Bespoke lifting equipment for the energy sector.

Energy-sector lifting work sits at the intersection of heavy load, tight schedule, and exacting documentation. A grid-scale transformer placement with an outage booked months in advance doesn’t tolerate schedule slip; a nacelle lift offshore doesn’t tolerate rigging geometry errors. The engineering has to be right before the hook ever moves.

Where Somers equipment is specified

Somers Handling has supplied lifting equipment into grid-scale power installation contractors, wind-sector manufacturers and oil, gas and offshore operators — covering both one-off project lifters and ongoing production handling systems. Project shapes include:

• 400 t-class H-frames for grid-scale transformer placement, with integrated load cells on each leg for real-time load-share monitoring during critical positioning sequences (see the power-station transformer case study).
• Wind turbine component lifting beams sized for specific nacelle, hub, blade or tower-section geometries — CAD-engineered per project rather than pulled from a catalogue, because the geometry rarely repeats.
• Offshore-grade spreader beams with ISO 12944 C5-M high-durability coatings and Lloyd’s- or DNV-witnessed proof-load testing where the project regulator requires it.
• Substation and plant-room handling — davits, bespoke lifting aids and retrofit lifting arrangements that slot into existing sites without major civils work.

Engineering priorities

• Worst-case-driven design. A transformer lift has no margin for a misread. We design for the worst intended case plus a conservative safety factor, then FEA-validate the load paths.
• Live load monitoring where it matters. For high-stakes lifts we integrate load cells into the structure itself, giving the lift engineer live readouts during positioning rather than a single post-event measurement.
• Documentation to the regulator. Offshore and utility projects often require Lloyd’s, DNV or similar third-party witnessing. We deliver the documentation pack in the format each regulator expects.
• Schedule discipline. Transformer outages, nacelle installation windows and offshore heavy-lift slots are not rescheduleable. Our engineering and manufacturing sequence is set up to hit fixed customer programme dates.

Complementary services

Energy-sector projects usually engage us from design consultancy through to FAT-witnessed delivery. For operators with ongoing equipment fleets, we also offer repairs, servicing and modernisation as a standalone service.