Polish heavy lift contractor, MS Industry has partnered with Enerpac to install its SBL1100 hydraulic gantry at the Baltic Power substation, part of the Baltic Power Offshore Wind development.
The gantry allowed precise positioning of the offshore wind transformers on their respective installation tracks.
The Baltic Power wind farm, located about 23 km offshore Poland, will have a generating capacity of up to 1.2 GW when completed in 2026. Energy generated by the turbines will be transported via export cables to an onshore substation currently under construction.
MS Industry delivered and installed two transformers, each weighing 354t, at the Baltic Power substation site. The 13.5m long transformers, measuring 5.3m wide and 4.8m high, were transported to the installation site using SPMTs.
To unload each transformer, MS Industry used its Enerpac SBL1100 gantry.
After lifting the transformer clear of the SPMT, it was skidded along the gantry’s 7m skid track to position the transformer’s wheels in line with a pre-laid installation track. Using the gantry’s Intelli-Lift wireless control system, the operator was able to raise and lower the gantry header beam and side shift units to position and gently lower the transformer onto the installation track.
“Space limitations and the unsuitability of using a crane given the variable ground conditions made the Enerpac SBL1100 gantry the ideal solution,” said Robert Samczyk, CEO, MS Industry. “The combination of vertical and horizontal movements using the operator’s wireless control system gave us the precision we needed to place the transformer in the installation track.”
The SBL1100 is Enerpac’s highest capacity hydraulic telescopic gantry. Equipped with three stage lifting cylinders, the SBL1100 lifts up to 12m at the top of the third stage and can handle up to 10,484 kN at the top of the first stage.
As standard the SBL1100 features an Intelli-Lift wireless control system allowing unobstructed views of the load. The wireless system ensures automatic synchronisation of lifting with accuracy of 24 mm and automatic synchronisation of travel with accuracy of 15 mm.
