value-adding features are the extensive lifting height, the small operational minimum radius and the possibility to install the crane around the leg of the jack-up. The cranes can be outfitted with additional features to ensure a safe installation procedure at high elevations.
The company’s in-house developed and manufactured heavy lifting equipment is widely used within the industry for over 30 years and has become a standard in the design and construction of heavy lift cranes. This has resulted in a world market leadership for heavy lift cranes above 600mt capacity. Operational cranes delivered by Huisman and currently used for wind turbine installation include the 2 x 800mt and 1 x 1,700mt A-frames onboard Scaldis’ Multipurpose Heavy Lift Vessel Rambiz, the 1,600mt sheerleg Taklift 4 owned by Smit, the 300mt cranes onboard Seajacks’ Kraken and Leviathan and the 900mt cranes onboard Jumbo Offshore’s Javelin and Fairplayer. Two 750mt cranes, planned to be used for a large wind turbine installation project, are currently under construction for Master Marine.
The new range of customised Huisman cranes will be presented from 14 to 16 September during the European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference and Exhibition in Stockholm.