October, 2012 – It was the weekend of October 20, 2012 when a very special wind turbine blade got lifted and secured on board the ‘BBC Adriatic’ in Esbjerg and carried to Bremerhaven. This certainly represents one of the shortest voyages a BBC Chartering vessel has performed in the past, however carrying one of the largest wind turbine blade which got ever produced.
With a length of 83.5 meters and a rotor diameter of 171.2 m, the blade marks the record in realized length at that date and was designed for a 7MW turbine. As a comparison the blade is longer than the wingspan of the new Airbus A380 type which measures some 79.8m.
The giant blade was produced by SSP Technology in Kirkeby, Denmark and now got sent-off to test facilities in Bremerhaven, a short sea voyage of only 144 nautical miles.
The blade was ordered by Samsung Heavy Industries from Korea who have chosen SSP Technology as supplier for their new 7MW turbine. ‘With the first blade in position for testing, we will now use the time that follows for evaluation of the first part of the project. As soon as the testing of the blade is successfully completed, we will start up the production of the remaining three prototype blades,’ says Flemming Sørensen of SSP Technology.
Being involved in the project from beginning to end together with a team of experts, he has controlled the fragile balance between success and failure which is a natural part of handling such big a project. ‘Development and production of the world’s longest blade is not done over night. It is an extremely delicate process that needs constant focus, testing and follow-up. In close cooperation with our customer, we have made sure that nothing has been left to chance and daily coordination meetings, quality checks and inspections have been a natural part of our work day for the last 15 months,’ says Flemming Sørensen.
Before being shipped on board the ‘BBC Adriatic’ the test blade left SSP Technology for a 170 kilometers road trip from Stenstrup to Esbjerg. With a maximum speed of up to 50 km/h and a total length of 100 meters, a custom-made transport like this requires much planning as well as precise and accurate handling.
Once arriving at port, the loading operation onboard the ‘BBC Adriatic’ was supervised by BBC Chartering Port Captain Thomas Janssen, an experienced professional in the handling of wind power components. He states proudly, “We have prepared this operation diligently and we managed the loading and unloading process without complications.”
We are curious to see when giant blades, stepping-up wind power generation technology, will become a market standard and require adequate global shipping services which BBC Chartering will gladly deliver.