Longpark wind farm was inaugurated in 2009 and has 19 Senvion MM82/2050 turbines with a production capacity of 38 MW.
Sarens has actively collaborated in the maintenance of the turbine drive trains, thus contributing to maintaining stable energy production at the facility and avoiding, through preventive maintenance, shutdowns and breakdowns. The company specialises in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental, and one of the largest specialists in the installation and maintenance of onshore and offshore wind farms. It has actively collaborated in these maintenance tasks on behalf of EDF Energy in the dismantling and replacement of the turbine drive trains.
The wind farm has recently undergone preventive and corrective maintenance work on its wind turbines to guarantee the renewable electricity supply already enjoyed by more than 22,000 homes in the region.
Sarens brought an LTM1500-8.1 crane unit and a Demag AC220-5 including rehired additional plant equipment, such as towerlights, telehandler and hook, man basket and a mobile welfare unit to the site. Thanks to this equipment, the Sarens engineering team was able to plan the tandem lift operations for the removal of the rotor assembly from the turbine, and subsequently reorient and position the assembly on the crane pad. Finally, the removal and replacement of redundant drive train was performed.
These maintenance tasks, considered strategic to keep in line with the Scottish Government's strategy to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions, were a major challenge for the Sarens engineering team, which had to carry out a thorough field survey to correctly position the crane pad to accommodate both cranes and ensure the stability and efficiency of the delivery transport tasks.
In addition, because the orography of the area where the wind farm is located is particularly steep, Sarens used certain additional elements to avoid civil works, thus incurring additional costs for the client. The engineering team on site raised the rotor assembly by utilising timber mats to raise the component above adjacent gradients in the landscape.
Sarens recently announced the addition of a Liebherr LG1750 750-ton mobile crane to its fleet in the country. This unit, in addition to the crawler cranes and mobile cranes already dedicated to the sector, will reinforce its leadership position in its crane rental, heavy lifting and engineered transport services, with the development of wind energy projects as one of its key growth markets.
For additional information:
