Fast and safe installation and removal of the rotor star

Rotor stars no longer need to be installed in several stages. The rotor star, laying on the jack-up vessel, is initially picked up while horizontal. After having been slowly and carefully lifted, it is rotated to a vertical position. Once it has reached its target position, the vertically suspended rotor star is installed on the WEA nacelle at dizzying heights. Removal is also carried out slowly and carefully: the rotor star that has been installed vertically on the nacelle is attached to the beam and picked up before it is rotated back to a horizontal position. Last, but not least, it is once again repositioned on the jack-up vessel horizontally as a complete unit.

Careful rotation thanks to patented inner shell

Axzion Rotor Tilting Beams for the off-shore installation of wind energy systems have been designed for use on jack-up vessels. They are intended for the installation and removal of complete rotor stars – i.e. the rotor hub including three installed rotor blades – at sea. Thanks to the huge tilting beam the rotor can simply be rotated by 90° while suspended, even with pre-installed rotor blades. Heavy loads are no problem as it only takes an astonishing ten minutes to rotate the rotor weighing almost 150,000 kg. The rotation process is handled by the hydraulic cylinders that have been permanently installed in the tilting beam. Electrical and hydraulic units have also been permanently installed on the tilting beam, which is controlled and operated by remote control. Germanischer Lloyd is responsible for certification and approval; the load-bearing test was carried out at the Axzion test stand and was supervised by Germanischer Lloyd.