Combilift enters offshore wind sector with handling solution, collaborating with Siemens Gamesa

Combilift, a global manufacturer of multidirectional, articulated forklifts and straddle carriers, has announced its move into the offshore wind sector with the launch of a new product designed to meet the load handling demands of large-scale offshore wind system manufacturers.

As the green energy sector sees a surge in larger wind turbine components, including towers and blades, Combilift said it joined forces with industry leaders to engineer safe, stable, efficient, lifting and storage solutions.

Combilift, which is based in Monaghan, Ireland, focuses on long-load handling trucks and narrow aisle solutions. As part of a 25th anniversary year special event held earlier this week at its headquarters, Combilift highlighted the new system for offshore wind turbine industry needs, as well as other new product innovations, including an autonomous long-load handling truck already seeing use in the market.

The Combi-LC, designed at Combilift’s HQ and Manufacturing plant in Ireland, in collaboration with Siemens Gamesa, allows for the movement of wind turbine blades and towers – some as long as 115m and weighing in at around 70t, through production stages and on to storage locations – which can sometimes be as far as 5km apart, Combilift noted.

The concept of bespoke Load Carriers (with a patent pending design) is based on two fully customisable remote-control units with low-level chassis beds that can work in tandem master and slave operation, with dimensions and wheel configurations that vary according to load type and weight, Combilift explained.

Siemens Gamesa, one of the world’s largest offshore wind suppliers, has become the first company to leverage the new technology by signing a multi-million order for a number of the bespoke Load Carriers, and Combilift is in active discussions with other offshore wind companies with similar demands. Click here to see a video showing the solution in action.

Combilift expects to generate over €50m in revenue per year in this market segment by 2026.

“We are thrilled to have launched this new product – The Combi-LC, and we hope it will act as a gateway for us to further progress within our venture into the wind energy sector," commented Josh Moffett, Heavy Equipment manager at Combilift. "The scale of offshore wind projects around the world leads to a very unique set of challenges, one of which being the ability to transport the very large components that make up a wind turbine. We recognised this and used our expertise in load handling to develop a solution to support those in the industry. The product is specifically made to order and therefore can be uniquely customised to fit specific applications.”

Michael Woods, Head of Offshore Equipment Operations at Siemens Gamesa, added that, “Seeing the new LC Blade mover in the flesh is impressive, it is fantastic to see it come from design to fruition, the manoeuvrability and functionality looks great, we can't wait to see it onsite moving blades.”

Additionally, Combilift has launched two other new products - the Combi-AGT, and Combi-Connect.

Combi-AGT

Already in operation at a number of leading steel service centres in the United States, Combilift’s Autonomous Guided Truck (Combi-AGT), designed specifically for the automated handling of long loads, boasts dual-control capability, enabling manual operation when necessary, which is an industry first, Combilift noted.

The Combi-AGT's design is based on the electric manually operated Combi-GTE model which has long been a very popular choice for service centrers due to its ability to work efficiently in rail guided narrow aisles, Combilift explained. The first Combi-AGT unit was supplied to Kansas based Steel and Pipe Supply 18 months ago, and since then Combilift have collaborated with multiple leading metal service centers across North America during the development process, Combilift said.

The autonomous truck uses natural feature navigation, as well as a newly developed load dimension detection system which operates by performing a laser scan of the load to check that its length matches the task sent to the machine, Combilift added. Similarly, when unloading, it checks that the rack in front has sufficient free space to accept the load. See the unit in action in this video.

Combilift CEO and Co-founder Martin McVicar said: “We have deliberately not rushed into incorporating autonomous products into our portfolio. As with any new launch we have carried out extensive field tests to make sure it is fit for purpose by liaising with a number of leading customers in the metal service industry during the product development stage. We are fortunate to have a very motivated group within our autonomous team of software and mechatronics engineers who are committed to scaling this business unit. The Combi-AGT signals a new milestone in product development with further expansion of our autonomous range in the pipeline.”

Combi-Connect

The third product launched by Combilift is Combi-Connect. It is a telematic software product that provides its customers with greater levels of insight into fleet management and utilisation, providing real-time data on fleet performance, including location tracking, usage analytics, and maintenance alerts. With this invaluable information at their fingertips, businesses can optimise operations.

Based on a subscription model, Combi-Connect offers fully transparent data analytics enabling not only dealers, but the customers themselves, to manage and make informed decisions.

McVicar explained that the new products are the result of the company's longstanding focus and resources placed on research & development, and involved years of hard work. “We have a track record of innovation at Combilift. We invest 7% of our revenue annually in R&D and today is the culmination of many years’ hard work," McVicar concluded. "We are delighted to be continuing this tradition of innovation 25 years on. Now employing over 800 people in Monaghan and 200 people in other locations across the world, the success of Combilift is testament to our people, our customers and our supporting dealers around the world . We are looking forward to the next 25 years at Combilift.”