The testing and certification company SGS will be in charge of performing regular service inspections at the Amrumbank West wind farm in the North Sea.
The offshore wind farm Amrumbank West is located forty kilometres from the island of Heligoland and has a total capacity of 288 MW. Its 80 turbines, which generate enough power for 300,000 households, began normal operation in October 2015 and now require inspections at regular intervals. The independent inspection company SGS, which is based in Geneva, won the tender from the operator E.ON and will perform the inspections required by the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) at the offshore wind farm in the coming years.
Offshore wind turbines are required by law to have inspections at regular intervals. During the course of the inspections, various documents are checked for each of the turbines; the entire wind farm is inspected over a period of four years. The experts from SGS check maintenance logs and evaluate repair work that has been performed. Inspectors from SGS also personally inspect the wind turbines at sea. They evaluate the state of the corrosion protection, check that the drive train does not have any leaks and test for cracks or material defects. A test report and certificate on the current status of the wind farm is then issued.
"The service inspections are indispensable for ensuring the quality and safety of wind energy projects", SGS division head Christian Nübold said. "The inspections provided by the independent experts at SGS ensure the technical reliability of the turbines and minimise unforeseen downtime."
Silke Funke
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