Carbon Trust and Fistuca announce successful execution of offshore test of innovative new installation technology

The Carbon Trust and Fistuca, in conjunction with industry partners (E.ON, EDPR,  EnBW, Equinor, Ørsted, Shell, Sif, SSE, Van Oord, and Vattenfall) announce the successful completion of the offshore trial of the Fistuca BLUE 25M hammer as part of the Offshore Wind Accelerator BLUE PILOT project. The offshore test was carried out on 13 August 2018, using Van Oord’s offshore heavy lift installation vessel, Svanen, off the coast of the Netherlands, Van Oord announces in its press release.

The BLUE Hammer is an innovative, new hammer utilising a large water tank to provide a more energetic, but quieter blow for offshore installation. It is designed to reduce underwater noise levels by up to 20 dB (SEL), and is predicted to reduce the fatigue damage during installation on the pile by up to 90 percent. This could not only remove the need for underwater noise mitigation, but also enable secondary steel to be pre-welded to the monopile before installation, potentially unlocking ‘transition piece free’ designs. Furthermore, by reducing the amount of time and number of operations carried out offshore, the innovative piling method improves health and safety and result in a significantly lower installation cost.

The offshore test provided significant insights and understanding for future commercial operations. Data was recorded on both acceleration levels on the monopile as well as underwater noise levels in the surrounding area which will now be analysed and interpreted to validate studies that were undertaken prior to the test. This will allow Fistuca to optimise the hammer for future use on commercial offshore wind farms.