17.11.2012

FEM wind turbine guide released

FEM has released its long awaited guide to lifting wind turbine components “Safety Issues in Wind Turbine Installation and Transportation”.

To cut to the quick this guide is well worth the wait, and to be fair it has been drawn up and published very quickly by association or regulatory time frames. The need for such a ‘standard’ was highlighted during the ESTA wind summit in March.

There are no great surprises in the report, but it covers all of the issues in a very clear easy to read manner running over 24 pages including cover and all the annexes. The guide covers all the key points with special highlighted warnings on critical issues. The charts and definitions in the Annex section are also unusually helpful and relevant.

A copy of this guide should be provided to every crane operator working on or likely to work in the wind sector and kept in the crane cab. It will also prove useful for background material for all crane operators as well as those operating large vehicle mounted aerial lifts.

As the guide is very clear on the key issues, it will also help stem the corner-cutting that has been prevalent within the turbine erection industry.

Essentially the key lessons are: Make sure the crane has plenty of capacity in hand, calculate the drag factor of the load and de-rate the load chart accordingly, do not lift when winds approach the cranes limits, add up to 30 percent to the expected outrigger loadings and build access roads that can handle the required equipment.

If everyone follows these five basic points the high accident rates experienced on onshore wind sites will plummet to the benefit of everyone. We are now hosting a copy of the guide in the Vertikal online library Go directly to a copy of the guide
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The FEM guide