The companies said one of the biggest challenges facing the wind industry is to lower the cost of transporting and installing turbines "as they increase in size and will be installed in remote locations".
As part of the collaboration, the two Danish firms will develop a crane to make turbine installation cheaper.
The crane, which will be designed for onshore and offshore turbine installation, has received DKK 47 million (€6.3 million) in funding from the Danish government as part of its Energy Technology Development and Demonstration programe (EUDP).
This "vertical installer" concept crane design could "enable the use of lower cost assets in the logistics value chain", claimed the project partners, which also includes MHI Vestas – the offshore wind turbine joint venture between Vestas and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Vestas and MHI Vestas will provide Maersk with industry insight and access to test facilities on land and offshore.
In January, Vestas revealed it was working with turbine manufacturing rival Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to explore the potential of using airships to aid transportation of components.
Danish funding
The EUDP funding forms part of a larger round of investment in new technologies by the Danish energy ministry.
A total of DKK 191 million (€25.6 million) has been invested in 25 projects, including a suction bucket foundation design by SGRE.
"For every DKK 1 in support to the good technological energy ideas that we have here in Denmark, we get, on average, increased exports of DKK 2.
"Therefore, the government is working to see EUDP funds increased in the coming years," said Denmark’s energy, power and thermal minister, Lars Lilleholt.
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