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IHC IQIP

IHC IQIP Meeting the Challenges of a Rapidly Growing Industry

PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder

As today’s markets and industries continue to develop at a rapid pace, we are seeing projects taking place in ever deeper waters, in more remote areas and within increasingly challenging environments. This has sparked a growing demand for integrated and reliable solutions which in turn inspired the formation of IHC IQIP, now poised to provide a complete range of equipment, solutions and advice from a single source.

// As the complexity of projects and operations grows exponentially, the bid to continuously lower costs and maximise efficiencies becomes ever greater, in order to ensure that these activities remain profitable. IHC IQIP’s customers across its four primary markets - offshore oil and gas, offshore wind and renewables, coastal and civil, and decommissioning - now deal with a single partner, which in turn means fewer interfaces and suppliers throughout the process. Everything IHC IQIP does and offers revolves around building: from delivering and operating equipment to offering advice and a comprehensive service to its customers.

IHC IQIP is able to draw on a long history of designing, constructing, delivering and maintaining a range of offshore technology for various applications in the oil and gas market. For installation contractors in the oil and gas industry, the primary focus is often on reducing costs and risk on a project, while creating a safe working environment. In addition, contractors are looking to shift their expenditure from CAPEX to OPEX, in order to lower the required investment and associated risk.

IHC IQIP is ideally positioned to ensure that customers are successful in this aim, providing as it does a complete package of rental equipment and services for any type of offshore installation, from subsea infrastructure in ultra-deep waters, mooring of FPSOs to jackets in shallow water. This means reliable solutions are available for upstream oil and gas projects, both surface and subsea, in all water depths, particularly crucial as the future of the oil and gas industry moves from shallow to deeper – and even ultra-deep – waters.

In the offshore wind market, the mutual aim across the board is to reduce the total cost of energy to continue making this emerging sector a highly competitive one, while increasing the level of security of supply. As such, everyone involved in a wind farm project is covered, whether this means developers, design

agencies, contractors or financers. To set about achieving these cost reductions, all while mitigating risk, offshore wind contractors must look to minimise the number of interfaces and suppliers to increase efficiency and flexibility. IHC IQIP contributes to this goal by providing a complete range of equipment and services on a project-by-project basis.

With a portfolio extending from the smallest hammers to the largest rigs in the world, IHC IQIP’s third primary area of expertise sees it provide a range of piling and drilling tools for the coastal and civil market, producing cost-effective and sustainable solutions for the construction of jetties, harbours and bridges. In the competitive coastal and civil market, foundation contractors have to work efficiently and minimise risk in order to deliver profitable projects. The uncertainty of soil conditions and other circumstances when driving or drilling foundation piles can create significant challenges, and in some cases lead to project delays or the incurrence of other unforeseen costs.

To maximise profitability, contractors therefore need the support of reliable partners. IHC IQIP has a long history in

18 / www.emea-energy.net piling and drilling for coastal and civil works, as well as for offshore foundations, experience it can apply to on- and nearshore construction, and offer highquality equipment to withstand even the harshest soil environments. By transferring its offshore capabilities, IHC IQIP can drive possible, a great deal of engineering and calculation must be carried out in advance. Since 2004, IHC IQIP has developed an impressive track record with its standard tools, but has also successfully designed and built tailor-made decommissioning solutions for specific projects.

// DUDGEON REPRESENTS AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO REALISING THE UK’S RENEWABLE ENERGY STRATEGY //

the piles necessary to support even the largest bridges, while the same applies for harbours and jetties, which require steel piles to be driven into the ground to withstand the horizontal loads from LNG carriers and other vessels. The unique qualities of the IHC IQIP’s very own Hydrohammer, a hydraulic impact hammer for use above and under water, enable these piles to be efficiently driven without any loss of energy.

When it comes to the fourth arm of the business, decommissioning, IHC IQIP steps forward to offer specialist solutions for safe, efficient and cost-effective removal. Removal projects, by nature, entail much uncertainty regarding structural integrity, and so to reduce risk as far as IHC IQIP has extensive in-house expertise for the engineering and manufacturing of innovative equipment designed for decommissioning activities, these removal tools having been extensively tested in the oil and gas, and offshore wind markets. Whether it is the removal of structures, jackets, subsea templates or pipelines, the company’s specialised equipment can be customised to perform any task.

The offshore wind market continues to grow at a rapid pace, and wind farms of significant proportions will be created at an increasing rate over the coming decades. IHC IQIP supports the growth of these customers through the delivery

of innovative equipment, consultation and additional service, during the installation and decommissioning of wind farms, substations and met masts, in its continuing bid to make this emergent sector the most profitable possible. Exemplifying this is Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, a phenomenal £1.5 billion project to harness offshore wind set to power more than 410,000 UK homes.

This 402MW offshore wind farm will be located 20 miles off the coast of the seaside town of Cromer in North Norfolk, UK, and features 67 turbines. IHC IQIP was selected to provide piling and handling equipment for Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) for the project, and had already delivered the first 10 monopiles and a 1,400-tonnes upending tool on board the multipurpose vessel Oleg Strashnov in April last year. In total, SHL was responsible for the transportation and installation of 67 monopiles, transition pieces, and jacket and topside for an offshore substation at the site. Just weeks ago it was announced that all 67 turbines at the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm were now delivering electricity to the UK grid, providing renewable energy to around 410,000 homes.

“Dudgeon represents an important contribution to realising the UK’s renewable energy strategy. The UK has already achieved impressive reductions in CO2-emissions with clear policies to phase out coal, and last year achieved the lowest CO2 emissions since before year 1900,” said Statoil’s CEO Eldar Sætre. Scotland. Here, IHC IQIP will provide 336 jacket pile grippers and the Hydrohammer S-2500, which has two specially-designed hammer sleeves and an internal lifting tool. The jacket pile grippers will be welded to the 84 jacket foundations, with work on the grippers underway and the last delivery scheduled for early 2018, according to IHC IQIP. Beatrice offshore wind farm represents one of the largest ever private investments in Scottish infrastructure and will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm when fully operational, currently set for 2019.

IHC IQIP

Another collaboration between SHL and IHC IQIP continues the theme of significant progress in the wind energy sector, this time at the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm off the coast of +31 88 015 50 00 info.iqip@ihciqip.com www.ihciqip.com

snel staal b.v. Zadelmakerstraat 76, 1991 JE Velserbroek, The Netherlands Tel: +31-23-5352424 Email: info@snelstaal.nl Web: www.snelstaal.nl

Products Rings/Flanges Seamless rolled Rolled and butt welded Forged Centricasted Cut from plate Bars/Discs/Strips Forged (eventually in profile) Rolled Casted Cut from plate Tubes/Cones Centricasted Rolled and welded Forged Heads Hot/cold pressed Cold formed Steel Qualities Snel Staal B.V. has the possibility to deliver the above mentioned products in almost all kinds of steel qualities. (For example in stainless steel, heat resistant steel, construction steel, low alloy steel, high alloy steel, nickel alloy, titanium, aluminium)

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