Germany: Cuxport Loads Final Tower Section for Thornton Bank II and III Offshore Windfarms

Cuxport GmbH completed another major order for the plant construction manufacturer REpower Systems SE on 20 June 2012 with the tenth loading operation involving tower segments for offshore wind turbines.

The components, which were produced by AMBAU GmbH and transhipped at Cuxport, are destined for the Thornton Bank II & III offshore wind park in the North Sea. The tower sections were loaded on to the barge heading for the Belgian port of Ostend using the company’s own crane equipment and hired units. Agreement has already been reached for another order to load equipment for the North Sea East project.

“We’ve already been able to use our transhipment capabilities for a REpower project, the Ormonde wind park in the Irish Sea. The ten shipments this spring allowed us to once again hone our profile as an effective partner for the offshore wind power industry,” says Peter Zint, Managing Director of Cuxport GmbH.

The tower sections transhipped at Cuxport weigh as much as 145 tonnes and are up to 34 metres long. Two sections form the tower, and the turbine and rotor blade star are attached to this. The sections were transported to Ostend by barge. The final installation phase starts there out at sea. Once Thornton Bank II & III offshore wind park has been completed, it will use 48 6 MW REpower 6M turbines in all.

“When constructing an offshore wind park, adjustments to the timetable are normal because of the changing meteorological conditions. This also affects the individual links in the logistics chain. Cuxport supports us very precisely here, so that we can ship the tower sections to their destination with a flexible timetable,” says Norbert Giese, Offshore Development Division Manager at REpower. “Each new project and the experience that we gain from it strengthen the port of Cuxhaven as an offshore base and help us as a logistics services provider to adapt to the needs of our customers to an even better degree,” Cuxport Managing Director, Peter Zint, adds.

As a result of the excellent level of cooperation, REpower has placed another order with Cuxport to handle 96 more tower sections for the North Sea East project during July and August this year.

Cuxport GmbH operates a multi-functional handling terminal at the deep water port of Cuxhaven. In addition to extensive RoRo transshipment operations, Cuxport provides an ideal geographical location for all maritime traffic and the best possible links to inland destinations. The company is a joint venture where Rhenus AG & Co. KG has a 74.9 percent holding and HHLA Container Terminals GmbH holds 25.1 percent of the shares. The Rhenus Group is a logistics services provider with global operations and annual turnover of EUR 3.4 billion. Rhenus has over 19,000 employees at more than 290 business locations. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is one of the leading port logistics groups at the North Sea ports.

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Offshore WIND staff, June 27, 2012; Image: mar-berlin