Osbit, the offshore equipment supplier, has been awarded a contract to design and build an offshore wind turbine pile gripper system by Sapura Energy.
The pile gripper will initially be used to support the development of WPD’s Yunlin offshore wind farm, the first large offshore wind farm to be constructed in the rapidly developing Taiwanese market.
The system will be installed on Sapura Energy’s Heavy Lift vessel and will support the installation of the wind farm’s 80 monopile foundations, which are each 8-metres in diameter.
The Osbit-supplied system is designed to facilitate monopile installation from a moored floating vessel. The pile gripper will maintain the position and verticality of monopile foundations and be deployed and stowed using a deck rail skidding system.
Osbit’s design is highly adaptable, accommodating monopiles between 6.5 and 10 metres in diameter, with push forces up to 300 tonnes.
The pile gripper features many elements of Osbit’s modular and configurable technology, which are optimised to suit Sapura Energy’s needs. The system includes a control cabin design and an integrated Near Pile Noise Mitigation System, which lessens subsea noise associated with piling activities.
