Giants for giants
72 monopile foundations for the Danish offshore wind farm "Kriegers Flak", which is under construction and will be run by Vattenfall, are currently being loaded in the port of Rostock (Germany). The wind farm, located south of the Danish coast, will supply up to 600,000 households with electricity in the future and will thus become Denmark's largest offshore wind farm.
The loading of the monopile foundation piles is handled by Liebherr's gantry crane type TCC 78,000, inaugurated in 2019. The manufacturer of the monopiles is the offshore wind specialist EEW Special Pipe Constructions GmbH, also based in Rostock.
For direct loading into the water, the otherwise hollow piles, which are open at both ends, must be sealed watertight in advance with specially constructed sealing caps, so-called plugs. The sealing condition thus created enables the monopile foundation piles, which are over 65 m long and weigh up to 800 t, to float. (mw)