Converter platform DolWin gamma: outage campaign at sea.
More than 100 people and 840 jobs – The pinnacle of the onshore and offshore maintenance of DolWin3 in the German part of the North Sea is the annual outage servicing campaign. During this time, the entire grid connection system with the offshore converter platform DolWin gamma on behalf of GE Grid GmbH and the onshore substation Dörpen West as well as the two offshore wind farms Merkur and Borkum Riffgrund 2 is taken offline and subjected to extensive maintenance. Green Wind Offshore GmbH conducts monthly servicing campaigns in cooperation with OIS Offshore Industrie Service GmbH (OIS). In July 2023, the outage (shutdown of the entire grid connection system) took place in addition to the regular campaign.
Preparation and follow-up
While OIS provides the service technicians, Green Wind Offshore is responsible for preparation and follow-up. This begins with the creation of an annual plan, which records all maintenance work for the following year. Coordination and detailed planning begin four months prior to implementation and are refined on a monthly basis.
Own control room
Planning covers, for example, job verification using a computerized maintenance management system, daily scheduling of the maintenance work, verification of necessary qualifications and certificates, personnel planning including engagement and coordination of external firms and specialists, inspection and procurement of materials and tools, preparation of work permits with monitoring of risk assessments, preparation of daily and campaign reports and preparation of service requests. The company’s own 24/7 control room, “greenwind control,” supports Green Wind Offshore’s project management.
Technical project management is performed by Fabio da Fonseca Bola and his team, comprising Javier Aguiar Axpe, Rico Kaatz and Emanuel Fätke. On account of the specific challenges during the outage campaign, all team members – as in previous years – were on-site: Javier on the offshore platform DolWin gamma, Rico in the substation Dörpen West, Emanuel and Fabio at the Bockhorn warehouse.