Function

Shipping of major items from their manufacturing ports to the construction ports. These include nacelles, blades, towers, foundations, cables and offshore substations.

Who is involved

Transport services are conducted by specialist suppliers contracted by the developer.

Key facts

Turbine components are brought from several manufacturing locations to the construction port. Turbine suppliers operate dedicated transport vessels. These vessels are becoming increasingly specialised as blades and nacelles increase in size and mass.

Notable differences for floating

Complete floating substructures are transported to the construction port either by towing with AHVs or on floating semi-submersible cargo vessels.

Floating wind farms typically have larger components. These components can be too large for transport by road and rail and so use barges, ro-ro vessels or cargo vessels. The choice is driven by the size of the load and the sea conditions expected. These include parts for the anchor and mooring system, the dynamic array cable system, and items that might be pre-assembled into the floating substructure such as secondary steel, transformers, and circuit.