Vattenfall has awarded Siemens Energy an order for 72 Model SWT-4.0-130 wind turbines for its new Sandbank offshore wind farm. The project is being erected 90km west of the island of Sylt in water depths between 25m and 37m within the exclusive economic zone off the German North Sea coast. A pioneering service plan for the project will generate synergy from its close vicinity to DanTysk offshore wind farm, utilising joint operations to drive down the maintenance costs of both projects. Vattenfall has contracted Siemens to perform maintenance services on the Sandbank installations for an initial period of five years.
Service operations will centre on a Service Operation Vessel (SOV) specially designed for these deployments. Following project commissioning, this specialised ship fitted with living accommodation for technicians and a workshop equipped with spare parts on board will take up position between the two wind farms. A helicopter will enable crew to be ferried between land, the SOV and the wind turbines, irrespective of weather and sea conditions.
