The S-4000 Hydrohammer pile-driving system installed its first monopiles at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea, IHC IQIP, a business unit of Royal IHC which recently launched the system, reports.
The fully operational S-4000 unit was delivered to DEME Group’s offshore marine engineering division GeoSea for the Nordsee One offshore wind farm project in the German North Sea.
GeoSea has already installed more than 10 monopiles with the S-4000, after installing the first 30 monopiles with the Hydrohammer S-3000.
As offshore wind farms are predicted to move further offshore into deeper waters, the demand for larger monopiles and, subsequently, larger hammers is also expected to increase. IHC IQIP says that S-4000 Hydrohammer is the largest hydraulic impact hammers available on the market, with a strike power of 4,000kJ.
The S-4000 can be used in parallel with other IHC IQIP systems, such as the Noise Mitigation System (NMS) and existing pile sleeves, from 108” to 6.5m in diameter.
“We are delighted that the S-4000 is already proving a success for GeoSea. We have a reliable partnership with them, and it is gratifying to see the confidence they have in us and our technology. The experience and expertise that has gone into the design of the S-4000 will allow us to operate effectively on future projects all over the world, regardless of the conditions,” IHC IQIP’s Remco Lowenthal says.
The 332MW Nordsee One offshore wind farm is located 40 kilometers north of Juist Island, in water depths ranging between 25 and 29 meters. It is expected to be operational in 2017, and to generate over 1,300 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to meet the needs of 400,000 German households.
The wind farm will comprise 54 Senvion turbines and is owned by Northland Power Inc. (85%) and RWE Innogy GmbH (15%).