Redefining
the future of
XXL monopile
installation

REDEFINING THE FUTURE OF XXL MONOPILE INSTALLATION

An incredible amount of development, engineering and manufacturing has taken place in the past year at CAPE Holland and our trusted sup­pliers to build the next level CAPE VLT. It is ready for the XXL monopiles the Offshore Wind industry will see in the years to come.

The trigger for the build is the Kaskasi Offshore Wind Farm which is the first ever wind farm where monopiles are allowed to be driven to final penetration with a vibro hammer. CAPE Holland has been selected to supply the tool with all auxiliary equipment and the operators for driving the piles.

Building on the large track record that has been built up with the CAPE VLT-320 range, which was first deployed in 2015, the CAPE VLT-640 range has been developed over the last 2 years. The first finished unit was introduced in September 2021 during a launch party in Genemuiden. The CAPE VLT-640 has numerous new features and a lot of work has gone into streamlining the design of the hydraulic connections, further reducing the risk of failures during the project. With an enormous power of 640 kgm per unit, the CAPE VLT-640 gearbox is by far the largest single gearbox vibro hammer in the world. Then combining 3 units together to form the CAPE VLT-640 Triple, this monster machine is ready for piles weighing more than 1,000t.

Developments are already underway to increase the maximum line pull per 640 unit to 1,000t, allowing a CAPE VLT-640 Triple to upend, lift and drive piles to well over 2,000t. It’s bigger brother, the CAPE VLT-640 Quad will then be ready for the largest XXL monopiles weighing up to 3,000t and which are planned for the longer term future for Wind Turbine Generators going towards the 20MW.

The control system has also been improved and is now including a highly sophisticated installation monitoring system. The inclination monitoring system has been improved with the introduction of a heading monitoring system and a subsea water depth measuring system.

In order to be able to power the large CAPE VLT’s without taking up a lot more deck space, CAPE Holland has further developed the PU-1580 units that can now also be stacked. As before, the CAPE Power Units are dual prepared which means they can drive both the CAPE VLT and impact hammer on the same job to save on deck space and rental of double set of power units. The CAPE Holland operators can also opera­te both the CAPE VLT’s as the impact hammers, so a further saving on personnel helps to keep the costs down. The newly developed Hose Reels can also be stacked and house the smartly bundled hoses in need umbilical’s for a tidier hose handling.