Last Updated on October 5, 2022 by PALFINGER
Following the end of the highly successful SMM on the 9th of September, PALFINGER MARINE returned to the beautiful “Hanse Stadt” for the WindEnergy from the 27th to 30th of September. Our greatest highlight of the event was the exciting product news we finally got to share – the launch of our redesigned fixed boom crane range.
Hamburg is always worth a visit – or two. Given the dense calendar during trade show season, it certainly comes in handy that the WindEnergy took place from the 27th to 30th of September in the same location as the SMM earlier this month. PALFINGER MARINE has seen an increase in orders from the offshore wind energy industry in recent years, which reflects the gaining momentum of renewable energy sources in the fight against climate change. We were eager to return to Hamburg to meet and interact with visitors face-to-face at one of the largest and most significant gathering of the wind energy industry – and show off the latest development within our wind crane product portfolio: our redesigned fixed boom crane range.
Our colleagues at the PALFINGER MARINE stand B7.521 at the WindEnergy Hamburg 2022
Constant change requires innovation
The wind energy industry is characterized by ever-changing standards and regulations that challenge the innovation capabilities of all involved parties. PALFINGER MARINE has always embraced such challenges and is proud of its excellent track record in terms of research and development. A new European standard EN13852-3 for light offshore cranes required a redesign of our proven PF range of fixed boom cranes. This range consists of wind cranes that are, for example, mounted on the transition piece of a wind turbine and are used to transfer materials from crew transfer vessels (CTV) to the platform.
So, what can our customers and partners expect from our redesigned PF range? The fixed boom cranes are modular and compact in design, with a standardized outreach from 3 to 7 meters. It goes without saying that every crane from this range undergoes the reliable PALFINGER function and load tests at the assembly plant before delivery and complies with the highest safety standards. This “plug-and-play” approach results in minimized installation time for the customer. Franz Schnöll, Head of Global Marine Product Management at PALFINGER MARINE, is delighted with the next generation crane the team has developed:
Because access to offshore wind farms is limited and every working hour must be efficiently used, we have made the new PF cranes highly resistant to the harsh environmental conditions.
Franz Schnöll, Head of Global Marine Product Management at PALFINGER MARINE
“Furthermore, we reduced the maintenance effort to streamline and lower the life-cycle-costs for the wind park operators and owners,” adds Franz Schnöll. To give you an idea of the capabilities of the redesigned PF range, we have prepared an animated video explaining its new features:
Changing the world on a global scale
The fact that we chose the WindEnergy to officially launch the redesigned PF crane range underlines how connected we feel to the offshore wind energy industry. We are immensely proud to be contributing to the vital energy transition pursued by companies in this innovative and highly competitive industry. To mark the launch, PALFINGER MARINE equipped its trade show stand – namely stand B7.521 – with a full-size PF 120-4 crane, which attracted a great deal of attention from customers, partners, and competitors. Ties were renewed and new connections made during an event that proved to be just as successful as the SMM earlier.
PALFINGER MARINE equipped its trade show stand with a PF 120-4 crane of the redesigned fixed boom crane range.
We are proud of our increasingly global footprint within the wind energy industry. Recent milestone projects we are involved in are Seagreen, Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm to-be, or the intertidal wind farms Hiep Tanh and Bind Dai in Vietnam – to name a few. Our presence at the WindEnergy once more showed our commitment to driving the sector forward with complete solutions. Gunther Fleck, Vice President Sales & Service Region Marine at PALFINGER, reaffirms: “We recognized at an early stage how important it is to expand offshore wind energy capacities, both in Europe and worldwide. We are therefore constantly striving to enter new emerging markets to support the goal of climate neutrality.” Well said, Gunther! Let’s see where this exciting journey takes us.