Lift solution for major component exchanges on offshore wind turbines

KenzFigee, a well-established lifting and service specialist of equipment for the marine, offshore and wind energy industry, has launched its first up-tower crane solution for offshore application at the WindEnergy Conference & Exhibition in Hamburg.

After an extensive development process, the GenHookTM offshore up-tower crane with a lifting capacity of up to 30t can perform generator and gearbox exchanges and repairs. KenzFigee offers a wide range of wind turbine generator (WTG) crane interfaces making this solution available for many types of offshore wind turbines, enabling substantial benefits for WTG owners and operators.

The development and launch of this offshore rated up-tower crane is a direct result of high market demand for a more efficient solution for offshore wind turbine major component exchanges and repairs. By using KenzFigee’s onshore-proven up-tower crane technology, smaller jack-up barges and offshore vessels can be deployed, avoiding the use of costly conventional units.

The KenzFigee range of up-tower cranes for WTG maintenance has been specifically designed to be placed temporarily on top of a wind turbine nacelle in the shortest possible time, for efficient major component exchange. Besides driving down the overall costs, the cranes offer many benefits. They are safer, faster, more reliable and have a larger operational window as compared to using large traditional cranes. In addition, unlike conventional cranes, these up-tower cranes are powered by the wind turbine itself, generating zero CO2.

The modular and lightweight GenHookTM up-tower crane is easy to install by the WTG nacelle service crane itself.  The GenHookTM is assembled in just a few steps and, once mounted in the nacelle it has a lifting capacity of up to 30t allowing generator and gearbox replacements.

Maikel Takken, CEO of KenzFigee, says “We are proud and excited to have been able to develop and launch this new generation up-tower crane for the offshore wind energy market. A fantastic result of the combined experience of WTG service specialist LiftWerx, our clients and KenzFigee’s know-how in on- and offshore lifting solutions since 1836. By innovating side by side with clients and partners, we are able to take operational efficiency to new heights.”