ON THE JOB
The work on Gemini is in full progress. More than 100 turbines have been placed so far. Supervising the operation from Esbjerg, the harbour on the Danish coast, is construction manager Mick Hoyle. What is his impression of Gemini, what makes this project special? We got on the phone to Esbjerg and asked him. ‘A big project with a small team, that suits me really well.’
Construction Manager Mick Hoyle keeps the momentum going
After working in Eemshaven and Amsterdam, Esbjerg is now Mick Hoyle’s third ‘workplace’ for the construction of Gemini Windpark. ‘I started in January 2015 with the land station and the main power cable, than switched over to the completion of the foundations in October 2015.’ His daily routine in Denmark now mainly consists of four activities: ‘The preassembly of the components, the quality checks, the loading out onto the vessels and shipping them out tot sea and finally the assembly offshore. There we have five lifts in action, who put the eight main components and the three large blades of the turbines together. We do that with a team of seven people onshore and four offshore. And obviously we are in close contact everyday with our main contractors Van Oord and Siemens.’
Short lines
Looking back and comparing Gemini with the other windparks that Mick has worked on, he is pleased with the process: ‘We are right on schedule, so that’s great. Working on Gemini is a pleasure: the project is big, but the team is relatively small. Lines are short, people on the team are very well informed.’
Mick Hoyle has worked both with Siemens and Van Oord before, so that also made working for Gemini easier: ‘I’m definitely familiar with both of them. I understand the cultures of the companies and the people who work there.
‘Lines are short,
people on the team are very well informed.’
That is of on the main challenges when you get in on a project like this: make everybody understand what is best for the project. That is the basis for a successful joint operation. It also means for me: helping out the contractors where I can, putting in flexibility if necessary. In the long run, we all benefit from that because everyone is committed to the project and its objectives.’
Better weather
The biggest challenge for Mick Hoyle and his team still ahead? ‘That is definitely the weather, it’s always the weather. We can’t do any work when windspeeds are above 12 meters per second. Furthermore we have to have a “window” of time in which we can finish a turbine. You can’t leave a turbine behind unfinished and say: we’ll come back next week. Full completion is everything. In the summer the weather is usually better, so that suits us well.’
