With the environmental conditions, as well as the environmental standards required for offshore development, knowledge and expertise are critical at every stage of the process. Marine environments make equipment coating a major component in the build process. PES talks to Frank Heijster, Partner at Atlas Paint Consultants B.V. about the service they bring to the wind power industry.
PES: Welcome to the magazine. Would you like to introduce your company and explain what services you offer the wind industry?
Frank Heijster: Atlas Paint Consultants BV is a worldwide operating paint inspection and paint consultancy company and we are based in Rotterdam – one of the biggest ports in the world and the gateway to Europe. From here we provide our services to a wide variety of industries like off shore, wind, marine, refineries and yachting.
For these industries we offer independent paint inspection and consultancy services in the widest sense. This includes but is not limited to paint inspections and survey’s, consultancy and advice, specifications drafting and review, the setup of QA/QC procedures and troubleshooting/failure analysis.
PES: When did the company decide to diversify into offshore wind? Is it a decision that is reaping rewards for you?
FH: We have always been active in the offshore industry. The offshore wind industry is dealing with similar exposure and environmental conditions, which makes this a logical decision to provide our in-house long-term knowledge to this industry.
PES: What particular challenges does the wind industry present you with?
Frank Heijster: Particular challenges encountered are the requirement to combine the following controversial requirements into a paint specification, these are; environmentally friendly preparation and paint systems, long-life time expectancy, low maintenance requirements and reasonable prices.
PES: We see that you’re often called upon in arbitration and court cases. What expertise do you offer here?
FH: Atlas is an ISO 9001 certified company that has a wide experience build up since its existence with arbitration, failure analysis and legal cases in USA and Europe. Within the company knowledge and experience from many different fields in the paint industry are present from manufacturing until actual application. In addition we have ongoing work relations with recognised laboratories which are able to conduct any paint related research and testing that is required to establish root causes of failures, etc.
