OFFSHORE WIND SECTOR
Combilift enters growing offshore wind sector
Combilift, the largest global manufacturer of multidirectional, articulated forklifts and straddle carriers, today announced its move into the offshore wind sector with the launch of a new product designed to meet the load handling demands of largescale offshore wind manufacturers. As the green energy sector sees a surge in larger wind turbine components, including towers and blades, Combilift joined forces with industry leaders to engineer safe, stable, efficient, lifting and storage solutions across its supply chain. The Combi-LC, designed at Combilift’s HQ and Manufacturing
plant in Ireland, in collaboration with Siemens Gamesa, allows for the movement of wind turbine blades and towers – some as long as 115m and weighing in at around 70t, through production stages and on to storage locations – which can sometimes be as far as 5km apart The concept of bespoke Load Carriers [patent pending design] is based on two fully customisable remote-control units with lowlevel chassis beds that can work in tandem master and slave operation, with dimensions and wheel configurations that vary according to load type and weight. Siemens Gamesa, one of the world’s largest offshore wind suppliers, has become the first company to leverage the new technology by signing a multi-million order for a number of the bespoke Load Carriers, and Combilift is in active discussions with other offshore wind companies with similar demands. Combilift expects to generate over
32
Lifting Africa - Sep/Oct 2023
€50m in revenue per year in this market segment by 2026. Josh Moffett, Heavy Equipment Manager at Combilift, commented on the company’s move into the offshore wind sector: “We are thrilled to have launched this new product – The Combi-LC, and we hope it will act as a gateway for us to further progress within our venture into the wind energy sector. The scale of offshore wind projects around the world leads to a very unique set of challenges, one of which being the ability to transport the very large components that make up a wind turbine. We recognised this and used our expertise in load handling to develop a solution to support those in the industry. The product is specifically made to order and therefore can be uniquely customised to fit specific applications.”
Combilift, shona.judge@combilift.com, www.combilift.com