Project background: Deutsche Bucht
The Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm is located far offshore in the German North Sea. During the campaign, Vestas carried out blade repairs using rope-access technicians. Several turbines required repairs at severity levels that directly impact turbine availability, making speed, flexibility and safe access critical. NHV supported the project from its Emden base in Germany by providing hoisting helicopter services, allowing teams and equipment to be deployed directly to turbines without relying on permanent offshore accommodation.
Interview highlights
Why the H175 made the difference
When blade repairs depend on low wind and high temperatures, helicopter performance becomes the limiting factor. At Deutsche Bucht, that performance threshold defined what was possible each day.
According to Pawel Plawski, the blade repair supervisor, the feedback from technicians was immediate: “Compared to smaller helicopter types, the H175 was noticeably quieter, more comfortable and faster. The flight time from Emden dropped from around 45 minutes to roughly 30 minutes, which had a direct impact on daily productivity.”
Performance-wise, the H175 proved decisive during the most demanding conditions for hoisting, in particular without the substation available for refueling during the Deutsche Bucht project
Kees-Jan van Engelenburg, Lead Aviation Operations Manager NCE at Vestas, said: “From a planning point of view, the H175 really changed the game for us. Even in high temperatures and very low wind - which is ideal for blade repairs but the worst case for helicopter performance - we could consistently carry two full teams including equipment. With smaller helicopter types, that simply wasn’t possible.”
Medium helicopter versus smaller types
Capacity is not just about payload. It shapes how many aircraft you need, how many flights you plan, and how much stress you introduce around the turbines.
For Vestas, the ability to transport two teams in one flight changed the entire planning logic. “With smaller helicopters, you quickly need two aircraft to do the work of one H175. That doubles flight movements, increases complexity and creates congestion around the turbines. With the H175, we avoided that and kept operations much calmer”, Kees-Jan said.
He added: “Putting turbines into hoist mode is already time-critical. Reducing the number of flights reduced stress for everyone involved: technicians, supervisors and pilots.”
The impact of the automatic cargo hook
Moving people is one thing. Moving equipment efficiently, without leaving anyone offshore, determines whether helicopters truly replace vessels.
Pawel Plawski commented: “The automatic outer cargo hook was a real turning point. At the start of the project, moving equipment between turbines was difficult because you cannot leave a technician alone for safety reasons. Once the hook was available, we could reposition cargo at the start or end of a shift and still bring everyone back to Emden.”
Kees-Jan added: “I remember one flight very clearly. We completed three cargo transfers and 42 hoist cycles to serve 12 turbines in total in about one and a half hours. After that, everything was ready for the next working day. Without the automatic hook, we would have relied much more on vessel support.”
Scaling blade-repair campaigns efficiently
Efficiency gains from the H175 do not stop at single-day operations. They become even more pronounced when blade-repair campaigns scale up.
For Vestas, summer campaigns typically involve multiple rope-access teams working in parallel. The key question is not how many helicopters are used, but how much work each aircraft can absorb. With the H175’s ability to transport two to three full teams per flight, a single aircraft already replaces the workload of multiple smaller helicopters.
Kees-Jan explained: “When campaigns scale up, capacity per flight becomes the limiting factor. With smaller helicopters, you quickly end up adding aircraft just to move people. With the H175, you scale by adding teams, not complexity.”
Operating two H175s allows four to six teams to be deployed, serviced and recovered efficiently within the same day, while still keeping flight movements around the turbines to a minimum. Compared to operating several smaller helicopters, this results in fewer flights, lower congestion and a more controlled working environment offshore.
Helicopters versus SOVs and CTVs
Time lost to logistics is time not spent on blades. At Deutsche Bucht, the difference between vessels and helicopters became impossible to ignore. Initially, the Service Operation Vessel (SOV) was expected to handle most cargo movements. In reality, helicopter hoisting replaced nearly all of these transfers. What would have taken hours - or even an entire day - by vessel was achieved in minutes by helicopter.
The blade repair supervisor commented: “With a vessel, cargo transfers can easily take half a day or even a full day, as the SOV has to prioritize service work in the windfarm and is often very busy. With the helicopter, we moved equipment between turbines in roughly 15 minutes. That time saving had a huge impact on how much work we could actually do.”
Using helicopters also removed the need to accommodate technicians offshore. When weather conditions prevented flying, technicians simply remained onshore in Emden, avoiding accommodation, catering and vessel standby costs. This flexibility proved especially valuable during periods of prolonged high winds.
Working with NHV
Hoisting operations only work when trust, routines and communication are solid, especially when teams get the chance to work closely together.
The cooperation between NHV and Vestas is described as close and highly operational. Pilots, hoist operators and technicians worked as one integrated team, seeing each other daily and building strong mutual trust:
“The cooperation during this project was very strong. Pilots, hoist operators and technicians worked closely together every day. The stability of the aircraft and the professionalism of the hoist crews really stood out”, Vestas stated.
Pawel Plawski confirmed that technicians highlighted the stability of the aircraft, the smoothness of the hoisting operations and the professionalism of NHV’s hoist operators: “Although some technicians were initially hesitant, dedicated training quickly built confidence and enthusiasm for helicopter hoisting.”
Looking ahead
What started as a project solution has become a reference point for future campaigns.
Both Vestas and the blade repair team see strong potential for helicopter-based blade repair, especially for wind farms closer to shore. Shorter flight times would allow multiple rotations per day and further reduce reliance on vessels, making helicopters a viable primary logistics solution for specific offshore wind campaigns.
NHV has been at the forefront of Airbus H175 operations since 2014, when it became the global launch operator for the aircraft type. Until now, the 7.8-tonne aircraft have been primarily used for personnel transport in the offshore oil and gas sector, setting a benchmark for North Sea missions since day one. That experience now flows straight into offshore wind with the long-term collaboration with Vestas pushing the entire market into a new chapter. The aircraft brings strong safety systems; high efficiency and the reach needed for longer flights toward remote turbines. It handles heavy offshore winds during hover, lowers technicians with sharp precision and gives teams direct access to tight platforms. The size and power of the H175 open further-off wind farms and shorten the travel window for crews and equipment.