This Norwegian ‘spider’ could revolutionize the offshore wind industry

This Norwegian 'spider' could revolutionize the offshore wind industry

Norway’s investments in offshore wind were discussed a lot at the beginning of the year. Among the biggest challenges is that offshore wind is not particularly profitable, according to NVE calculations.

Among the buoys are the operation and maintenance of offshore wind turbines with specially built ships and the so-called yackup منصات platforms Expensive – and much more expensive than similar operations on Earth. New offshore wind turbines are getting larger and heavier.

Few of the ships in the Jack Up fleet today can handle the next generation of turbines. We’re seeing that some order ships can handle 15-megawatt turbines, but their pricing starts at $350 million, says Andre Olberg, chief financial officer of the entrepreneurial Wind Spider.

Crane platforms are floating structures towed out to sea, where the legs of rigs are lowered to the sea floor and platform covers can be raised above sea level.

But soon these drilling rigs run into problems in the depths of the seas of more than 100-150 meters. The same is true of the solid foundations of offshore wind, which becomes financially unprofitable and technically challenging as it goes deeper. However, the Wind Spider’s “climbing lever” is different.

There is no relative movement between the winch and the wind turbine as they are part of the same shaft. The solution is highly scalable and can operate at altitudes of over 200 metres. We haven’t set any limits, and we’re ready for 15MW and 20MW wind turbines, says senior manager Kent Lingard Finkel.

Behind the Wind Spider are a large number of heavy industrial weights (see the fact box below):

The star team behind Wind Spider

Administration:

CEO Kent Lingard Finkel He started working for the company on the 1st of January this year and is an experienced pioneer in the offshore wind energy industry. Vinkel worked for 13 years at Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine developer, and eight years as a senior manager at Danish OEMs.

Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director Andre Olberg He has extensive experience from the financial world having been a partner of Hitecvision for a number of years. Olberg has worked with a large number of companies in areas such as oil and offshore wind services, and worked for the Wind Spider last summer.

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Technical Director Peter Fabo Engineer and has worked in offshore processes and structures at a large number of companies for the past 30 years.

The Commission:

Board Member Bear Olaf Home He is the mind behind Windspider. He is an inventor and civil engineer who has worked for a long time with robotics in different industries such as hydropower, tunneling and petroleum. Haughom is a real Peter Smart. In 2017, Teknisk Ukeblad referred to it as Norway’s patent king, with 39 current Norwegian patents.

Chief Hans Olaf Heide He is one of the founders of three oil service companies that were sold to larger international companies; Roxar was sold to Emerson, MPM was sold to FMC and Trac Id was sold to NOV.

Board Member Kjell-Erik Østdahl He is best known as the longtime director of the oil services giant Schlumberger and a senior advisor at Blackstone. He has also worked for Equinor and Hitecvision, as well as held important positions on the board of directors, for example, John Fredriksen’s Seadrill. Some will also know him as the husband of Siri Calvig, president of Nysnø.

Board Member Torstein Øygarden He is a civilian owner and also has extensive experience in robotics and offshore operations in various companies and boards. He is the general manager of the automation company Advanced Control

Peter Smart’s invention

Inventor and civil engineer Per Olav Haughom (78) is the mastermind behind the Wind Spider. Serdal Man, who has previously been referred to as The king of patents in NorwayHe is currently a member of the company’s board of directors.

His friend and oil veteran, Hans Olaf Heide, who is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurship Company, came up with the name spider wind. From the window of the house near Hellestøstranden, Hide noticed some spiders climbing in the wind. Not unlike what the patented Wind Spider technology plans to do.

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CFO Ølberg says the Wind Spider technology can be used to perform maintenance and installation of wind turbines.

The worktop can be temporarily installed on the tower, adapted to the converter or integrated into a floating foundation and the Wind Spider technology is lifted to the turbine. The solution, by inserting several climbing sections, can raise the crane and install tower, church and leaf sections.

Economically, this is much better than the solutions that exist today, and we envision a 50 percent cost savings on the next generation of wind turbines, says Olberg.

Senior Manager Finkel was recently brought into the company, and has extensive experience in the offshore wind industry. He previously worked for Danish Vestas, the world’s largest developer of wind turbines.

Offshore wind turbines are getting bigger and bigger, and there is a real need for this solution. The cranes on land and at sea are too small for the turbines that are going inland. There is a reason why actors like Fred. The Olsen Wind Carrier and others are modernizing the fleet in full swing. But it won’t be cheap, Finkel says.

Ståle Kyllingstads IKM invests

Market reports indicate that the offshore wind industry will grow so rapidly that in a few years there will be bottlenecks. According to the analysis of Rystad Energy Already in 2024 there will be very little installation capacity in the offshore wind market.

When the Hywind Tampen wind turbines are assembled these days at Gulen in Ytre Sogn, Equinor uses the largest crane that has ever been in Norway on Earth. The crane height is 207 meters and there are few cranes of this size in the world.

With the technology available today, floating wind turbines such as the Hywind Tampen must be towed to land for maintenance. Wind Spider technology will allow maintenance to be carried out on site offshore.

– Then we talk about big savings, says Finkel.

Recently, IKM Gruppen, which is owned by oil services founder Ståle Kyllingstad, has invested new money in the investment. A number of other investors from Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger have done the same. Wind Spider is owned primarily by the founders, board of directors and management.

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Today, 10 to 15 people, including employees from subcontractors, work hard to make the patented technology a commercial and practical product. Throughout the year, the company will conduct comprehensive technical rehabilitation and verification, with the goal of using the first Wind Spider in early 2023-2024.

Read more: Vattenfall will focus on Norway’s offshore wind

We want a higher pace in Norway

Management is not hiding that it is building a product and technology for the European market, but the Wind Spider will also be able to do well in the USA and Asia.

– To put it that way, we’re not just developing this for the Norwegian market. It’s smart to think big from the start. But of course it helps show the technology to the Norwegian market first. At the moment, we are likely to have a great deal of contact with potential foreign clients such as Norwegian clients, says CFO Ølberg.

– If we are to be realistic, I doubt that our beta version will be tested in Norway. But we can hope. And CEO Finkel adds that foreign players have gone even further, and that’s our impression.

The Danish top manager saw that Denmark was building a wind energy industry since the 1970s, and that wind turbines from Denmark had been exported to large parts of the world. According to Vinkel, the effective domestic market is alpha and omega. Recently, the government of Norway Criticisms from many sides To invest offshore wind energy here at home.

– We are in line with what the rest of the wind industry in Norway is saying. We miss a higher pace and more visibility. More projects and more areas are needed. It is absolutely necessary to create an industry. Look at what Scotland has achieved with SkotWind, says CFO Ølberg.

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Hanisi Anenih

Hanisi Anenih

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