Sif inaugurates Rotterdam monopiles assembly plant

Netherlands-based Sif Holding NV (AMS:SIFG) has officially opened its monopiles assembly and coating plant at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The facility at the Maasvlakte 2 terminal includes two production lines that can manufacture four complete monopiles in a week. It will use components from Sif’s factory in Roermond and assemble them into monopiles, the Dutch firm said on Monday.

The new plant was designed to allow the simultaneous loading of two installation ships of monopiles and transition pieces and will boost Sif’s annual capacity to 300 kilotonnes from 225 kilotonnes at present.

Sif’s CEO Jan Bruggenthijs noted that the construction of the new manufacturing facility is in line with the company’s goal to lower installation costs for the offshore wind sector. "This is a perfect representation of the goals that Sif is committed to,” he said.

Sif makes steel tubulars that are used as foundations for the offshore wind, oil and gas markets. It said that the Maasvlakte 2 project is part of a EUR-90-million (USD 105.9m) investment programme that also included the upgrade of its production facilities in Roermond. Sif completed the first monopiles at the new facility at the end of September.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.177)

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