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Subsea pile driving specialist MENCK, an Acteon company, is providing the largest and most powerful hydraulic hammer in the world to assist Bilfinger Marine & Offshore Systems with the installation of sub-sea foundations for Project Sandbank, a new 72 turbine strong wind farm in the North Sea.

Known as the ‘Gentle Giant’, the MENCK MHU 3500S hydraulic hammer exerts a massive 6.2kJ per tonne of weight, with a pile sleeve that is 6,5m in diameter.

“The MHU 3500S has a proven higher output than any other hammer in the world, yet it is up to 2-3db quieter than some of MENCK’s smaller hammers, meeting extensive environmental protection requirements,” says International Marketing Manager, Claas Denkmann.

Engineered in Germany, the unique MHU 3500S hydraulic hammer is available as part of MENCK’s extensive rental fleet and can be deployed anywhere in the world.

“This particular hammer drives extremely large monopiles quickly and efficiently, helping to build strong foundations for the tallest wind turbines,” says Claas. “Project Sandbank is an exciting project for MENCK, not only because of its size, but also its location off the coast of Germany.”

Owned by Vattenfall AB (one of the biggest wind power operators in the UK) and Stadtwerke München (which supplies electricity for more than 95% of Munich’s 750,000 households), the Sandbank Offshore Wind Farm Project is due to be constructed in 2015 90 kilometers off the coast of the German island, Sylt, in the North Sea. It is the successor of Project ‘DanTysk’.

The wind turbines for Sandbank will be installed over a total area of 59 km2 and each turbine will measure 160m high, with rotor diameters of 130m. One of the market leaders in the offshore wind energy sector, Bilfinger Marine & Offshore Systems GmbH will operate the innovative MENCK equipment to drive the monopiles into the seabed. Hamburg based Bilfinger has gained significant experience in design, supply, transport and installation of offshore foundations to accommodate wind farms for over 10 years.