In light of a number of high-profile crane accidents on wind farms, the association has arranged a summit of industry experts in the field to discuss the causes of such accidents, preventative measures and anticipate future safety requirements as wind energy technology advances.
Speakers will include representatives of ESTA, the European materials handling, lifting and storage equipment manufacturers association (FEM) and wind turbine manufacturers, along with crane and special transport manufacturers and rental companies.
ESTA general secretary Søren Jansen, who will also speak at the event commented: “We made the decision to hold the ESTA Expert Summit because we just have too many accidents with wind turbine erection and transport. We have too many accidents during the erection of the rotor assembly, the three blades of the wind turbine and the hub.
“It is an area in which you really need to take a lot of corrective steps before you start hoisting, and unfortunately this is not very widely known, not by the crane rental companies performing the work.”
This is despite a safety alert issued by ESTA last year warning crane firms that they need to ensure their operators understand the assumptions behind the load charts of the cranes being used.
The conference will also deal with safety issues when transporting turbine components, including the suitability of access roads to site and factors affecting proper ground preparation for the transport of heavy loads around site.
Each speaker will have between 30 minutes to one hour to address attendees, before opening up each issue for public discussion.
The event will be held at the Courtyard Marriott Hamburg Airport Hotel on 14 March, and be hosted by ex-BBC presenter, Peter Hobday, who is best known as a former host of BBC Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs show the Today programme.
Other speakers at the event will include:
• Christian-Jacques Vernazza – ESTA president and president of Mediaco
• Sander Splinter – Managing director for Mammoet Europe and president of the cranes section of ESTA
• Søren Jansen – ESTA general secretary
• Hans-Dieter Willim – Design department general manager at Liebherr
• Klaus Meissner – Director of product integrity at Terex Cranes
• Han Rekers – Director at Nooteboom
• Per Krogsgaard – Director at BTM Consult
• Paul Eijro Okpurughre – Siemens
• Tom D. Kristiansen – senior trading underwriter, power, utilities & renewable energy, RSA Scandinavia.
Tickets can be booked from the ESTA wind turbine expert summit registration page.
