Braving the mistral on the waters
Schmidbauer helps get an offshore wind farm off the coast of Marseille started. After more than three years of planning by Schmidbauer the offshore wind farm ‘Provence Grand Large’ off the coast of Fos-sur-Mer in the greater Marseille area is now being implemented. Its special feature is that its wind turbines will be erected on floating platforms – “a model innovation” according to the German provider of mobile crane services and special transports, founded in 1932.
The ‘Provence Grand Large’ offshore wind farm, a unique project in France, is being built 17 km off the coast. The sea is about 100 m deep at this point, which is why the classic fixing of the steel structures to the seabed is out of the question.
The project has opted for pioneering floating turbines, in order to nevertheless benefit from the region’s often regular – sometimes fierce – winds. In Provence they say that the Mistral can drive people crazy if it blows for three, six or nine days at a stretch.
Floating turbines, a solution that can be deployed in previously unusable maritime locations, are also environmentally friendly. They cover only a small amount of the sea at its surface and the line system used to anchor them only impacts the seabed minimally.
Three years of planning and engineering
Schmidbauer chief executive officer Werner Schmidbauer knows that “the real challenge of the project is that the construction of these floating foundations are prototypes. That’s why we’ve already been involved with the client for more than three years, planning and engineering. We’ve been involved in the construction of many onshore and offshore wind farms from the beginning. This project shows where the journey to even more efficient wind power could go.”
The port compound is the main centre of logistics activity for the pilot project, with the first hub planned for June. The crane stand in the harbour will be reinforced according to Schmidbauer’s specifications, and an innovative load distribution concept is set to be implemented.
1,350 t crawler crane in action
The company is laying down almost 3 km of Bongossi mats, plus several steel plates. A 400 t crawler crane works alongside a specially-purchased 1,350 t crawler crane with a power boom, which is the superstructure and tracking crane.
The auxiliary crane will be converted several times during the course of the project, to ensure that it can be used for all lifting activities and the erection of the plant components. In addition, 40 SPMT axle lines will be in action to manage logistics from the components warehouse to the wind turbine erection area.
Around 150 truckloads were needed to deliver the reinforcements and lifting equipment to the South of France, with complete erection estimated to take approximately six weeks.