Sarens is pleased to be marshalling offshore wind turbine foundation components in a good collaboration with CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering (CDWE) for the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm project in Taiwan. Having recently completed work on Taiwan’s Formosa II offshore wind farm, we are recognized as an experienced partner for such projects globally and in Taiwan in particular.

The Hai Long project is installing 73 wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait, where they will produce a cumulative 1GW of electrical power once fully developed. With a 14MW capacity each, they are the largest turbines to be installed in Taiwan.

For this project, Sarens is marshalling 156 pin piles which are fabricated in South Korea. Sarens SPMTs are receiving them and storing them onshore in a marshalling yard. Then, once they need to be installed, the SPMTs are transporting them to the quayside so that Green Jade, CDWE’s heavy lifting installation vessel’s crane can lift them aboard.

Sarens will also be receiving and moving 52 tree-legged jackets. Sarens is driving the jackets off the vessel and onto shore by a RORO system, storing them, and then bringing them back to the quayside when the installation vessel is ready to lift them aboard. 

Sarens’ crew and equipment have been supporting this project since early 2024 and will be involved through second half of 2025. 

Planning

Because a single wind turbine jacket can weigh up to 2.400 tonnes, we paid careful attention to the load-bearing capacity of the quayside, engineering proper load spreading solutions to ensure that neither port facilities nor equipment would be damaged. 

We chose “sand dunes” as a long-term storage solution for the pin piles, using steel girders for short-term storage during load-in and load-out. For the jackets, we selected steel I-beams and an array of steel mats to provide proper load spreading.

Sarens also developed a special handling frame to transport the tree-legged jackets. Unlike the more common four-legged jackets, these required a frame that could lift each of the legs, which are spaced 32 meters apart. We emphasized lifting and placement without the use of extra jacks to handle the lift or release the load.

To accommodate different leg lengths, we also designed custom end-caps that would function as “shoes” for the jacket, allowing it to be sea fastened on the transport vessel and later, placed in storage.

Execution

Sarens is using a 44-axle line SPMT configuration to transport the pin piles and a 104-line SPMT configuration to transport the jackets. 

To receive the pin piles, Sarens must manoeuvre the 44-axle line trailer between girders, meaning that for the last 40 meters the trailer travels sideways. Once in position under the pinpile, the trailer then lifts the load, moves sideways again, and clearing the girders, straightens the wheel and proceeds to the sand dunes for storage.

The jackets, on the other hand, can weigh up to 2.400 tonnes, and are up to 95 meters tall. They are transported upright and must remain so at all times, which means that it’s possible to have a 32 x 32-meter base and a centre of gravity that is almost 40 meters in the air!

The challenge here is driving the SPMT onto the vessel and positioning it below the jacket for lifting. Once that is done and the captain is satisfied that the ballasting of the vessel is ready to proceed, he gives the go-ahead to lift and drive off the vessel with the load. The SPMTs then cross a RORO bridge onto land. 

However, because the trailer is 40 meters long, it takes a lot of careful coordination between the SPMT operator and the vessel captain to maintain the deck’s level within a suitable range of the quayside. This is because as the SPMTs drive off, two things are happening: the ocean’s tides are changing the height of the vessel relative to the quayside while at the same time, weight is being removed from the vessel and further impacting its buoyancy. Once on land, the crew must perform a 180-degree turn and then place the jacket on its supports.

Challenges

While the equipment has been carefully selected, the operation well-engineered, and the staff carefully chosen for their experience, there are still challenges to overcome while working on a complex project like this one. Above all, patience is paramount: movement cannot be hurried along with such big pieces of steel, because if anything goes wrong, it goes wrong in a very big way.

A major challenge is the weather. The project is scheduled to take over a year, but as with all offshore projects, the weather can often set the pace. Taiwan’s monsoon season typically begins around the middle of May or beginning of June and runs through September or October. This brings heavy rains and very humid conditions, challenging the operations. 

During the engineering design phase, Sarens was also well aware of Taiwan’s position along the Pacific Rim of Fire–a geographical area that is home to the world’s most powerful earthquakes and approximately 75% of the world’s volcanoes. Being aware of and prepared for such eventualities is the nature of doing work in this part of the world.

Fortunately, Sarens has a strong team of experienced engineers, managers, and crewmembers working together to make this months-long operation a success. During load-in and load-out, the team is working in 12-hour shifts, each with an SPMT supervisor, operator, and two spotters. Each shift also has an SHEQ representative and a management team member (either the project manager or one of two site managers) present. 

Sarens is pleased to be helping our client CDWE receive and prepare these vital wind farm components for installation, and we look forward to a successful collaboration over the coming months!