Outreach Offshore Ltd Supports Delivery, Final Installation & Operator Training for Seagreen Wind Farm
Outreach Offshore Ltd is in the process of supporting the delivery and final installation of 114 PALFINGER PF20000-7 fixed boom wind cranes as part of the Seagreen offshore wind project. The 1,075MW Seagreen project is located 27km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea. This wind farm will supply the energy needs of around 1.6 million homes by generating 5,000 GWh annually of clean renewable energy.
The first batch of the contracted 114 cranes have now been delivered to the subsequent build yards and progressively installed on each transition piece (TP). The first batch of TP’s have now been dispatched and are on route to Scotland’s Port of Nigg to be delivered later this year where Outreach Offshore Ltd will conduct essential thorough examinations on the cranes to ensure no damage has occurred in transit.
Thereafter, the TP’s will be transferred offshore where Outreach Offshore Ltd will conduct set to work (STW), load test and final thorough examination to enable the PF20000-7 cranes to be brought into service in accordance with LOLER & PUWER regulations.
To coincide with this project, Outreach Offshore Ltd has installed a PF20000-7 fixed boom wind crane on our test plinth at our head office in Falkirk, Scotland. This crane will be used as a local training facility for operators before heading to the Seagreen wind farm.
Outreach Offshore Ltd are committed to the promotion of safe working practice on all our equipment. Our training department offers comprehensive ALLMI accredited training, including the knowledge of equipment and operator training to ensure a safe working environment.
In this case, we have taken the opportunity to provide a training crane that matches the same specification as our client’s recently purchased wind park fleet of cranes. Our in-house test plinth offers exclusive operator training using the exact equipment they will be using daily in service.
This training will also provide the ability to carry out crane interrogation and maintenance practices to ensure that the crane can be kept in the best condition and to enable potential fault-finding cases to be looked at in isolation. This facility on land is an invaluable asset to the wind park operator as it is based in Scotland, close to the operation.
Not only will this training offer the ability to perform the best practices in crane operations, but it will also educate the operators on the legislation surrounding the lifting of loads. This will ensure that they are always operating within the parameters of safe systems of work, legal obligations and best practices. This offers increased awareness of safety standards, which will help reduce costly accidents incidents and equipment damage or malfunction.