Heather Humphreys, TD – Minister of Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, speaking to the staff and international media that were gathered at CombiLift in Monaghan to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company on Monday. Photo Rory Geary

Combilift enters growing offshore wind sector

Posted on Sep 27, 2023 in Nuts & Bolts

Monaghan based manufacturing firm celebrates 25 years with three new product launches

Combilift, largest global manufacturer of multidirectional, articulated forklifts and straddle carriers, has announced its move into the offshore wind sector with the launch of a new product designed to meet the load handling demands of largescale offshore wind manufacturers.

As the green energy sector sees a surge in larger wind turbine components, including towers and blades, Combilift joined forces with industry leaders to engineer safe, stable, efficient, lifting and storage solutions across its supply chain.

The Combi-LC, designed at Combilift’s HQ and Manufacturing plant in Ireland, in collaboration with Siemens Gamesa, allows for the movement of wind turbine blades and towers – some as long as 115m and weighing in at around 70t, through production stages and on to storage locations – which can sometimes be as far as 5km apart.

The concept of bespoke Load Carriers [patent pending design] is based on two fully customisable remote-control units with low-level chassis beds that can work in tandem master and slave operation, with dimensions and wheel configurations that vary according to load type and weight.

Siemens Gamesa, one of the world’s largest offshore wind suppliers, has become the first company to leverage the new technology by signing a multi-million order for a number of the bespoke Load Carriers, and Combilift is in active discussions with other offshore wind companies with similar demands.

Combilift expects to generate over €50m in revenue per year in this market segment by 2026.

At the 25th anniversary celebration event of CombiLift with their newly launched Combi-LC Blade were (L-R) Robert Kach, Paul Curtis and Michael Woods from Siemens Gamesa, Heather Humphreys, TD – Minister of Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Josh Moffett, Martin McVicar and Stephen Thornton, CombiLift. Photo Rory Geary

Josh Moffett, Heavy Equipment Manager at Combilift, commented on the company’s move into the offshore wind sector: “We are thrilled to have launched this new product – The Combi-LC, and we hope it will act as a gateway for us to further progress within our venture into the wind energy sector. The scale of offshore wind projects around the world leads to a very unique set of challenges, one of which being the ability to transport the very large components that make up a wind turbine. We recognised this and used our expertise in load handling to develop a solution to support those in the industry. The product is specifically made to order and therefore can be uniquely customised to fit specific applications.”

 Additionally, Combilift launched two other new products – the Combi-AGT, and Combi-Connect.

Combi-AGT

Already in operation at a number of leading steel service centres in the United States, Combilift’s Autonomous Guided Truck (Combi-AGT), designed specifically for the automated handling of long loads, boasts dual-control capability, enabling manual operation when necessary – a world first. Combined with its unique “natural feature navigation” this truck is a world-leader in autonomous material handling, with positive customer feedback from companies reporting staffing flexibility and utilization benefits.

 Combi-Connect

The third product launched by Combilift is Combi-Connect. It is a telematic software product that provides its customers with greater levels of insight into fleet management and utilization, providing real-time data on fleet performance, including location tracking, usage analytics, and maintenance alerts. With this invaluable information at their fingertips, businesses can optimise operations.

Based on a subscription model, Combi-Connect offers fully transparent data analytics enabling not only dealers, but the customers themselves, to manage and make informed decisions.

Heather Humphreys TD

Speaking at Combilift’s 25th Anniversary event, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD said: “Over the past 25 years, Combilift has made a very important impact to the Irish economy. Combilift is a visionary company in every sense and I’m delighted that the Irish government, through Enterprise Ireland, has supported Combilift through its incredible 25-year journey.

Martin McVicar

Martin McVicar – Managing Director of Combilift: “We have a track record of innovation at Combilift. We invest 7% of our revenue annually in R&D and today is the culmination of many years’ hard work. We are delighted to be continuing this tradition of innovation 25 years on. Now employing over 800 people in Monaghan and 200 people in other locations across the world, the success of Combilift is testament to our people, our customers and our supporting dealers around the world . We are looking forward to the next 25 years at Combilift.”

Michael Woods

Michael Woods – Head of Offshore Equipment Operations at Siemens Gamesa: “Seeing the new LC Blade mover in the flesh is impressive, it is fantastic to see it come from design to fruition, the manoeuvrability and functionality looks great, we can’t wait to see it onsite moving blades.”