Dutch monopile manufacturer SIF already produces the equivalent to the Eiffel Tower every 2.5-3 weeks. It’s looking to increase that capacity further, reports Elaine Maslin.
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SIF monopile offloading. Images from SIF. |
Dutch fabrication group SIF hasn’t had the attention it deserves, possibly because it’s producing the hardware for offshore wind farms and offshore oil and gas platforms that gets the least attention.
That’s because at least half of it sits under the water. Yet, having made the conscious decision to move into the offshore wind industry in 2000, as its traditional markets in pressure vessels and large cylinders moved overseas, SIF now appears to be at the leading edge of the fabrication pack.
It’s not only gearing up to produce the industry’s largest monopile wind foundations, it’s also churning out a lot of them – 1500 to date and at a current rate equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower every 2.5-3 weeks – as well as transition pieces.
The firm, which started out in 1948 as a metal working outfit (Silemetal) for large vessels, is now investing some US$70.9 million (€64 million) in a new facility at Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte 2 to increase capacity – to 300,000-tonne/year, or four XL monopiles (XL being over 7m-diameter) a week. The monopile diameter size it can produce up to will increase to 11m. The site’s quayside will be able to accommodate two installation vessels at a time and covers some 40.8ha. Meanwhile, at SIF’s Roermond site, which it moved to in 1972 and increased to 13 halls with three expanded production lines in 2014, the firm is also investing $14.8 million (€12.7 million) in new production equipment.
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An artist’s impression of SIF’s new site at Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam. |
Offshore wind technology has changed a lot since 2000. When SIF first entered the space, the maximum diameter monopile was 4m, says SIF CEO Jan Bruggenthijs, a mechanical engineer by training and CEO since 2014.
It was an easy market to move into, he says. “We were already producing the legs for the large jackets for oil and gas platforms, which at that time were also up to 4m diameter. We also produced foundation piles for jackets, which were 2.5-3m. It was familiar product,” he says.
Offshore wind production really started increasing in 2010, when pile diameters were starting to move towards 6-7m, and investment has been ongoing since then. Today, diameters are around 8.5m, at least for the bottom section, with top sections around 6-7m diameter, Bruggenthijs says. At some 75m-long, they weigh around 1000-tonne each in total, compared to 40m-long pieces, in 2000, weighing 250-300-tonne a piece.
But, the firm has also focused heavily on cost efficiency, Bruggenthijs says, while maintaining pricing. As a large steel consumer, the firm, which listed on the Euronext Amsterdam in May this year, also shelters itself from steel prices, either offering fixed (with client and steel supplier) or indexed prices.
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CEO Jan Bruggenthijs marks the first day of trading for SIF. |
Developing its own production processes and handling facilities has helped SIF keep busy. “We design our equipment,” Bruggenthijs says. “We spend a lot of time and money in upgrading welding technologies. We weld with narrow gaps to reduce welding as much as possible, to be more efficient. We spend a lot of time on the rolling machines, and we have just bought two new ones. It is all the time looking at where we can improve the total process.”
SIF has doubled the number of welding heads from two to four, to reduce welding time, and is discussing with steel producers the potential for a steel, which would be able to handle the heat from even more, to further increase efficiency. It has also had a supplier develop a special powder used to cover the weld to stop oxidation. And it’s working on further developments, which we will have to wait to hear about.
The biggest change since moving into offshore wind, Bruggenthijs says, is going into continuous production – having a production line in one flow. “As all the monopiles are different this is quite a challenge. They are all unique,” he says. “Monopiles are the transition between the soil, wave, wind, current and the tower and turbine they are supporting. The height changes, every monopile is unique, but they are built in a flow.” Making sure they flow on time is also important to Bruggenthijs. “If you don’t have the foundation you cannot build the rest of the wind turbine.”
Bruggenthijs doesn’t think jacket foundations will impact the business. “There’s a time where jackets might be more suitable, but as it looks now, it might be only if the soil conditions need it or the water depth is over 50m and these projects are being delayed and some being replaced by monopiles. There is still huge demand to come for monopiles because it is cheaper.” SIF is also looking further afield than Europe. The US, whose first offshore wind farm is due to complete soon (OE: July 2016), as well as Japan, are possible markets, Bruggenthijs says.
But, oil and gas work is also still on the cards. While oil and gas work is becoming an ever smaller share of production (15%, compared to about 85% in wind), as wind production increases, it’s still about 30,000-tonne of annual output. SIF is set to produce some 24 piles for Norway’s Johan Sverdrup development drilling platform and 20 piles and 20 leg sections for the production platform for contractor Kvaerner Verdal, in addition to jacket legs and piles it is fabricating for the riser platform.
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