News
Voith Hydro team takes stock after barge problems
Robert Leslie 28/07/2010 12:19:00
THE jack-up barge being hired to lay the foundations for a tidal
current turbine at EMEC's test facility at the Fall of Warness, off
Eday, has encountered challenging conditions during attempts to deploy
at the site.
The Pauline was towed to the test site on Friday, but following
concerns that the barge's legs might not be long enough to work in high
tide, she was returned to Kirkwall Harbour.
A second attempt was made on Sunday but ran into difficulties with the
tide. The coastguard vessel Anglian Prince was called to assist but was
not required.
Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies said that its team had been
working for the past week with the Pauline jack-up barge, undertaking a
series of quay-side and on-site trials and deployments. The operation
was carried out by the international drilling expert Bauer Renewables.
It is planned to take stock over the next few days and then consider
options for the forthcoming neap tides, which return in a few days
time. The team says it will increase its efforts to deal with the very
challenging conditions that the project faces at the site.
The barge is due to be employed in the drilling and laying of a
foundation, called a monopile, which would support the tidal turbine.
The project, which will run over a two-year trial period starting next
autumn, is a joint effort between German firms Voith Hydro, RWE
Innology, and Bauer Renewables.
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