Following the mobilisation of the Bernhard Schulte Offshore’s Windea La Cour , chartered out to Siemens Wind Power, the new service operation vessel (SOV) sailed out for the first service campaign at the 600MW Gemini wind farm in the Netherlands on 1 September.
Windea La Cour is supporting the ongoing service and maintenance of 150 Siemens wind turbines at the offshore project located in the North Sea.
The vessel functions as a platform for wind farm operations and maintenance support, technician accommodation and transport, and the provision of exceptional levels of safe reliable access to installations offshore.
After the delivery to Siemens in August, the vessel’s warehouse was loaded with spare parts, and the Siemens SCADA system was installed in the offices on board to monitor and remotely control the wind turbines.
“As the global leader in offshore wind service and the first company to deploy purpose-built SOVs, Siemens is dedicated to the development of innovative offshore service logistics that support efforts to bring down the costs associated with wind energy. We are delighted to be the first to charter this innovative new service operations vessel as we begin service operations at the Gemini wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea,” said René Cornelis Wigmans , Head of Maritime and Aviation Solutions, Siemens Wind Power Service.