Jumbo has completed the transportation part of its Transport & Installation contract for the 640 MW Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan. The shipping company transported the 40 monopiles, 120 monopile sections and 40 transition pieces (TPs) from yards in the Netherlands and Germany to Taiwan.
Jumbo mobilised ships from its own Heavy Lift Vessel fleet, together with subcontracted deck carriers and HLVs from third parties, In addition to the actual transport of components from A to B, Jumbo’s role was complete project management of numerous critical aspects of the project. This included the engineering, design and fabrication management of the supporting and sea-fastening elements such as cradles, grillages and load spreader beams, procurement of additional equipment and services, as well as the chartering of third party vessels.
Jumbo secured the Yunlin T&I contract with Yunneng Windpower Co. (a Taiwanese subsidiary of wpd AG) back in June 2019. Under the contract, Jumbo is responsible for the transportation of 40 monopiles and 120 monopile sections from Germany to Taiwan and of 40 TP’s from the Netherlands to Taiwan, as well as the installation of 80 TP’s in the 640 MW Yunlin offshore wind farm. For Jumbo this was the largest single contract the company had ever been awarded.
The transport of components required 21 intercontinental voyages, at times with 10 TPs per voyage. The first transport took place in august 2020, and was performed by Jumbo’s heavy load carrier MV Fairpartner. “Our eye for detail in the early contractual stages enabled the smooth progress in execution of transport. We highlighted potential bottlenecks in the port logistics in Taiwan well in advance, tackling them in an open and candid fashion to safeguard our client,” says Boudewijn van der Garden, Jumbo Commercial Manager specialised in Offshore Renewables. “Moreover, we supported direct berthing at the fabrication yard in Germany; this saved a lot of time. We re-used the saddles and other sea-fastenings; this saved a lot of money.”
According to wpd, ‘Jumbo has put a lot of work in sourcing solutions for several challenges, which occurred not only before the planning, but even during the performance phase. While transports were ongoing, new knowledge was gained, the design of the substructure was still subject to change and Jumbo’s Engineers and Project Managers had to implement new concepts very rapidly. Yunlin as a fast track project demands everything from those involved and there is often no time to evaluate upcoming topics to their ultimate depths. With every further voyage Jumbo gained the trust to be the right partner to cope with such big challenges.’
Next step: installation
With the transport of the offshore wind substructures now completed, Jumbo is ready for the installation of 80 transition pieces. The company will be contracting additional support services such as monopile cleaning specialists and TP grouting teams.
Photo: Jumbo’s Fairpartner in Vlissingen © Jumbo