A system for placing a wind turbine assembly on a support surface of a support structure being supported on a seabed with a lifting crane provided on a floating vessel, said system can be changed from a first operation mode into a second operation mode to compensate a vertical reciprocal crane movement of the crane relative to the support structure.

A stability frame for the installation of a wind turbine on an offshore substructure, wherein the wind turbine comprises a tower configured to be anchored to a rigging assembly below the barycenter of the wind turbine, has a main body configured to be mounted about the upper part of the tower; and a plurality of guides, which extend outwardly from the main body and are configured for constraining parts of the rigging assembly so as to laterally support the wind turbine by the rigging assembly.

An offshore monopile wind turbine having an elongate monopile column formed of a lower section, an intermediate section, and an upper section, secured together by connecting collars. A triangular support structure having a triangular three-sided bottom portion extends horizontally outward from one side of the lower connecting collar includes a first pair of lower horizontal tubular beams diverging outwardly with outer ends welded to a respective vertical skirt pile sleeve, a third tubular beam extending between the skirt pile sleeves. An upper pair of tubular beams diverge outwardly and downwardly from the upper connecting collar and are welded to a respective skirt pile sleeve. A horizontal wind turbine platform and elongate wind turbine tower secured to the top end of the elongate upper section of the monopile column includes a nacelle at the top of the turbine tower includes a rotor with three rotor blades.

The application relates to unidirectional hydrokinetic turbines having an improved flow acceleration system that uses asymmetrical hydrofoil shapes on some or all of the key components of the turbine. These components that may be hydrofoil shaped include, e.g., the rotor blades (34), the center hub (36), the rotor blade shroud (38), the accelerator shroud (20), annular diffuser(s) (40), the wildlife and debris excluder (10, 18) and the tail rudder (60). The fabrication method designs various components to cooperate in optimizing the extraction of energy, while other components reduce or eliminate turbulence that could negatively affect other component(s).

A method for assembling a wind turbine, including: attaching an elevator carriage (27) to a nacelle (9) to form a carriage-nacelle assembly (27,9); and mounting the carriage-nacelle assembly (27,9) on to a tower (3) as a unit.

A support tower, particularly for a wind turbine. The support tower has at least a first elongated component which is internally hollow and at least a second elongated component which is slidably coupled to the at least a first elongated component and movable relative to the at least a first elongated component at least between a retracted position. The second elongated component is at least partially inserted in the at least a first elongated component, and an extracted position, where the at least a second elongated component is substantially extracted from the at least a first elongated component. A moving device for moving the second elongated component from the retracted position to the extracted position, and vice versa, and a blocking device configured to allow the at least a second elongated component to be blocked in the extracted position, are also provided.

A method of building an offshore windmill includes, using a 3D-heave-compensated crane, placing on a windmill pedestal a lifting jack having a receiving region, and fixing the lifting jack to the windmill pedestal such that the lifting jack can be later removed, and such that a windmill column can be placed within the receiving region directly on the windmill pedestal. The windmill generator is installed using the 3D-heave-compensated crane. The windmill column is partially erected on the windmill pedestal using the 3D-heave-compensated crane and the lifting jack. Before the windmill is fully erected, windmill blades are placed on the windmill generator using the 3D-heave-compensated crane, and the erection of the windmill column on the windmill pedestal is completed using at least the lifting jack. Using the 3D-heave-compensated crane, the lifting jack is removed from the windmill pedestal.

A hub mating mechanism for single blade installation of offshore wind turbines. The mechanism includes a rigid circular snap ring having circumferential contact with the hub, spring damper, force actuator, buffer plates made from resilient composite material, controller and electric motor. The ring is connected to the buffer plates through the spring damper and the force actuator. The roots of the buffer plates are connected to the outer edge of the hub by hinges. The force actuator is driven by the controller and electric motor placed in the nacelle. Multiple flange holes are formed in the blades and the hub fixed together through bolts after the mating is completed. Assembly and testing of the hub mating mechanism can be performed during component assembly onshore. The hub mating mechanism includes the circular snap ring, buffer plates, force actuator, spring damper, controller and electric motor which are off-the-shelf commercial products.

Described is a device for lifting an elongated object from a deck of a vessel subject to movements in a heave direction. The device comprises rigid supports provided on the deck of the vessel for supporting the object at a first height relative to the deck, and retractable supports provided on the deck of the vessel for supporting the object at a second height relative to the deck, which second height is larger than the first height. A lifting crane is configured to take up the object from the retractable supports at the second height. An actuator system is configured to lower the retractable supports in the heave direction to a third height relative to the deck at the instant in time the object is lifted from the retractable supports, the third height being smaller than the second height. A method using the device is also described.

The present invention relates to an offshore structure comprising an upending device for upending an elongate support structure from a substantially horizontal loading position on a deck of the offshore structure to a substantially vertical launch position outboard of the offshore structure. The upending device comprising a pivot axis situated near a side of the offshore structure for pivoting the upending device between the loading position and the launch position, a first end of the upending device having a connector member for pivotally connecting to the elongate support structure, the connector member in the launch position is in a position outboard from the side of the offshore structure, and a second end of the upending device is attached to a pulling device that is located on the deck of the offshore structure. The upending device is within reach of one or more hoisting means for lifting the elongate support structure.