November 2023
Innovative GUS access systems go into use at Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind project
Innovative GUS access systems go into use at Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind project
Get-Up-Safe (GUS) access systems supplied by Scottish engineering innovator Pict Offshore to Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind project have been installed as the project continues its programme of construction.
The addition of the innovative GUS system onto each offshore wind turbine at South Fork Wind will help to boost safety. The GUS system lifts and lowers personnel between the crew transfer vessels (CTV) and the external platform. This removes the need for technicians to step between the bow of the vessel and a ladder and eliminates a long climb between platform and CTV.
Instead, the GUS system uses sensors to track the motion of the vessel deck and automatically adjusts the line position to ensure that technicians are always kept safe, even if the vessel deck moves during transfers as a result of rising sea states.
The project is the result of a five-year collaboration between Ørsted and Pict Offshore, during which time Ørsted has taken a minority stake in the company and deployed the system at Ørsted’s Hornsea 2 offshore windfarm in the UK, currently the largest fully operational windfarm in the world.
David Yang, Regional QHSE Operations Manager for Orsted, said: “Worker safety is our highest priority at South Fork Wind and our other offshore wind projects around the world. The deployment of the GUS system at South Fork Wind is expected to help our technicians transfer safely during construction of the project and will prove useful during operations, even when sea conditions are challenging.”
Pict Offshore Managing Director, Phil Taylor, said: “We’re very pleased to see GUS systems go into use at South Fork Wind. These are the first GUS systems to be used outside of the UK at one of the very first commercial scale offshore windfarms in the USA.”
The addition of the innovative GUS system onto each offshore wind turbine at South Fork Wind will help to boost safety. The GUS system lifts and lowers personnel between the crew transfer vessels (CTV) and the external platform. This removes the need for technicians to step between the bow of the vessel and a ladder and eliminates a long climb between platform and CTV.
Instead, the GUS system uses sensors to track the motion of the vessel deck and automatically adjusts the line position to ensure that technicians are always kept safe, even if the vessel deck moves during transfers as a result of rising sea states.
The project is the result of a five-year collaboration between Ørsted and Pict Offshore, during which time Ørsted has taken a minority stake in the company and deployed the system at Ørsted’s Hornsea 2 offshore windfarm in the UK, currently the largest fully operational windfarm in the world.
David Yang, Regional QHSE Operations Manager for Orsted, said: “Worker safety is our highest priority at South Fork Wind and our other offshore wind projects around the world. The deployment of the GUS system at South Fork Wind is expected to help our technicians transfer safely during construction of the project and will prove useful during operations, even when sea conditions are challenging.”
Pict Offshore Managing Director, Phil Taylor, said: “We’re very pleased to see GUS systems go into use at South Fork Wind. These are the first GUS systems to be used outside of the UK at one of the very first commercial scale offshore windfarms in the USA.”