Riffgat offshore wind farm deutsche Windtechnik (DWT) will once again provide technical services to the EWE wind turbines after the operator was awarded a new maintenance contract. From January 1, 2027, the company will be responsible for the technical services of the turbines 30 Siemens SWT-3.6-120 wind turbines that operate in the park, the agreement will have an initial duration of two years and includes three annual extension options.
DWT returns to Riffgat after five years
The new contract marks Deutsche Windtechnik’s return to a facility it knows firsthand, the company was previously responsible for maintenance and service work at Riffgat between 2019 and the end of 2021. During that period, DWT became the first independent service provider to undertake offshore maintenance of Siemens SWT-3.6 turbines. Riffgat entered service in 2013 and has108 MW of installed capacity developed by EWE, it was the first offshore wind farm commercial vessel put into operation in the German North Sea.
Maintenance of the Riffgat offshore wind farm
The scope of the new contract includes the annual maintenance of all 30 wind turbines, as well as technical inspections of cranes and access systems, DWT will also assess potential technical improvements to optimize the wind farm’s operations. As part of the agreement, remote fault diagnosis services, second-level technical support, on-demand repairs, and spare parts and inventory management may be incorporated, the prior experience of both companies in Riffgat will be a key element for the contract’s execution, EWE specifically highlighted the knowledge accumulated by Deutsche Windtechnik during its previous work on the project.
Operations from Borkum and Emden
Maintenance activities for the Riffgat offshore wind farm will be coordinated primarily from the German island of Borkum where DWT teams will use EWE’s facilities as their operational base, during the winter, repairs will be carried out at Deutsche Windtechnik’s service station in Emden from there, technicians will be able to use helicopters to access the wind turbines when operational conditions require it. With this contract, EWE will once again have an independent supplier that already has technical experience both with the Siemens turbines installed in Riffgat and with the operating conditions of the park itself North Sea.
Source: Offshore Wind
Photo: Shutterstock
