Tetrahedron recently announced that it will build a prototype crane together with its consortium consisting of Jack-Up Barge BV, TNO, Shell, and GE.
Rotterdam-based Tetrahedron company patented, developed, and achieved DNVGL design verification on the crane principle and concept design. It is designed to lift higher than a conventional luffing boom crane on the same foundation. According to Tetrahedron, key attention is given to lifting height, capacity at height, lifting radius, and jib-clearance.
The prototype will be completed in 2024 in the Netherlands. The consortium backing its development secured a grant from the Dutch Government.
The prototype will be built to measure key aspects of the crane’s structural behavior, verify the design and test its resilience against hot-topic phenomena such as crane deflection and a sudden loss of load. Moreover, Tetrahedron claims the full-scale prototype crane is proof to the wind industry of the cranes’ potential of lifting higher than conventional cranes, without needing to build a completely new Jack-Up Vessel.
