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A team from Ainscough Wind Energy Services are busy completing the assembly of a five-turbine wind farm array close to the village of Garth on the Shetland Islands.
Working for German wind turbine manufacturer, Enercon, and alongside teams from SSC Baltic Wind and Wind Energy Services Eastern Europe, the Ainscough team were scheduled to be on site for ten weeks to assemble the turbines.
Now, just four weeks into the contract, four of the turbines are assembled and ready for commissioning and work has just started on the fifth and final turbine.
The aim is to have the final turbine assembled in the next seven days which would see Ainscough’s role in the project completed four weeks ahead of schedule.
Each E44 model turbine is capable of producing 900 kW of power, has a hub height of 44 metres and a blade diameter of 44 metres.
Tom Elliot, lift supervisor for Ainscough Wind Energy Services, explained the many challenges he and the team had faced and how they overcame them, he said: “Due to the remoteness of the location, all the teams need to show great cohesion in order for the project to run safely and smoothly. Transport is a key consideration as moving the cranes from one turbine to the next requires at least 24 hours’ notice.
“On a job like this one we need to create a solid plan and stick to it whilst maintaining some flexibility to our operations. So far, this approach has proven to be hugely successful and all parties involved are looking forward to the completion of all crane works in the next week or so.”
Ken Downie from Enercon added: “The Ainscough team have worked seamlessly with the other contractors on site and have really helped us push the project along. We are all very pleased to have reached this point in the schedule weeks before we were expecting to.”
Ainscough Wind Energy Services is operating with two cranes on site, a Liebherr LTM 1200-5.1 200-tonne all-terrain crane, operated by Rob Mckerchar and an LTM 1150-6.1 150-tonne all-terrain crane, operated by Paul Martin.
The wind farm will now go through a period of connecting, testing and commissioning before the green energy it generates is fed into the national grid.
