Page 49 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication

Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation
work in Danish waters. Therefore, it
is of outmost importance that the
offshore components are prepared in
a specialized service port before they
are mounted at sea. The idea that a
wind park can be built with a computer
program somewhere from an office in
Barcelona, linked with an accountancy
spreadsheet , is a mere illusion. The
efficient and cost effective handling
of the offshore components is a key
task for the management of the port
and of REBO : together with the client
they investigate the different options
to organize the operations within
the port. The construction and the
transport at sea of the 6 gravity-based
foundations, with an average weight of
2700 tons each is still a landmark within and turbine manufacturers. Wind
the history of the port. Installations
vessels like the Bold Tern (Fred Olsen)
the Innovation and Neptune (Deme
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Group) are regular guests at the port
of Oostende, and on the 28th of April,
Queen Mathilde will rebaptize the Vidar
(Jan De Nul Group) .The port works
hard to improve the nautical access,
and improve the swing-circle as well as
straightening the quay walls.
For the management of the offshore
wind parks, the electricity production
at sea needs to be monitored in
function of the supply to the grid for an and more companies have asked to
efficient price-setting, and increasing
the profitability of the investments.
As to the technical aspects, it means
that the wind park managers have
a daily interaction with the different
subcontractors, service providers
park owners/developers C-Power,
Otary (Rentel, Seastar, and Mermaid)
and Parkwind (Rental, Seastar and
Northwester2) have chosen to establish
their headquarters in the port of
Oostende, overlooking a permanent
monitoring of their sea parks.
The operations & maintenance of
the wind parks are vital to keep the
wind mills operating with optimal
efficiency. Several service companies
have set up their offices at the port
in order to oversee the maintenance,
open a representation in the Oostende
offshore village. Considering the
permanent growth of the cluster, the
port management has developed a
sustainable master plan to install the
different enterprises on site, for reasons
of safety, security and sustainability.
The implementation of this process is a
daily and ongoing business operation.
At present, the management is
investigating the economic opportunity
of installing a prototype Xant (mid-
seize/100kw) wind mill in to provide the
site with electricity.
In the Oostende offshore village,
the turbine manufacturers, Senvion,
Vestas and Alstom have their offices,
warehouses and workshops in order
to be able to intervene in case of
emergency maintenance. The port
has refurbished several buildings
next to the REBO terminal and built
new premises. A wide range of
subcontractor services have found their
way to the port of Oostende, from IT
to training: enterprises like e-Bo, CMI,
Multitech, G4S, CG, Buijsse and Falck
Safety services have found their place
in the Belgian offshore world.
And there are no activities of
operations & maintenance without crew
transfer vessels. More than 3500 calls
per year are registered by the Ensor-
system. A lot of shipping-companies,
operating these kinds of vessels are
active at the port. Companies like
Windcat, Nordfjord, Sima Charters, Sea
Contractors, MPI, MCS, Stemat, Turbine
Transfers,e.o. operate sailings between
the Belgian wind parks and the port
of Oostende. Most of the shipping-
companies have their headquarters in