3 minute read
Hydrogen-ready
Siemens Gamesa is taking another step towards a sustainable future with its new construction service vessel REM Energy.
Worldwide marine trafc accounts for more than 900t million of CO2 emissions, which is more than the entire nation of Germany emits. Shipping is a sector that is difcult to electrify. Green hydrogen and other power-to-X fuels produced with renewable energy are a key building block for reducing emissions. Siemens Gamesa is now taking another step towards a sustainable future with its new construction service vessel REM Energy.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SIEMENS GAMESA.
REM Energy, the latest member of the company’s feet of ships is equipped with an environmentally friendly propulsion technology. The vessel is ready for the addition of a 12MW battery which would reduce energy consumption during operation. The REM Energy is also capable to run emissions free on green hydrogen or with batteries and ofshore charging. This puts the SOV ahead of its time. Until a green hydrogen economy is established in Germany, the ship will be conventionally powered by efcient diesel generators.
Setting new standards
REM Energy is almost 90m long and almost 20m wide. It will be the workplace and living quarters for up to 75 ofshore service technicians and 24 crew members. “REM Energy is setting new standards in terms of occupational safety, sustainability and efciency”, enthuses Stephan Hauhs, Managing Director of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Deutschland. “With the new SOV, we will be able to optimise the service we are providing for our customers. We will increase the availability of the ofshore turbines, thereby reducing the cost of electricity and ensuring more clean energy while increasing the safety for our ofshore service technicians.” Jonas Pagh Jensen, Sustainability Specialist at Siemens Gamesa, says “We are taking the frst step in getting ready to cut our emissions in ofshore service operations. The commissioning of REM Energy is a strong signal highlighting the availability of clean technology to facilitate operation without emissions.” He adds, “Governments, industry and investors now need to partner up quickly to ramp up a green hydrogen infrastructure to facilitate the decarbonisation of marine shipping.”
More than a month
Thanks to its azimuth thrusters which can be rotated 360 degrees around the vertical axis, REM Energy is extremely maneuverable, enabling it to safely move between the wind turbines even in rough seas. To safely transfer crew and technicians from the vessel to the ofshore wind turbine, the vessel is equipped with an SMST Access & Cargo Tower with elevator and motion compensated gangway and a 3D motion compensated crane. To increase the operational fexibility of the vessel, the motion compensated gangway can operate on both starboard and portside. The landing height systems of the Access & Cargo Tower provide access to platforms up to twelve meters above sea level. With this, maximum fexibility can be achieved in the current projects, but also in future ofshore wind farms of Siemens Gamesa in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The vessel also features three cranes, a large cargo deck, and storage for spare parts and containers under the deck. To make the stay at sea as pleasant as possible, there is a ftness room, a cinema, and a gaming room on board. The ofshore service technicians will live on board and work in shifts. The Siemens Gamesa crew will rotate every fourteen days, while the REM Energy itself is able to operate at sea for a total of more than a month before having to return to port again.
Havyard CSV platform
The vessel is designed by Havyard Design & Solutions, based on its CSV platform. It was delivered from shipyard Green Yard Kleven at the end of last year. The project is seen as an important milestone for the Norwegian shipyard that was acquired by Green Yard from bankruptcy in 2020. Siemens Gamesa has chartered the REM Energy for four years. The vessel will be operated by the shipping company REM Ofshore as its frst vessel for servicing the ofshore wind industry. The home port for the CSV will be Bremerhaven. The REM Energy frst deployment will be in the ofshore wind parks Global Tech 1 and Trianel Borkum West.
