Belgium view map
“C-Power”, a consortium of Belgium and other European companies.
The project is located in the north see approximately 30 km north from Oostende where the onshore site was based. The site water depth is between 12m and 27,5m and the occupied area is 19,84 km2. The task consisted in supervision and trouble shooting of the commissioning works with special emphasis on communication, radar & navigation signals, webcams, documentation and field work instructions
In generally the see environment the whether and the accessibility of the turbines by itself was a challenge. The other main challenges in this project were methodology, onshore-offshore work organization and site coordination. The coordination of works was also a challenge as team shifts demand constant training and tight supervision of works. Finally the challenge of the industry being still inexperienced, balancing between performing activities onshore (downside of having a long waiting time for transport, installation etc) or performing the activities offshore (later on but expensive and more risky).
New methodology and works organization needed to be introduced to cope with the works onshore-offshore. Everything needed to be well prepared and double checked, personnel needed constant training before being shipped offshore. Because of work shifts and training needs on the teams (installation, commissioning, etc.) the supervision and training activities needed strong reinforcement.
The results where very good with slight schedule over-run due to whether (waves, rain and wind) conditions and some budgets updates. Mostly important the Customer was satisfied with the overall team and project performance and execution.
Argentina view map
Envision – the Envision Group is a world leading provider of wind power technology and energy storage solutions
Envision Argentina – Local subsidiary of the Envision Group
As a part of its strategic development, Envision acquired the development rights of the project Vientos del Secano in the province of Bahia Blanca in Argentina.
The project was the company`s biggest wind farm in south America, consisting in 50 MW. The scope included the full BoP works and a transmission substation for the utility TRANSBA.
The tight overall deadline from the regulator CAMMESA set the frame or the entire development and construction process, making extremely challenging. Additionally the project was being developed at the same time as other local projects, increasing the overall resource bottleneck on all parties. To add up to the total challenge the main contractor was having a series of difficulties in the country and finally gave up the site and the works, leaving it all up to owner to reach the final objective.
The project would also be hit by the world pandemic affecting all works.
The plan consisted in building up a local project team, setting up the processes, the roles and responsibilities, the supply chain, reporting and project steering.
Permitting and grid interfacing engineering needed to be urgently addressed as the TSO for the 123 kV substation demanded a complex decision process and management.
Following the works abandonment of the main contractor, a sudden built up of own resources would be necessary in order to pick up and own the works, supplies and materials as they were left.
Commissioning procedures needed to be adapted and ad-hoc creative solutions put in place to deal with limitations of the COVID crisis and the travel restriction to and from Bahia Blanca area.
In order to serve project timeline and after long and challenging interface discussions with the TSO, fast decisions were taken, leading to increased project scope (extra switching station).
Additional Engineers and Site Managers were hired to manage all subcontractor`s works, left adrift by the leaving contractor.
Specially rented Motorhomes helped minimizing COVID impact, and housed technicians arriving for construction and commissioning. Local travel restrictions would otherwise require long quarantines before entering the region / site.
Remote commissioning procedures needed to be developed and implemented to allow an international team to support the activities on site.
Strong push from all sides contributed decisively to accelerate and reduce the delay expected due to all accumulating challenges.
Finally, and mostly important the customer could successfully celebrate bringing this important milestone projects online and enjoy the returns the asset operation.
