Offshore WIND Magazine 2 - 2018

M a g a z i n e f o r T H E O F F S H O R E W I N D I N D U S T R Y | VOL IX NO 02 2018 | WWW.OFFSHOREWIND.BIZ

Magazine for THE OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY

INTERVIEW WITH NUON/VATTENFALL

VESSEL UPDATE

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

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CONTENTS

6 1 |

CONTENTS

3 |

EDITOR’S NOTE

5 |

GUEST COLUMN LEO HAMBRO Tidal Transit

6 |

M AIN INTERVIEW ANOUK FLORENTINUS

Nuon/Vattenfall

14

20

14 |

ENVIRONMENT

How do industry and environment mix?

20 |

FLOATING FOUNDATIONS

Gusto MSC

24 |

INTELLIGENT MAINTENANCE

Can videoscope change the maintenance landscape?

28 |

VESSEL UPDATE

34 |

TECHTALK

Multi-rotor turbines

42 |

WIFI AT SEA

Online offshore

44 | T ECHTALK

28

34

44

Mooring and anchoring

48 | O FFSHORE ENERGY 2018 What to expect?

51 |

BREEZES

59 |

WIND FARM UPDATES

68 |

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

71 |

EVENTS

72 |

COLOPHON & ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

51

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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EDITOR’S NOTE

(Vessel) update It has been huge news the past period: Nuon/ Vattenfall won the tender for the Hollandse Kust (zuid) I & II. While announcing the winner of the tender, Minister Wiebes said that Vattenfall’s application was chosen because of the way the company covered the risks regarding fluctuating energy prices. I am very proud to have Nuon/ Vattenfall as our main interview where we can delve deeper into their outlook and their thoughts on winning the tender.

The title to my editor’s note refers to two things, the first being that increasing monopoile and turbines sizes mean companies often have to take theirs vessels back to the drawing board. Much like the press event, I recently attended for Van Oord. Their vessel Aeolus is currently in the dockyards of Damen in the Netherlands and is undergoing work, such as the replacement of the 900-tonne crane with a 1600-tonne crane and a stronger, wider deck area with extra accommodation. Once work has finished, the Aeolus will be ready to tackle the forseeable future.

The second point I am referring to is the article on page 26 which delves deeper into the changes in the support vessel industry and links to our sixth edition of the Vessel Directory that is currently taking shape and will be launched during Seawork in July this year. The champagne launch has become quite the staple at this event, gathering larger numbers each year. Make sure your vessel is included and updated online as this is our basis for the print directory.

This edition focusses, among others, on the impact offshore wind farms have on the environment, new, unique foundations, and a look into how video scopes could change the maintenance landscape.

I wish you lots of reading pleasure.

Rebecca van den Berge-McFedries Editor-in-Chief Offshore WIND

3

Offshore Wind

W W W. S M U L DE RS.C OM

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GUESTCOLUMN

LEO HAMBRO

Dip your toes or dive straight in!

DIRECTOR TIDAL TRANSIT

I guess I’m one of those people who having been told the water is warm just jumps in blind before thinking about the fact that its only April and the sun has barely broken through the sea fret to be able to heat the pool. Not too dissimilar to Tidal Transit’s entry in to the market back in 2011/12. We knew what we thought the market needed, raised the money and went building.

Fortunately, we picked a winner in the hull design and the yard where keen to learn. Would we do the same again? We can all say with hindsight that we might do things a little differently!

Lessons have been learnt and our new builds will show this, but which direction do we take?

The market for CTVs has developed greatly over the last decade with the converted angling boats of yesteryear being replaced with highly specified purpose-built vessels. Capabilities range for 50 knot helicopter substitutes to 50-ton cargo carriers. At the same time, with transit distances increasing between shore and site, the use of helicopters and SOVs have increased. Cost analysis of the benefits of each type of access is complicated, especially as the turbine type, size and automation/redundancy continues to evolve and grow faster than my children!

With much greater certainty of the industry’s development over the next decade, what will European market need and how will this be different for USA, Japan, Taiwan or India. Surely lessons learnt must be taken from the European industry, but the reality is each new location will bring with it new challenges.

Whether it be the whale protection speed/size restrictions of the US East Coast or the typhoon and cyclones that regular visit the Taiwan Strait, there will be important local considerations that will limit the effectiveness of some of the well proven technology developed here over the last decade.

emissions. Shouldn’t some of the already plentiful electrical produced offshore be used to power the ships that frequent it? Surely the idea of 200 to 800 litres an hour of diesel burns in each CTV to carry technicians to maintain turbines must make most renewable focused people shiver a little. Let’s not even mention here the numbers for helicopters and SOVs… So why can’t we all just build the Tesla equivalent of a CTV or repower an SOV that berths next to the substation recharging overnight? Would we be jumping in before testing the water if we turned up at Seawork 2019 with a full electric CTV? Surely the answer is yes but someone has got to do it and soon! Hybrids are only a short-term bridge. With battery density doubling every few years so does the distance that any of these vessels could cover. Maritime regulations will be one hurdle but how about starting with the infrastructure? Is it possible to take power directly from the substation?

How would it affect the ROC or CFD for the energy produced? Would there be enough power in the ports that serve the industry to be able to charge multiple ships when berthing for short periods?

I’m not sure I can dip my toes for this one but I’m keen to jump in!

Isn’t there a more fundamental change to adopt? The shipping industry is under pressure globally to reduce

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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INTERVIEW

Nuon/ Vattenfall " THIS SUBSIDY-FREE TENDER PROCEDURE IS A GAME CHANGER FOR THE WHOLE INDUSTRY"

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Anouk Florentinus Public & Regulatory Affairs Nuon/ Vattenfall NL

THE GOVERNMENT ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED THE POSSIBILITY OF THE HOLLANDSE KUST ZUID LOCATION SOME TWO YEARS AGO. NOW WE KNOW NUON/VATTENFALL WON THE BID. WHAT WERE KEY ELEMENTS? HOW DID THE COMPANY APPROACH THIS TENDER?

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Reducing

With the Dutch government’s announcement in March that Vattenfall was the successful bidder for the country’s first non-subsidised, offshore wind tender – the 700MW to 750MW Hollandse Kust Zuid I & II – Vattenfall has made an important step towards its aim of being fossil-free in one generation. Hollandse Kust Zuid is set to be the first subsidy-free wind farm in the industry – marking a new era for offshore wind.

the subsidy level

Anouk Florentinus, Public & Regulatory Affairs Nuon/ Vattenfall NL, emphasises: “This award is a huge milestone for the company and a milestone project in the industry.

“Reaching the subsidy-free possibility has happened quicker than anybody thought possible a few years ago.

When the Dutch Energy Agreement was closed in 2013, it was agreed that we had to get offshore wind costs down by 40 per cent towards 2020. And at that time many said it couldn’t be done, that developers needed more than a hundred euro per MWh in subsidy.”

The Holy Grail of subsidy-free was partly realised as several elements came together such as lower steel prices etc. she adds. But in the Netherlands the most significant factor was that the government took a more organised approach and provided a longer-term outlook for offshore wind, which led to costs coming down rapidly.

1.5 million homes At 700 – 750MW Hollandse Kust Zuid, which is located 22 kilometres off the coast, will be able to produce renewable electricity for 1 to 1.5 million homes.

Vattenfall’s Dutch subsidiary Nuon will build and operate the wind farm, which is expected to be completed in 2022 and fully operational in 2023.

So what was the secret of success of the tender for the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm? Florentinus explains: “Without undermining the tremendous work carried out by the bid team before entering the final tender offer, I think the tender’s success lies in the boardroom of Vattenfall. We have a strong portfolio on the retail side, and 21 offshore wind farms either in operation or being built. Vattenfall is an experienced and large developer, so we know how to minimise the risks and have the lowest possible costs.

“The board strongly believe that we are capable of building without subsidy on the production side and that we can minimise the risks, resulting in a stable revenue.”

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However, there was a major hurdle to overcome. This tender was the third of five tenders being held by the Dutch government. The government aims to create 3.5GW of offshore wind power by 2023, with the first two projects of 700MW each, awarded in 2016 to Danish energy company Orsted and a consortium including Royal Dutch Shell and Dutch energy provider Eneco.

The government originally announced the possibility of the Hollandse Kust Zuid location some two years ago.

Vattenfall then set about creating a tender based on the lowest subsidy level and production costs possible.

But an unexpected announcement was to come in the summer of 2017 when the Dutch government indicated that the tender would be subject to a qualitative assessment and that the concession would only be granted on a subsidy-free basis.

“We only knew this provision six months before the tender was due in, so in a pretty short timeframe we had to totally reorganise what we were going to do. We already had a dedicated team of course, but then there was a real acceleration of activity.

Game changer “This subsidy-free tender procedure is a game changer for the whole industry. We had been used to all the procedural steps within the regular tender process and were used to that. I think the Dutch government did do a good job in organizing information sessions about the new procedure, but it was still an entirely different way of proceeding.”

The whole bid changed, rather than showing all your calculations about how you were reducing the subsidy level, it was almost a ‘master’s thesis’ about how the wind farm would be built, how risks would be minimised during preparations, construction and operation, she stresses.

Qualitative assessment Vattenfall was the first to communicate that it would be entering the tender, whereby bids had to be submitted

by December 15.

Florentinus believes this tender and the Dutch government’s policy in more recent years has been the right decision for the development of offshore wind.

Although when the government decided to completely overhaul the system of already granted offshore wind permits in 2014, Vattenfall and other major players were less than delighted at the change, she admits.

“In the early days developers were largely given a freehand about which locations they wanted for offshore wind farms and the Dutch government carried out the permitting procedures and stakeholder management.”

Never without pain And then came the government’s decision to take all the permits off the table and to redevelop the spatial planning. “Of course all the permit holders and developers were not happy, including us, but in the end it has worked out very well. I think any transition can hurt at one point; it is never without pain. But it is important to have a strong vision for the future, stick to that and hold on. Now we all gain.”

This new approach certainly helped Vattenfall’s decision to invest in the Dutch energy transition, she adds.

“This is not a short-term business. Once the world came to the COP21 climate agreement of Paris, we jointly decided we want to go in this direction. The only way to reach the Paris goals is through the energy transition and the sites for renewable energy production have to be defined. In the Netherlands particularly, we don’t have much space so the government has to be smart about how we are going to use it, and make sure the energy transition stays affordable for Dutch society. The regulatory framework for offshore wind in the Netherlands showcases the way forward also for renewables on land. By ultimately shifting responsibilities between state government and the industry, we as developers are enabled by the regulatory framework to focus and make sure we bring in wind farms at the lowest possible costs. To the extent of subsidy free offshore wind. In that way, subsidy free is never policy free.”

€ 2 billion in 2017/2018 In its ambition to become fossil-free, Vattenfall is aiming to phase out all fossil fuels or redevelop existing sites by 2035-2040 – or in one generation.

Over 2017/18 the company has already invested € 2 billion in renewable energy initiatives.

Marking one of the larger wind investment in the Netherlands, Vattenfall announced that it was to invest more than EUR200 million to repower and expand its Wieringermeer onshore wind farm in the Netherlands, so it can achieve a 180MW capacity by 2019.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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Additionally, the company acquired the adjacent Wieringermeer extension, which has an additional capacity of 115MW. There has also been a range of renewable projects announced in the UK, Germany and Sweden, including a larger solar farm in the UK. Overall, Vattenfall plans to invest SEK 1 billion in developing renewables between 2018-2019.

Hydrogen initiatives Renewable initiatives also include hydrogen options. For example, Nuon Energy has a gas-fired plant Magnum in the north of the Netherlands. And it is considering converting this into a hydrogen-powered plant.

Florentinus comments: “The current fuel for this asset doesn’t fit into our fossil-free future, yet we do need flexible assets to be activated when it is not windy or sunny for example. We need to have this flexible start/ stop capacity in our energy supply. Hydrogen could be the new fuel to power these assets. The hydrogen could be made from natural gas first, by separating the and storing the carbon in natural gas. On the longer term hydrogen can be made from renewable electricity, once our electricity mix is wind and solar dominated. It could be an important energy carrier in our future energy system.”

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

However, the role of hydrogen can only be developed, she adds, when offshore wind is growing rapidly into volumes like the sector-proposed 18GW in 2030 in the North Sea! As a storable energy carrier, hydrogen can be of important use in optimizing our grid investment costs.

Pipeline in peak times “Very high costs are involved in the grids connecting offshore wind farms to the shores. But wind farms are not always producing to their maximum level. One way of optimizing these massive infrastructure costs and to cope with the peak wind energy production levels, is to have ‘special lanes in rush hour’. These could be gas pipelines offshore, connected to an electrolyser on the spot, generating hydrogen from the abundant renewable electricity. So if there are storms and lots of wind, we could make use of this ‘rush hour’ pipeline’, without any curtailment of precious green energy.

Currently, there is not enough renewable energy in the Netherlands or Europe to produce fully, green hydrogen but blue hydrogen is possible from natural gas. In a consortium, Vattenfall is defining the pilot project for the Magnum gas-fired plant.

Vattenfall is fairly confident about the way the renewables industry is progressing, she adds. “Not so long ago we were asking if there is a need to reduce CO2 emissions – this used to be the question on the table. There is now a wide spread consensus in the world that we should achieve the Paris goals. Is not a debate on if and when, but more on how and how quick we will reach a carbon neutral energy supply.”

In the Netherlands, the government is aiming to roll-out an additional 7GW of installed offshore wind capacity starting 2023 leading to 11.5GW in 2030.

14GW as of 2023?

“But we as developers are pushing for more. Imagine if we double this pipeline towards 2030 with an additional effort and install 14GW as of 2023? The rollout pace could be doubled and/or plot size expanded, with tenders of 2GW a year rather than 1GW. This gives security to the market and the supply chain.

“11GW is already a huge amount but 18GW by 2030 would show more commitment of the Netherlands to the energy transition. With these renewable volumes we will soon pass the tipping point to go from supply

push to demand pull. Vattenfall wants to push further on renewables and simultaneously develop the demand side together with other sectors. In a subsidy free world we need further electrification of industry, sector coupling through power to heat and gas. As said before, no transition will be easy. We think it would be better to make a swift transition towards the envisioned carbonfree energy supply, rather than gradually. Only when renewables dominate our supply side, new businesses will be developed and grid optimization can take place to the full extend.”

And as to the future of subsidy-free wind farms, Florentinus is clear. “We have the disclaimer that subsidy-free, offshore wind farms are always looked at on a project by project basis. It is about a specific site, geographic conditions and the regulatory framework, grid connection and substation. If we know about these elements the government gives confidence to the tender participants. In the case of Hollandse Kust Zuid, we know when the substation will be operational, that there will be no delays. We are confident how it is being managed by the Dutch government and the TSO TenneT, which allows us to focus on what we are good at, building and operating the wind farm!”

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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The life around offshore wind farms

Aside from a visual impact, potential adverse effects an offshore wind farm might have on marine life are widely discussed and often referred to by project opponents.

With many countries having stringent government rules on environmental impact assessments – which have to be followed if offshore wind projects are to be built and operated – and a global aim of adding more renewable energy to the mix, the industry is focusing on bringing clean electricity to consumers while minimising effects on living organisms.

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

Looking for ways to remove or minimise any possibly adverse effects

not impair the safety and efficiency of navigation, it is not detrimental to the marine environment, and that there are no conflicting interests for other uses. This is according to Petra Ringeltaube, a Germany-based Senior Project Manager and Marine Ecologist at K2 Management, with whom we spoke about the environmental impact assessment (EIA).

An environmental impact assessment itself is part of a government’s approval process, with the study results and conclusions having the power to affect project layouts. Any adverse effects a project may have on marine organisms – especially endangered species – can make, for example, cable routes and foundation locations being potentially moved from their initially planned area.

Setting up a wind farm at sea requires a vast amount of work and time, from the early stages of project development all the way to the operations phase.

Construction itself calls for numerous skilled people working on the installation of giant components by using big vessels and large equipment.

Still, not even the smallest part of this massive endeavour could be approved without verifying that it would not harm the life around it, or at

least not significantly. Regulations on the environmental impact of offshore wind farm s may formally differ from country to country, but governments are very strict about keeping this kind of infrastructure as safe and sound as possible. In Germany, for example, within the framework of the approval procedure for offshore wind farms in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), it has to be proven (amongst other things) that the planned project does

Studies undertaken to evaluate the effects an offshore wind farm would have on marine flora and fauna are not based only on the numerical and already available data. Those carrying out this kind of research for a project are getting to know the marine environment in the project area and are looking for ways to remove or minimise any possibly adverse effects while also keeping alive the plan to add more renewable energy to the world.

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EIA directly affects project implementation Generally, with some details and terminology differing from country to country, the environmental impact assessment process starts with a screening/briefing to get the initial information in one place. “First, the data already available for an area is studied, followed by proposing a monitoring programme in accordance with the German standard (StUK),” Petra Ringeltaube said.

After this, a baseline study is being carried out which has to include information such as: • Characterisation of the planning area regarding environmental features and species communities as a basis for the EIA as well as for the species, habitat and biotope protection law reports.

• Characterisation of the planning area in order to determine the survey area, monitoring programme and reference area for the individual features of conservation interest.

• Investigations prior to the start of construction to characterize the environmental features of the project and reference area particularly with a view to species communities.

“A baseline study involves monitoring various species, their behaviour and habitats over a minimum of two years. This includes monitoring species of conservation interest such as harbour porpoises (marine mammal), as well as birds, fish and benthos communities. Along with this, there are many other things to take care of as part of a baseline study. Upon completion, a document is put together for a developer and government, characterising the surveyed area in terms of numbers of each species population, their behaviour and other details,” Petra Ringeltaube explained and added that mandatory investigations and reporting requirements are outlined in the German standard.

This involves providing information such as whether there is an endangered species that would be affected, and an assessment of whether a planned

offshore wind farm would have a potential negative impact in the area with a description of its severity. If a potential negative impact is identified, a proposal for mitigation measures is required.

Monitoring

For example, noise mitigation measures must be employed if piling works cause noise levels potentially exceeding 160 dB. There are various noise mitigation systems available, some can be positioned close to the pile and some can be positioned further away, according to Ringeltaube.

“Construction of a project cannot start unless there are mitigation measures in place with a very strict implementation plan,” Ringeltaube pointed out.

is under

Monitoring does not end when a project is under construction, and findings are reviewed and reported to the authorities to make sure an offshore wind farm is being installed in accordance with the set criteria. The work continues into the operational stage of an offshore wind farm, where operational findings are compared to the baseline study done at the beginning. This will determine whether the environmental impact assessment standards need to be updated or modified.

Finally, Offshore WIND wanted to learn about the approach with offshore wind farm clusters. According to Ringeltaube, underwater areas can differ in as little as five kilometres, and a new project being planned within a cluster area does not exclude the need for studies.

“In Germany, monitoring is carried out together for wind farms situated close to each other, the so-called clusters.

Cluster monitoring takes place for birds and marine mammals, whereas monitoring for fish and benthos is done for each wind farm separately,” Petra Ringeltaube said in an answer to our final question.

The big picture and constant research Put in a broader context, effects on birds and marine flora and fauna could be (and are) discussed in terms of factors other than wind energy

does not end when a project construction

infrastructure. The question from wind energy perspective might be at what extent is building offshore wind farms adding to these other factors.

Bird mortality caused by collisions with wind turbines has been a major issue within the wind energy industry, both onshore and offshore. In the offshore wind sector, seabirds and their avoidance of wind turbines are being continuously tracked and studied to provide in-depth knowledge, enable collision risk modelling, as well as to find the right risk removal and mitigation solutions.

Some of the recent studies have shown high avoidance rates with seabirds flying near or within wind farm sites.

A 2014 study by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) found that over 99 per cent of seabirds were likely to alter their flight paths to avoid collision, further stating that collision may still be a significant risk at sites with large numbers of birds. In its study, BTO stressed that there were significant data gaps for avoidance behaviour regarding Northern gannets. At the beginning of 2018, APEM reported results of its research on this seabird species, suggesting that four times fewer Northern gannets collide with offshore wind turbines than previously thought.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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Š Rijksoverheid

There are issues other than wind farms whose impact is being studied

Generally, human-built structures and human activities are among leading causes of bird deaths. With seabirds specifically, these primarily include incidental capture in various types of fisheries, oil spills (from shipping transport and drilling rigs) and even things such as artificial light pollution, which mainly affects seabird fledglings, as indicated in a recent study by Airam Rodríguez. Overall, collisions with building glass, vehicles, communication towers, as well as oil spills and poisoning are among leading causes of bird deaths, according to information available on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.

Looking at the underwater life, we might find a similar story with wind farm components and their installation being among the reasons for concern. Having massive infrastructure, such as wind

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

farms, installed at sea calls for research on the impact offshore wind installation has on marine flora and fauna, especially during the construction phase.

Various marine species at wind farm sites are being monitored and studied so any potentially significant impact could be further reduced. Here as well, some species-specific studies have found offshore wind farms not having any or a significantly negative impact, such as the study commissioned by the Offshore-Forum Windenergie (OFW) in 2014. Namely, the study results (reported in 2016) have shown that there was little to no adverse effect of pile driving noise on harbour porpoises in the German exclusive economic zone in the North Sea. Also in 2016, World Wildlife Fund UK released a study which suggested that using noise reduction measures to bring down noise levels

by the equivalent of around 8dB would reduce the risk of a one per cent annual decline in the North Sea population of harbour porpoises by up to 96 per cent.

Offshore wind farms growing marine life

With underwater life as well, there are issues other than wind farms whose impact is being studied in order for it to be properly addressed.

These predominantly include ocean acidification and overfishing, which have been pinpointed as adversely affecting biodiversity and endangering, if not in some cases completely wiping out, marine habitats.

The latest example is the Borssele V project, for which a consortium led

by Van Oord won the tender at the beginning of April. The project team will place rocks enriched with calciferous shell material around the foundations supporting its two 9.5MW wind turbines to provide scour protection and to make oyster beds. Then, oysters will be added at different stages of life, ultimately resulting in them multiplying and helping restore the marine ecosystem in the North Sea.

Looking specifically at the offshore wind sector, the industry and scientific circles are evermore focusing on marine biodiversity in a way to not only minimise potential negative effects but to have a positive and stimulating impact on ocean biodiversity itself.

Last year, a consortium of Belgian research institutes and companies installed two mussel farming systems at the country’s offshore wind farms as part of a project looking into the biological, technical and economic feasibility of growing shellfish on Belgian wind farms

in the North Sea. Earlier this year, Deepwater Wind and the American Wind Energy Association published a video showing the underwater parts of the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. – Block Island Wind Farm – housing mussels, fish and various other species that found their home or feeding area there within a year of the project’s completion. The offshore wind farm is also hosting research activities involving monitoring birds and bats to identify potential collisions with offshore wind turbines and to inform conservation efforts.

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After the split in 2012 SBM continued with fixed location floating terminals.

Their floating oil and gas terminals with loading facilities kept SBM well in the forefront with floating technology.

In the current round of demonstration wind farms organised by the French Government SBM have 3 tension leg platforms supporting the 8MW Siemens wind turbine working with the EDF Nouvelles Group in Mediterranean waters varying between 94 metres and 104 metres water depth.

Their former partner, GustoMSC, however, has successfully been concentrating on other mobile offshore units such as their jack-up designs for both the oil and gas and the offshore wind sector. Apart from theoretical research on the Tri-Floater concept in the past ten years including a tank testing program in cooperation withMARIN, TU Delft and ECN in 2013, their major concern was with these jack-ups. It was not until then, that they returned their attention to floating foundation systems with the offshore wind industry as a target. Their return to this was not in the same scale as Principal Power and Ideol, for example, but as an interested ‘newcomer’ with more experience than the average newcomer. Unfortunate the GustoMSC Tri-Floater design was not included in the same French demonstration program as their former colleagues from SBM.

Taiwan where they see huge potential for floating foundations. The GustoMSC Tri-Floater model is characterized by a three column, slender, robust and brace-less hull with the wind turbine situated in the middle of the floating column. High among the reasons for this model is logistic benefit for the fabrication of the platform which can be in a fabrication yard rather than a dedicated ship yard. When building 50 (generic) units using around 125,000 t of steel, flat plates produce a simpler fabrication solution than when using round sections to be welded. The quay side and water access to the open sea is naturally essential. With tower and turbine installed the Tri-Floater transit draught from the fabrication yard to the wind farm would be seven metres.

The draught when on location would be 13 metres. Moored with three anchors per installation, or nine for redundancy requirements, The Tri-Floater is a robust and cost-effective floating foundation for all types of offshore wind turbines.

GustoMSC's next priority is to get a demonstration project in Asia. With this in mind the company has several ongoing discussions with various parties in Asia. The overall long term potential for floating foundations in offshore wind is a certainty, whether it happens in ten, 20 or 50 years remains to be seen. With such a global potential the presence of GustoMSC within the market will be worthwhile for the company

GustoMSC current geographical focus is on the Far East in South Korea and

©

a rrw fot Wi oglor ia / Ulrich

1,500... ...monopiles produced by EEW SPC: We keep building a solid foundation for tomorrow’s energy supply.

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Whether it happens in 10, 20 or 50 years remains to be seen

24

A clear view on

gearboxes

The gearbox of a wind turbine is a critical but vulnerable part of the turbine’s internal machinery. Its size and the sheer number of critical components involved mean that the costs of damage are high and lead to significant downtime – particularly when a turbine is located offshore. Liam Hanna of Olympus Europa discusses the role of videoscopes in tackling the challenges of wind turbine gearbox inspections with Offshore WIND.

25

Regular inspection helps to detect small damage, or even spot risk factors that can lead to damage in the near future.

To prevent costly repairs through early detection, monitoring systems are installed to spot early warning signs of damage. Vibration sensors are an example of a continuous monitoring system that can detect minor faults with the potential to develop into more serious and expensive damage.

However, for a more thorough assessment of the state of the gearbox, visual inspection is the only option.

Regular inspection helps to detect small damage, or even spot risk factors that can lead to damage in the near future.

Due to the high speeds and stresses involved, small areas of damage have the potential to escalate, as debris from one component can be moved around and cause damage elsewhere.

The main technology available to inspect the inside of a turbine is remote visual inspection (RVI). RVI equipment, such as videoscopes (figure 1), enable precise manoeuvring over a distance of several metres so that the entire turbine can be inspected from a single location for efficient inspection and minimal downtime.

Where to look?

A typical gearbox inspection looks at three distinct areas or ‘stages’ – each consisting of a shaft, bearings and gear teeth (figure 2). High speed stage bearings contain some of the most likely areas for damage due to the high shaft speed that drives the generator (typically between 1,500 and

1,800 rpm). However, the high speed stage is also easier for an inspector to access. The second stage is the intermediary stage. It consists of a shaft supported by two bearings that are located underneath the other shafts.

The location of the intermediary stage bearings makes them more difficult to inspect than high speed stage bearings.

The planetary stage is the area of the gearbox that has to deal with the highest and most variable stresses.

The low speed shaft is driven directly by the turbine blades, which means that its bearings have to withstand the stresses of adverse weather conditions.

The planetary gears have a complex structure and their location within the gearbox means they are often hard to access for an inspector.

Increasing lifetime and uptime To inspect all the gears, bearings and shafts – as well as surrounding areas that are prone to damage – videoscopes need to operate under the challenging conditions, including: Deep and concealed features The complex layout of a gearbox means that moving the tip of a videoscope into a suitable position for imaging is one of the most time-consuming aspects of the inspection process. To reach certain areas, the tip often has to pass through openings that are only a few millimetres larger than the tip itself.

(1) High speed stage bearing

(3) Planetary stage bearing

(2) Intermediate speed stage bearing

(4) Gear teeth

Figure 1.

Industrial videoscopes help to produce detailed images for comprehensive inspection reports.

26

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

Figure 2.

The stages of a wind turbine gearbox.

Dark, reflective surfaces The combination of dark spaces and reflective metallic surfaces provides difficulties in capturing detailed images.

Glare caused by reflected light often leads to images with both overexposed and underexposed areas. It means that an inspector needs more images to inspect an area and make a reliable assessment.

The presence of oil When the turbine is in operation, oil is essential for lubrication. However, during inspection the videoscope’s tip can easily come into contact with oil, causing image quality to deteriorate.

If oil contamination occurs, the inspector often needs to retract the tip for cleaning before continuing the inspection.

Varying focal lengths During an inspection, it is easier to move through the gearbox when using a near focus lens, whereas a far focus lens is more suitable for imaging of large spaces. Once inside the gearbox, it is not possible to replace the lens, which means lenses with a high depth of field are required to provide good image quality for both inspecting and manoeuvring.

Inaccessible locations Due to the location of the gearbox, the use of lightweight, portable equipment that can be carried on ladders is essential.

Versatile videoscopes In recent years, videoscopes have evolved further to address the challenges of specific industries and applications. In the case of gearbox inspections, several innovative features have led to improvements in the inspection process, helping inspectors to save time and improve the quality of their images. Oil-clearing tip adaptors, for example, are specifically designed to save time in confined, oily spaces (figure 3). When a conventional tip comes into contact with oil, the oil can accumulate on the lens, thereby altering its focal properties.

Figure 3.

Oil-clearing tip adaptors save time by preventing blurred images after oil contamination.

Figure 4.

Intelligent illumination makes it easier to detect damage.

To remove this oil without having to retract the tip for cleaning, oil-clearing tip adaptors feature narrow grooves.

If oil gets on the lens, capillary action draws the oil away from the lens into the grooves, which means the inspector can continue taking images without interruption.

the inspection process itself can also be costly, especially offshore. So when an inspection is taking place, time, reliability, image quality and probably of detection are key factors for success.

Adaptive, intelligent illumination is another feature that specifically benefits inspections with challenging lighting conditions, such as gearbox inspections. This feature automatically balances brightness and clarity to increase the probability of detecting faults. In addition, real-time image processing can help to sharpen images and reduce noise, improving the quality of reports (figure 4).

A key factor that determines the time spent on inspecting a gearbox is the interface for articulating the scope tip. Due to the hard-to-reach areas and the large size of the gearbox, power-assisted manual articulation enables an inspector to manoeuvre faster and more intuitively through the gearbox. This intuitive articulation can reduce inspection time directly (through reaching a target quicker) and indirectly (through reducing the risk of oil contamination).

In the latest generation of videoscopes, several improvements have been made that address important, current challenges in turbine inspection.

Adaptive illumination, Olympus’ PulsarPic technology on the IPLEX RX for example, helps to produce clear images in difficult lighting conditions without having to adjust the lighting manually for each image. Furthermore, intuitive articulation speeds up manoeuvring and oil-resistant scope tips prevent delays as a result of oil contamination.

Innovative videoscopes help to make the inspection process faster, more reliable and more detailed. These improvements reduce the time, and therefore the cost of an inspection, and help to maintain high turbine uptime.

Liam Hanna Product and Application Specialist Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG

Smooth operation Low turbine downtime and low maintenance costs can be achieved by regular gearbox inspections. However,

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

27

28

Offshore Wind Farm Installation and Support Vessel Update In the past 18 months the offshore wind sector has experienced a changing of standards in many of the individual elements of the industry. The greatest of these changes was financial, the successful zero or low subsidy tenders are changing the industry into a much leaner operation where every penny will have to count. There are plans from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany for a modest number of projects to be developed each year, not a steep increase but at least steady growth.

As every project in development reaches the operation and maintenance phase then a small number of vessels will find longer term work and gradually the CTV market will become tighter. Not good news for the yards building CTVs, but the yards with maintenance facilities will, at least, have work keeping the CTVs running.

CTVs and beyond

Not a steep increase but at least steady growth

In 2010 the wind farm crew transfer vessels entered a new era with a fast crew supplier vessel, the Damen FCS 2610, the Marineco Shamal. The vessel was not just a crew transfer vessel but also a vessel able to supply the wind farm with larger pieces of machinery.

After selling more than 40 FCS 2610 the next generation Damen FCS is widely expected to make her debut in July this year. Damen have not released any details of a new vessel, but if a new one is launched this summer then the CTV operators could be looking for a larger

‘passenger’ area to accommodate at least 24 wind farm technicians, in line with the updated definition of the passengers on these vessels.

The new vessel would not have to be very much larger, as the FCS2610 is already one of the largest vessels in this sector. Changes in the regulations for this type of vessel since June 2011 would allow for other, subtle, differences in the new vessel. Less subtly, the addition of day and night accommodation for a small working team living and sleeping on board for several nights could open new markets possible for the vessel.

The Offshore WIND magazine and website are not famous for publishing guesswork and this is exactly that. But listening to the people who operate and work on these vessels in the past year has indicated that there is a space for such a vessel. However readers will have to wait and see if a vessel is launched and then see what Damen’s design team have produced.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

29

A great number of innovative solutions

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

As this magazine is going to press Windcat Workboats released some figures for their new class of CTV, the MK3.5. They have recently launched the second vessel in this class and the figures from the 2 vessels show a trend in operational cost reduction. ‘The hull shape of the vessel which has been optimised for efficiency, comfortable sea keeping and performance has resulted in a highly efficient 23 meter vessel, with a top speed of 31 knots using only two 720kW engines, setting a new industry standard for efficiency�, surpassing the original expectations. Fuel consumption of, 250 litres per hour at 25 knots and 360 litres per hour at 30 knots confirms

the trend. The vessels have seating capacity for 26 technicians.

The offshore wind industry has produced a great number of innovative solutions to overcome the engineering and physical problems that have been faced offshore. Other industries in this environment have lacked the scale of the individual components creating the problem. The scale of numbers and the scale of size has forced the industry to look for the solutions to problems that have never been encountered before.

For example, when have so many subsea foundations ever been required in any industry before?

Bigger piles and bigger cranes

In the Deme Group of Companies, GeoSea, has ordered a 5,000-tonne crane vessel, to be named Orion, which will be joining their fleet in 2019.

Other companies are ordering similar vessels in a move away from the jack-up vessels that were previously seen as being innovative. This new generation of crane vessels will have not only the installation of XXL+ wind farm monopile foundations for work but also a wider sphere of activity which will be open to them, including the oil and gas decommissioning work that is inevitable in the near future.

Offshore Wind Farm Component Transport Vessels This year we are including a new section in the Offshore WIND Vessel Directory. Lifting and installation work is not the only area where new multipurpose vessels are being designed and built for offshore wind farm related employment. There is a need for transporting the wind turbine blades and nacelles, foundations and towers from their manufacturing base to the installation hub port. Blades of over 80m length for the 7 to 9MW turbines will soon be replaced by even longer blades for the 10 to 15MW turbines in the future. These blades will require special handling, stacked horizontally in racks on board specifically designed vessels. Other cargoes include transition pieces, pre-installed with turbine control equipment, standing upright in open decked vessels.

Transport of these components over land would just not be possible in the numbers that offshore wind farms demand.

PILOT

HFO OVERFL

MGO OVERFL

HFO

7M 8 6 4 2 6M 8 6 4 2 5M 8 6 4 2 4M 8 6 4 2 3M 8 6 4 2 2M 8 6 4 2 1M

WATERBALLAST - WT

MGO

Floor 3600 a.b.

5120

Zyl.1

FRESH WATER 700

The monopile foundations that continue getting heavier and longer with bigger diameters, consequently require new ways that have had to be found to install them. With one solution, the Aeolus, part of the Van Oord fleet has recently undergone a wide-ranging refit, with a new 1,600-tonne crane replacing the previous 900-tonne crane installed when the vessel was completed only 4 years ago. A stronger, wider deck area and extra accommodation has been included making the vessel competent for many more years to come.

WATERBALLAST - L

-5

0

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15

20

25

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WATERBALLAST - L

WATERBALLAST - DB

40

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70

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WATERBALLAST - DB

85

90

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115

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PILOT

HFO OVERFL

MGO OVERFL 7M 8

As with the jack-up installation vessels, the CTVs, the SOVs and the new generation of crane vessels, these cargo vessels are becoming an integral part of the offshore wind industry.

Therefore these vessels will be included in the Transport Vessel and Work Boat section in the new edition of the Vessel Directory this year.

Both Roll on – roll off (Ro-Ro) and conventional cargo ships have found long term employment in the offshore wind sector. Ro-Ro facilities on the vessels provides ease of loading and discharge but is not essential for the transport of wind farm components as the hub ports all have adequate cranes available for marshalling the components. A wind farm of 70 turbines will need, for example, more than 15 voyages of a multifunctional vessel between the hubs only for the blade transport. This may be an overnight voyage from Cuxhaven to Eemshaven, a 2-day voyage from Esbjerg to Vlissingen or a 3-day voyage from Spain to the Netherlands. Esbjerg, with many manufacturing companies in the vicinity of the port, has naturally become the major hub port for loading. More than 80 per cent of Europe’s offshore wind capacity has been shipped through the port. Fast turnaround in port is essential for keeping costs down, and a large

marshalling area close to the quayside ensures that the freight is ready for loading. The port of Esbjerg covers an area of 450 Ha. Two vessels that have become a good example of what is required in the industry almost didn’t even ever get wet in the sea. The Rotra Vente and sister vessel, Rotra Mare, were originally ordered as the containerships, Flintercoral and Flintercrown, respectively.

These blades will require special handling

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

31

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After the company that had commissioned them in Nantong, China, went into receivership building stopped, and the Concordia Group brought them from the yard where they were laying, incomplete, to their facility in the Netherlands. After plans were made, and partnerships formed, with Deugro Danmark A/S, the 2 vessels were converted into Ro-Ro vessels with a bow door, designed specifically for the transportation of nacelles, blades and towers linking Siemens’ Danish production centre in Denmark with the new production facilities in Cuxhaven, Germany and Hull, UK, wind farm installation hubs elsewhere in Europe.

The Rotra Vente carries 8 nacelle units or tower sections under a raised cover, designed to enclose the cargo area and protect the nacelles from excessive sea water contamination during the voyage.

The Rotra Mare is designed for carrying tower sections and also has gantry racks for stacking up to 12 blades. The vessels are working on a long term agreement for Siemens,

Working on the experience gained from their existing smaller vessels carrying wind farm blades and transition pieces, the German shipping company Briese Schiffahrt is making plans for a class of 8 to 10 similar vessels of 8,000 tonnes that would be able to transport the blades of the 10 to 15MW turbines in the future. This class of vessel is in addition to a class of 8 vessels of 5,000 tones, which have already carried cargos of 12 blades per voyage for the Merkur OWF from the LM Wind Power factory in Castellon, Spain to the installation hub in Eemshaven. Although the vessels will not be exclusively dedicated to the transport of wind farm components they will have been designed with specific offshore wind components in mind. The company’s previous experience and their policy of talking to possible charter parties before building the vessels will provide the offshore wind industry with useful vessels in the future.

Offshore WIND Vessel Directory The 2018 edition of the Offshore WIND Vessel Directory will be published in time for launching and distribution at Seawork International early in July, listing the purpose-built vessels in the following categories: CTVs, WTIVs, SOVs and Accommodation vessels, Cable Laying Vessels and Transport Vessels and Work Boats.

If you have vessels working in any of these categories, then now is the time to check that their details are correct. Look online under the vessels tab on offshoreWIND.biz.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

33

IN-DEPTH TECHTALK

Multi-Rotor Turbines The idea of large-scale multi-rotor turbines with two or more rotors atop a single support structure has inspired inventors since the 1920s. Current renewed interest in multi-rotor technology has a strong focus within large-scale offshore. Innovative product announcements and developments up until 2017 cover especially horizontalaxis turbines for bottom-fixed foundations as well as floating wind foundations, but no scaled and/or full scale prototypes yet.

The offshore wind leap into to the 12 15MW+ class is ongoing with GE record holder announcing a 12MW giant with 220-metre rotor. A possible alternative route in the new superclass could become multi-rotor turbines with fresh opportunities including reduced rotor and head mass, faster scaling pace and prolonged use of existing supply chains.

Shorter time-to-market due to the use of proven commercial turbine technology is another potential benefit, but the road towards commercialization will not be easy.

Famous Perhaps the world’s most famous multirotor turbine designer was German engineer-inventor Hermann Honnef, who in 1931 presented a concept with a 250-metre high tower and three turbines

34

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

with 160-metre rotors. However, his design and other typically skilful designs by fellow engineer-inventors during the pre-WWII period, were never realised.

A key driver behind renewed multi-rotor turbine interest is continuing turbine size increasement raising challenges to circumvent negative consequences linked to the infamous Square Cube Law. This scaling law dictates that for any turbine (installation) growing bigger, power output scales with rotor diameter squared (P ~ D2), but mass increases with diameter cubed (m ~ D3). Scaling turbines, by assuming unchanged specific power rating (W/m2) and retaining main technology principles, will make installations inherently heavier Main contributing factors for the limited past multi-rotor turbine successes are

both technical and non-technical. A major technological challenge is their complex dynamic behaviour. Rotor and head mass are, for instance, not concentrated, but distributed over a collective plane. Early multi-rotor pioneers further lacked necessary technical and financial means losingout in the competition with established suppliers continuously introducing nextgeneration larger products.

Multi-rotor turbines inherently contain more components and (sub-)systems, but these are also typically smaller.

Furthermore, higher quantities failure-prone critical components like bearings increases failure risk, putting additional pressure on ‘design for reliability’ issues. Re-utilizing validated components of single-rotor turbines in multi-rotor systems on the other hand

promotes optimal use of existing supply chains, offering reduced risk-profile and prospects for lower LCOE.

Ground level yaw system The largest multi-rotor turbine ever built was initially rated at 450kW. It incorporated six 75kW two-bladed variable-speed Lagerwey turbines with 15-metre rotor diameter each, passive pitch control and flexible blade mountings. The three turbine levels each had two rotors, rigidly attached to the tower and were complimented by a yaw system at ground level. The installation commenced during 1988 at an industrial site in the port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), but vibration issues soon forced the bottom rotors removal.

The de-rated 300kW Quadro operated successfully for many years.

Early this century, Dutch company MultiWind BV conducted a feasibility study for a 6MW offshore-dedicated turbine comprising three 2MW turbines with 70-metre rotor, the biggest the industry could then provide. Other distinct features of the patented MWT 6000 concept were 520W/m2 and three 120-degree interspaced rotor arms attached to a central chassis with a (common) yaw system and a turnable rotor. The latter feature allowed turning individual rotors to the lowest bottom position during installation and service. In full operating mode, one rotor operated in top position with the other rotors left and right to the tower. Following single rotor failure, the dysfunctional unit could be turned in bottom position.

Multi-rotor turbines inherently contain more components and (sub-)systems, but these are also typically smaller.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

35

This built-in redundancy would allow continued partial operation at 66.7 per cent of total rated power. Despite generating a lot of wind industry interest at the time, a prototype was never built.

A Vestas spokesperson during the 2016 introduction of its innovative 900kW multi-rotor concept turbine

36

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

said it could become ‘a blueprint for larger-scale future products focused at specific markets’. The importance of the Vestas initiative lies in the fact that it originates from one of the world’s largest wind turbine suppliers with matching technological and financial capabilities and strength.

Independent yaw systems The installation incorporates four variable-speed pitch-controlled V29225 kW turbines with 29-metre rotor, a popular model of the 1990s. Innovative features include two vertical operational levels with at each level an independent yawing chassis, an active yaw system

ADVANCEMENTS IN ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Scaling-related impact is hidden by continues improvements in blade and turbine technology.

This allows minimizing nacelle and rotor mass increment thanks to the availability of powerful computers, advanced design methods and the latest software-modelling tools. In addition, common engineering principles always promote applying optimizing measures like switching from solid and semi-solid shapes to tubular and slotted components shapes and other ‘open’ structures whenever possible and feasible.

Advances in wind power science and technology equally benefit large-scale single-rotor and multi-rotor concept further development, but with different maximum gains in multiple specific areas.

and closely interspaced rotors in both vertical and horizontal planes.

Two nacelles are mounted at each level to tubular-steel arms and flexibly attached to a common turn-able chassis via steel tension cables, a lightweight solution known from bridges. Flexible rotor mounting and elevated individual

yaw systems are two main differences with the 1988 Quadro rigid design. The Vestas solution aimed at becoming a key enabler for substantial dynamic loads reduction, reduced mass and system costs. The flexible systems design approach was enabled by the availability of advanced modelling and

design tools, real-time and deterministic control strategies. The now completed one-year testing and validation period focused at exploring the optimising potential and especially the impact and system performance from three perspectives: aerodynamically, structurally and loads. Main challenges were turbine dynamics and control, and a major control challenge whether it can be fast enough to ensure safe operation under extreme conditions and in the event of single-rotor failure.

An overall challenge was at minimizing structural system costs considering that scaled-down components in multi-rotor turbines offer size and mass-related benefits through simplified handling and transportation requirements.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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38

For a recap on main project outcomes, Peter Lindholst, Vice President, Concept Development and Erik Carl Lehnskov Miranda, Director, Mechanical, Loads & Control Technologies, said: “The reason for installing the multi-rotor concept demonstrator turbine at Risø was to learn fast. Considerable knowledge has been gained about controllability, aerodynamic interaction between the rotors and our ability to simulate loads and dynamics for multi-rotor turbines.

Despite the inherent complexity of a multirotor, we have been able to foresee all critical design aspects. Thus, we are able operate the rotors in a predictable stable manner. Verification of the load simulation tool is progressing according to schedule and results show an excellent match between simulations and measurements. Although rotor interaction is limited it seems to have slightly positive impact on the power curve. Simulation tools had to be further developed for predicting this positive effect. Measurements to investigate further are being conducted during 2018.”

The Vestas multi-rotor layout creates multiple possibilities for systems enhancement. One could be varying rotor speed between left and right rotors

"The reason for installing the multirotor concept demonstrator turbine at Risø was to learn fast"

at each level offering active yaw control support, potentially reducing yaw system complexity, mass and cost.

Radical vision The above mentioned control principle was introduced by Germany’s aerodyn-engineering during mid-2017 for a fully integrated 15MW floating concept incorporating twin two-bladed downwind turbines with 150-metre rotor diameters (425W/m2) and semi-submersible floater. This (Super Compact Drive) SCDnezzy2 concept also presents a radical vision on how large-scale floating offshore power plants could look like in 2025 or earlier.

A twin-rotor concept was selected in ‘offering perhaps the best compromise solution.’

SCDnezzy2 rotors are centre-to-centre interspaced at one full rotor diameter plus 2metres, providing 302-metre installation width. The rotors counterrotate to balance opposing Cariolis forces acting upon them, and relative rotor blade positions during operation are 90 degrees offset. One rotor is thus horizontal when the other is vertical, a measure aimed at minimizing blade interactions causing tip-vortices related performance loss.

The Y-shaped floater incorporates a dual-mode single-point catenary mooring and rotatable yawing system for the full installation, eliminating turbine yaw systems. Individually controllable turbine rotor speed provides active yaw support to the otherwise mainly passive yaw system.

Scaling up a single-rotor SCDnezzy 7.5MW with unchanged specific power rating to 15MW, would according aerodyn have increased head mass by a factor 2.6 (instead of 2.0 with SCDnezzy2). Applying again 425W/ m2 gives 212-metre rotor diameter, and would result in around 30-metre higher centre of gravity for the single-rotor variant with unchanged wave clearance.

The combination of SCDnezzy2’s reduced head mass, lower centre of gravity, and additional benefits limits floater cost increment to 25 – 30 per cent compared to a reference SCDnezzy 7.5MW according aerodyn.

5MW INFLOW VERTICAL-AXIS CONCEPT The EU supported technology development and demonstration project INFLOW’s floating concept evolved into an unusual 5MW TWINFLOAT concept with two narrow interspaced twobladed contra-rotating verticalaxis Darrieus rotors. Such configuration under controlled conditions offers enhanced aerodynamic performance due to increased air flow rate through the rotors known as ‘coupled-vortex effect.’

Keeping TWINFLOAT’s coupled rotor plane always stable and ‘perfectly’ perpendicular to the prevailing wind directions under all operating conditions is a challenge but essential for optimal wind flow and performance. The project’s status is unknown.

15MW five-rotor concept Emeritus Prof. Friedrich Klinger of Germany’s Saarbrücken University of Applied Sciences, multi-rotor pioneer and leader of the INNOWIND wind research group in 2012 completed a feasibility study of a 15MW lightweight five-rotor concept. It comprises a three-legged lattice-type tower with the two left-and-right horizontal turbine levels and one central upper turbine.

Each turbine is rigidly mounted to the tower and a collective yaw system is at the tower base, eliminating individual turbine yaw systems. The donor turbines are 3MW direct drive Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.0-101 units with 101-metre rotor diameter (375W/ m2). Klinger and his team conducted total mass comparisons for two 15MW options, a scaled-up lightweight singlerotor SWT-3.0-101 and a multi-rotor turbine with five rotors, Table 1.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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....connecting markets MPI Offshore’s fleet of purpose-built offshore foundation and wind turbine installation vessels plus an experienced team make us a world leader in offshore wind installation.

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WE18_AZ_190x133mm_OffshoreWIND.indd 1

20.04.18 14:52

Table 1 Total mass comparison for three 15MW concepts Power rating [MW]

15

15

No. rotors

1

5

Rotor diameter(s) [m]

225

101

(Cumulative) nacelle mass [T]

1023

3501

Rotor mass including hub [T]

593

400

Tower type

Tubular steel

Lattice steel

Tower mass [T]

5000 – 6000

2000 – 3000

Total system mass [T]

6616 – 76163

2350 - 3350

1 = Turbine yaw systems skipped

2

Multi-rotor turbines can finally benefit from a ‘multiplier’ effect during scaling.

Fitting a three-rotor system with 7MW single-rotor turbines would already produce 21MW, and a four-rotor system with the latest 9MW+ units a striking 36MW+! Only time will tell whether such grand visions will become reality, with many practical questions left like on viable fast-track development paths for maximizing LCOE benefit and simultaneously limit developer risk perception and real risk.

2 = Follows similarity rules during scaling

Source: Entwurf Projectskizze Multiturbine; INNOWIND Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, 2012

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

41

Offshore and online:

connectivity at sea

For most people and companies Wi-Fi has become an utility like water or electricity.

But while at sea, connectivity can be a problem, not to mention a financial burden.

Bandwidth on a vessel is limited and a connection with a satellite costs money. The company Mr. James Connectivity, a division of Mr. James Offshore Services, came up with a solution for parts of the sea.

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By using existing infrastructure at sea, like wind parks, it is possible to set up a network that provides reliable Wi-Fi. “Because of our offshore experience we know the needs of our clients. We make existing techniques suitable for offshore requirements and apply them offshore. To realise this we partnered up with the company Stadia Connect.

They provided the Wi-Fi network at the stadium of Chelsea in London”, says Henri Korsten To show the possibilities, Korsten invited members of maritime industry to the Port of Antwerp for a special demonstration.

First John Todorovski from Stadia Connect gave a presentation on how WiFi is set up at a wind park. “Wind parks are already connected to the shore with a fiber connection. If you add a base station you can establish a network.”

Once connected, vessels can use the internet. In the audience there were several parties that were interested in the improvement of leisure time that connectivity can create. While cruise companies recently invested in contracts with communication satellite companies to make sure that the passengers are connected with friends and family at home or can watch the latest Netflix series, seamen have limited excess to the internet. “We noticed that access to the internet has become a basic need, also for those working at sea.”

such as installing wind turbines of a wind farm a lot of data is involved.

Using the Wi-Fi network, several workboats can have access and share those data files. This makes the work process more efficient and because everybody is using the same files, errors can be avoided.”

After the presentation, it was time to see the system working on the water.

The company charted a ‘Waterbus’, a ferry in the Port of Antwerp, that was available during a break. It proved how fast the system can be installed on a vessel. “Small vessels can be outfitted with our systems in a day. Bigger ships take a couple of days more.”

The Waterbus sailed a few kilometres on the river Schelde. On three locations on the quays transmission masts were set up to create a wireless network.

Because the transmission radius of the masts were overlapping, there was a strong Wi-Fi signal the complete journey. “This is how we want to do it at wind farms”, says Korsten. But also he aims at other markets like offshore construction, sea ports, ferry lines and marina’s.

At the moment the company is working with Huawei technologies, but Korsten points out that they are

“We noticed that access to the internet has become a basic need, also for those working at sea.”

platform and hardware independent.

“We concentrate on offering a solution that best fits your needs. In today’s maritime industry, creating, processing and analysing data is of significant importance. Till now, for various reasons it seemed impossible to establish a connectivity system that is stable, affordable and suitable for exchange of large data packages such as voice and video data. We are going to change that”, concludes Korsten.

Korsten points out that connectivity should have priority during the construction of a wind park. “As wind parks are built further offshore, personnel like engineers have to be accommodated on a vessel during the construction process. We see that accommodation vessels are getting more comfortable. Internet should be part of that package.”

There is another big advantage of establishing a Wi-Fi network in an early phase of a project. Using the network work vessels can communicate with each other. “With complicated projects

A GPS map of the Wi-Fi demonstration in the Port of Antwerp. The yellow dot is the Waterbus, the red dots the transmission masts on the quay.

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43

IN-DEPTH TECHTALK

Offshore mooring and anchoring technology

for floating wind

The Netherlands' based Vryhof Anchors has supplied about 90 per cent of all floating and mainly demonstration projects built with anchoring and mooring solutions since 2009.

Offshore Wind spoke with Projects Director Senol Ozmutlu on the importance of in-house marine know-how, experience and the science behind anchoring, and how lessons-learned benefit the company’s increasing focus at floating wind.

Moved towards deeper water and larger installations

When the Dutch company was founded in 1972, it concentrated initially on the dredging industry, but this application range quickly expanded into oil & gas platforms and offshore construction sectors. Vryhof has today supplied over 10500 anchors to the marine industry.

For floating wind, Ozmutlu expects rapid future technological and commercial progress towards pre-commercial and the first (modest) commercial-scale windfarms perhaps within two to four years. For instance, Hywind Scotland is already producing and can be considered a pre-commercial windfarm.

Patented in-house designs The wide range of Vryhof anchors developed during over 45 years commencing with the first Stevin®

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anchor model, and all successor products (Stevpris®, Stevshark®, and Stevmanta® series) are patented in-house designs. The company today increased its anchor portfolio by Dynamically Embedded Anchors (pile and plate anchors), gravity anchors, and suction piles. Ozmutlu: “Vryhof over the years became a mooring system EPC-contractor. Today we engineer, manage, and supply whatever it takes for a reliable mooring system including especially anchor points, mooring lines, connectors, tracking and monitoring devices. All our anchor products are manufactured in the Netherlands with Dutch specialist fabricators dedicated in meeting our quality and HSE requirements. Furthermore, our in-house experts always remained responsible for the highest product quality of whatever

left these third-party facilities. The development testing and validation of new anchors takes on average 3 – 5 years and typically involves Vryhof’s core design team, with dedicated support from colleagues whenever needed.”

Ozmutlu during the past decade devoted significant time and effort in development floating offshore systems out of interest with renewables, and Vryhof supported many early developers.

Floating wind involvement commenced with mooring systems supplied to Statoil’s Hywind Demo 2.3MW spar prototype in 2009, and Principle Power’s 2MW semi-submersible prototype a year later. The cumulative track record includes the prestigious Fukushima Forward demonstration project in Japan, comprising two Hitachi turbines of 2MW

and 5MW each, one 7MW hydraulic Mitsubishi turbine, and a floating 66kV substation. In addition, the first floating turbine in the US (VolturnUS), Japan’s Skwid wind/wave project, and several floating wave and tidal energy devices.

Non-Japanese Ozmutlu: “Prior to the first phase of Fukushima Forward we were called in by the developers. Their soil analysis had unexpectedly revealed much more difficult soil conditions at the various platform installation sites. These soils would be hard to penetrate with local anchoring technology, creating fear for projects costs. After in-house evaluation, we offered our dragembedded STEVSHARK® anchor for the project.”

Initially, one anchor was purchased and subjected to an extensive fullscale testing program, and Vryhof was selected to become the first and only non-Japanese hardware supplier for Fukushima Forward.

Elaborating further on this example, Ozmutlu showed a range of anchoring solutions from classic ship anchors, and their evolution towards hinge-type anchors still widely used in shipping.

He then pointed at various completely differently-looking Vryhof anchor designs and explained: “The oil & gas industry from the 1970s moved towards deeper water and larger installations, which led to a gradual switch from fixedbottom to floating production platforms, floating refinery and (temporary) storage facilities.

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Based on two elementary development philosophies.

Main problem of classic anchors in one-piece, as well as later developed hinged ship anchors is that they become unstable from above certain line tension and penetration depth mainly due to their unsuitable design geometry. That in turn created opportunities for new-generation anchors.”

Streamlined shape Since 1980s Vryhof started developing prismatic geometries, and introduced many different anchor models, characterised by wide flukes and V-shaped wide shanks. Most important he said is that the new-generation anchors (Stevpris®/Stevshark® range) offer a favourable high ratio between ultimate holding capacity (UHC) versus anchor weight. Also high structural strength, and quick deep anchor penetration performance within very short drag length.

Ozmutlu: “Their development was based on two elementary development philosophies. The first is reducing anchor resistance during penetration and consequently penetrate deep to obtain high holding capacity. Secondly, enlarge flukes to the maximum for mobilizing maximized soil resistance.

These efforts resulted in Stevpris® and Stevshark®) anchors with characteristic wide flukes, and for reducing fluke bending moments the shank is composed of two parts. Each widely spaced at the fluke side and gradually narrows towards the shackle connection.”

He added that the shank’s V-shape offers another added benefit: soil resistance is not only mobilised in the cable pulling direction, but also perpendicular to the large shank surfaces. And soil is

Catenary mooring

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compressed in forward and sideward directions, causing the shank to mobilize higher soil resistance and adding a downward directed load component to the anchor for enhanced penetration.

Straight-forward Installation and recovery of VRYHOF range of anchors is claimed easy and straight-forward. The anchors can be installed by using direct ‘bollard pull’ from an anchor handling vessel or tug. Alternatively, surface or subsea tensioning devices can be operated from tugs, offshore construction vessels or barges. Depending on installed anchor intended lifetime, permanent mooring systems must meet storm-related loads during 20 – 30-year design life, or days to several months with temporary mooring systems.

Ozmutlu: “Some anchor types are designed for efficient penetration in softer soils, like Stevpris® and Stevmanta®, while STEVSHARK® performs best in extreme hard and difficult to penetrate soils. We spent a lot of time and effort in optimising shank types and shapes.

The shark-teeth shaped shank bottom sections of STEVSHARK® for instance reinforces the breaking-up of soil layers and/or rock during penetration, whereas the open shank interconnecting structure promotes efficient ‘broken soil’ transport.

The latest Stevshark®REX for extremely challenging complex hard soils and rocky seabed conditions was introduced in May 2017.”

Vryhof provides full engineering support for its anchors geotechnical and structural design, following delivery of basic inputs on site and soil conditions, mooring design loads.

Taut-leg mooring

Catenary mooring For oil and gas exploration in shallow to deep water (~ 400m), catenary mooring is the cheapest most common solution.

This application involves a combination of ‘free-hanging’ chains, chain + wire-rope, or chain + fibre-rope combinations, with an orientation that gradually changes from a predefined pretension angle at the floater into horizontal at the anchoring point. Ozmutlu: “With this solution, the anchor is subjected to horizontal loads only. Number of mooring lines depends on floater type, size and application, but in practice 3, 6, 8, or 9, or 16 lines and 3 – 16 anchors. Typical mooring point types ranged by water depth (Catenary for shallow waters to Taut-leg for ultra-deep waters), illustration 1.”

In floating wind and current water depths, catenary mooring is deployed for semi-submersible floaters (i.e.

WindFloat, Fukushima Mirai, Fukushima Shimpuu, VolturnUS), spar-type ( i.e.

Hywind, and Fukushima Kizuna), and barge-type (i.e. Floatgen), with the first topologies boasting the highest track record experience. Many other floater concepts are in development. In generic terms, these can be grouped into semi-submersible, spar-type, bargetype, hybrid, and tension-leg designs.

Their specific mooring layouts can vary from multi-line-spread-moored to turret-moored to single-point mooring.

Ozmutlu: “We have dedicated anchoring solutions for all these variants depending on selected mooring line profile and from catenary to taut-leg type.”

accept horizontal and vertical loads and installed like a drag-embedment anchor with a tug applying a horizontal load to the mudline for obtaining the deepest penetration possible. By changing the anchor pulling point after installation completion, additional maximized vertical loading capacity of the plate is obtained.

Other potentially suitable anchor types are dynamically embedded pile or plate anchors, driven piles and suction piles, and all with their own price tag.

The third alternative is tension-leg mooring, initially developed to moor extremely large oil & gas platforms in very deep water, with a key characteristic the vertical cable arrangement requiring vertical-load anchors. Several floating turbine pioneers have opted for this solution, including Gicon SOF, SBM Offshore Wind Floater, Glosten Pelastar and Blue H Engineering. A typical mooring point solution is here suction buckets, but with alternatives gravity-based ‘dead-weight’, gravityinstalled drop anchors, driven piles, and STEVMANTA®VLA. Ozmutlu said that tension-leg platforms (TLP) has currently the lowest technology readiness in floating wind.

Cost comparison

Horizontal and vertical

On a realistic costing between these various anchoring options, Ozmutlu said: “Such comparison must consider material cost and offshore installation costs. Otherwise, misleading outcomes may result in nasty surprises during the offshore installation phase. Numerous such cost comparisons were done by Vryhof experts and third parties.”

With taut leg mooring, typically composed of fibre ropes like polyester or HMPE, or spiral-strand ropes with top and bottom chain or wire-rope segments, the anchor point is subjected to both high vertical and horizontal loads. Vryhof developed for such specific tension-leg type applications the STEVMANTA®VLA (= Vertical Load Anchor), an ingenious-looking device with a system of wires connected to a plate. This anchor is designed to

These cost comparisons were conducted for four main anchoring solutions, driven piles, suction piles, drag-embedment fluke anchors (i.e.

Stevpris®), and drag-embedment plate anchors like Stevmanta® VLA). The below comparisons include anchor costs including materials, and offshore installation costs of the same design including load capacity criteria, with main outcomes:

• A driven pile (material + installation cost) costs 6 to 7 times more than drag-embedment fluke anchors (i.e. Stevpris®) and is 5 - 6 times more expensive compared to dragembedment plate-anchors (i.e.

Stevmanat VLA); • Suction pile (material + installation cost) is 3 - 4 times more expensive than drag embedment fluke anchors, again like Stevpris®) and costs 2 - 3 times more set against drag-embedment plate anchors (i.e. Stevmanat®VLA).

Future vision Vryhof’s future vision on floating wind focuses at locations with water depths exceeding 50 – 60m -a likely maximum for bottom-fixed- and at specific shallow water locations. Here, bottomfixed designs typically face technical and commercial challenges due to difficult soil conditions. On the potential for anchoring cost reductions when entering commercial-scale windfarm developments with 6 – 10MW+ turbines, Ozmutlu added: “Increasing floater number, each with three mooring legs, from 1 to 250 could result in 30 – 40 per cent anchoring cost reduction. Doubling this with similar floaters and up to 500m water depths could increase these savings to 40 – 50 per cent.”

He finally estimates that additional cost reductions in the 5 – 20 per cent range are possible for other mooring elements plus their cumulative offshore installation expenses and again from single floaters to 250 units. Vryhof participates in several ongoing studies on optimization and industrialization of mooring systems through national and international joint industry and research projects like the EU Horizon 2020 programme.

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OEEC

Explore. Inspire.

Transform.

Guided by this year’s theme “Explore. Inspire. Transform.” the Offshore Energy conference caters to different target groups of energy professionals across the oil & gas, wind and marine energy industries. Delegates can expect three content packed days offering technical knowledge, business intelligence and networking with like-minded peers.

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Keynotes

Marine Energy Event

Offshore Energy 2018 brings four keynotes sessions, on Gas, Oil, Offshore WIND and Marine Energy.

The 4th annual Marine Energy Event provides an up-to-date market outlook for marine renewable energy projects – focusing on the latest developments in wave, tidal, ocean thermal, and salinity gradient power generation. Delegates can expect real world case studies from across the globe as well as insights into the drivers for investors and supply chain to become involved in marine energy projects.

Gas Event and Oil Event The Gas and Oil Keynotes are two new features at Offshore Energy. Both keynotes sessions will offer supply and demand forecasts, present hot regions for business and discuss the place of oil and gas in the overall energy mix.

Keynote speakers will address the most important strategic and commercial challenges associated with the current and future hydrocarbons industry.

Master classes The Master Classes bring together masters and young talents in the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy industry

for an informal exchange of ideas and experiences, both technical and non-technical. The Master Classes are meant for final year students, starters and young professionals with under six years work experience and holding a Bachelor or Master degree or studying for it.

Thematic sessions The thematic sessions address topics along the lifecycles of oil & gas fields and offshore renewables projects, from discovery and development to decommissioning. Sessions are combined with breakfast, lunch or tea across industries.

Offshore WIND Event The 9th annual Offshore WIND Event – previously known as Offshore WIND Conference – brings together the entire offshore wind value chain to discuss current and future wind farm developments. In addition to key project updates, topics include future-proofing business models for subsidy-free offshore wind, redesigning electricity markets for abundant offshore wind and solutions for storage

Offshore WIND Event brings together the entire offshore wind value chain to discuss current and future wind farm developments Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

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OFFSHOREBREEZES

powered by

Short news selection of hot topics from offshoreWIND.biz

SIF AND EWA SOLVING ASIAN FOUNDATION LOGISTICS CHALLENGES Dutch offshore foundations manufacturer Sif and Japan-based East Winds Asia (EWA) have developed a method to transport and store offshore wind foundations in Asian harbors which is said to eliminate the need for additional infrastructural investments. The method includes the foundations being transported on a semisubmersible ship, and once it arrives in a harbor, the cargo is unloaded and foundations are brought into the harbor on barges. The foundations can be picked up directly from the installation vessel with a crane without being stored in the harbor first.

Although offshore wind is becoming increasingly © Sif popular in Japan, Japanese and other Asian harbors are currently not equipped to deal with the large number of offshore wind foundations. There are just a handful of harbors that can carry the weights of foundations heavier than 1,000t without requiring significant adjustments and investments.respective continental shelf, or in the US in general.

Foundations & Towers

TAIWAN EXPECTING 5.5GW OF OFFSHORE WIND CONTRACTS Nine developers looking to build offshore wind farms in Taiwan have qualified for offshore environmental permits.

The developers, offering 10.5GW of offshore wind capacity in total, will now compete for 5.5GW of offshore wind contracts, 3.5GW to be selected for the feed-in-tariff (FIT) and the rest to be awarded at an auction in May. Four out of nine developers that now hold environmental permits are local and the rest are European developers, with some of the latter ones applying for multiple projects. The signing of the contracts is expected at the end of June.

© GE Renewable Energy

GE ANNOUNCES HALIADE-X 12 MW GE Renewable Energy will invest more than US$400M over the next three to five years to develop and deploy the largest, most powerful offshore wind turbine – the Haliade-X 12 MW. Featuring a 12MW direct drive generator and a capacity factor of 63%, the turbine will produce 45% more energy than any other offshore turbine available today. Designed and manufactured by LM Wind Power, the 107-meter-long blades will be the longest offshore blades to date. GE Renewable Energy aims to supply its first nacelle for demonstration in 2019 and ship the first Haliade-X units in 2021.

© Maersk Broker Associations & Governments

Turbines

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OFFSHOREBREEZES

MHI VESTAS SCORES TURBINE CONTRACTS IN TAIWAN

VAN OORD’S AEOLUS GETS NEW 1600T CRANE Heerema’s vessel Thialf installed the new 1,600t Huisman crane onboard Van Oord’s Aeolus at the end of February in Port of Rotterdam’s Calandkanaal, making the vessel ready to handle the latest generation of foundations and turbines for offshore wind projects. The leg encircling crane is built around the portside aft jack-up leg and the boom is stored around the forward leg, saving valuable deck space. The new crane can lift almost twice as much as Aeolus’ previous crane, while the modification also resulted in increased loading and accommodation capacity, as well as a helicopter deck. The upgraded Aeolus is expected to be ready for work as from spring.

© MHI Vestas MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has signed preferred supplier agreements in Taiwan with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and China Steel Corporation (CSC). Under the terms of the agreements, CIP and CSC will use the MHI Vestas 9MW wind turbine platform on three offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of up to 1.5GW. CIP acquired the three offshore wind sites under development off the Changhua County in May last year.

© Van Oord Installation Vessels

Turbines

US STATES OPPOSE TRUMP’S NEW OIL & GAS PLAN As the Trump Administration issued the draft proposal for the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program at the beginning of January, the move to make more than 90% of OCS available for oil and gas exploration and production saw opposition from several US coastal states, including those that want more renewable energy in their future. Of the 23 coastal states affected, US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received 30 comment letters in response to the RFI from governors and/or state agencies of 20 states.

Twelve of the 20 states requested exclusion and expressed their clear opposition to any new oil and gas leasing either off their coasts, in their region, respective continental shelf, or in the US in general.

© Deepwater Wind Associations & Governments

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ESB EYES TWO OFFSHORE WIND SITES IN IRELAND ESB-owned Hibernian Wind Power has applied for two investigative foreshore licenses, aiming to examine the feasibility of building a 500MW offshore wind farm (or wind farms) off Ireland’s East Coast.

The company announced a further investigation after a comprehensive assessment of the bluefield offshore wind potential in the Irish Sea, which resulted with the company selecting the preferred bluefield options to take forward for development consideration as prospective wind farm sites offshore Clogherhead and Kilmichael Point. The developer is now seeking foreshore licenses to carry out surveys and investigations for further assessment of the sites and soil, in order to acquire baseline data on wind resource, select © ESB optimum routes for the subsea cables, optimize wind farm layout design and finalize offshore foundation locations, etc. Wind resource would be measured for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years by using Seawatch Wind LiDAR buoys.

Company news

THE CARBON TRUST LAUNCHES BLUE PILOT The Carbon Trust has launched BLUE PILOT, a large-scale demonstration project aimed at reducing costs and underwater noise during construction of offshore wind farms as part of the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) program. The project, which will deploy The BLUE Hammer, a new type of pile driver developed by Fistuca BV, is expected to enable potential lifetime savings of up to €33 – 40M for a 720MW offshore wind farm, which is equal to an LCOE reduction of 0.9-1.2 EUR/MWh. The BLUE Hammer is expected to reduce underwater noise levels by up to 20dB (SEL), and potentially reduce the fatigue damage during installation on the pile by up to 90%. The BLUE PILOT project will see the installation of a full-size monopile offshore, using measurement equipment and sensors to validate the predicted noise levels and fatigue damage. The hammer will be tested at a location in Dutch waters during summer 2018, with Sif providing the monopile and Van Oord supporting the installation logistics.

© The Carbon Trust Foundations & Towers

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OFFSHOREBREEZES

ENBW ENTERS TAIWANESE OFFSHORE WIND MARKET Germany’s EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG has agreed to acquire 37.5% stakes in three offshore wind projects in Taiwan with a combined capacity of around 2GW, marking the company’s first investment into offshore wind outside Europe. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Cartel Authority, and if approved, the three projects will be owned by EnBW, Australia’s Macquarie Capital, and Taiwanese project developer Swancor Renewable. The new partnership will initially focus on securing grid connection capacity for the projects in the Changhua region. Under the agreed division of responsibilities, EnBW will take on most of the technical project development, and has, for this purpose, already provided its personnel on site in Taiwan for the joint team. A local skilled workforce will also be established, with employees trained and qualified by the German developer.

© EnBW

ØRSTED SIGNS NEW MOUS IN TAIWAN

© Ørsted

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Ørsted has signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in Taiwan in order to continue exchanging knowledge on offshore wind and developing the industry. The first MoU was signed with National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) forging business-academia links to ensure knowledge exchange on offshore wind and develop local talents in marine fields. NKUST will cover the fields of marine, industrial application and technology, and the first task for both sides includes working jointly to establish a master’s degree program in offshore wind, combining research and practice, with a goal to start enrollment in 2019.

In addition, Ørsted signed the agreements with Dragon Prince (a spin-off from Kaohsiung Marine University’s business incubator), Pan Formosa, and EGS Taiwan, respectively, to continue sharing offshore wind expertise and supporting these local businesses in developing technical capabilities and skills for geology surveys and geophysics to meet the standards required in offshore wind project development.

Company News

Company News

NEDO COMMITS TO CUTTING FLOATING WIND COSTS Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is set to begin the development of a new floating offshore wind turbine system, with an aim to lower the cost of energy by ¥20 per kWh (approx. €0.16 per kWh) after 2030. During the project, NEDO will conduct multiple activities aimed at reducing the cost of the system, such as conceptual design of a new integrated wind turbinetower-floater light-weight structure, adoption of two-blade turbine, studies on load mitigation in typhoon, wave tank model tests, and the evaluation of safety, reliability and feasibility of the system. In order to validate floating technology for future commercial floating wind farms that Japan wants to have installed by 2030, NEDO has also initiated a demonstration project that is due to enter the construction phase this year. The project involves two turbines, with a capacity of 3MW and 4.4MW, respectively, mounted on Ideol’s floating platform and installed off Kitakyushu.

© NEDO Associations & Governments

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SEAWIND DODGES BANKRUPTCY Following reports about wind energy technology developer Seawind filing for bankruptcy, the company’s Director for the Netherlands, Kees van de Kerk, pointed out that only the company in Norway is affected by this and that Seawind is now working on resolving the situation to enable moving forward with the demonstration project. What led the two-bladed wind turbine developer to file for bankruptcy is the request to have a certain amount of equity to be able to set up the demonstration project in Norway, and Seawind could not meet this requirement since all the investments made into the project have been spent and/or earmarked for its development. According to the company, all the employees are up-to-date with the current issues and have agreed to put in all their effort into bringing the 6.2MW demonstrator project in Norway to realization.

© ESB Company News

US OPENS UP NEW OFFSHORE WIND LEASE AREAS

© BOEM

US Department of Interior has announced the proposed lease sale for two additional areas offshore Massachusetts for commercial wind energy leasing, totaling nearly 390,000ha. The Proposed Sale Notice (PSN), published earlier in April, requests public comments on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) proposal to auction two lease areas offshore Massachusetts for potential commercial wind energy development. In addition, BOEM has published a call to obtain nominations from companies interested in commercial offshore wind energy leases within the proposed areas in the New York Bight. The four call areas, delineated as Fairways North, Fairways South, Hudson North and Hudson South, include 222 whole OCS blocks and 172 partial blocks and comprise approximately 2,047nm2.

Associations & Governments

SIEMENS GAMESA PRODUCES FIRST NACELLE IN CUXHAVEN Siemens Gamesa has completed the assembly of the first wind turbine nacelle in its offshore factory in Cuxhaven, Germany. The company’s team first put the backend (cabin), generator and rotor hub together, and then ran the final test of the nacelle. In Cuxhaven, Siemens Gamesa is producing nacelles for its 7MW direct-drive offshore wind turbines. The 75-meter rotor blades for these turbines are being manufactured at the company’s factory in Hull, UK. The two offshore manufacturing plants, as well as the project installation ports, will be connected by two specialized transport vessels and will operate according to Siemens Gamesa’s roll-on and roll-off logistics concept.

© Siemens Gamesa

Turbines

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

55

VATTENFALL WINS DUTCH ZERO SUBSIDY TENDER

ØRSTED PLACES FIRST MANUFACTURING ORDER IN TAIWAN

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has selected Vattenfall as the winning bidder in the country’s first non-subsidized offshore wind tender – the 700MW to 750MW Hollandse Kust Zuid I & II. According to the tender rules, the wind farm needs to be fully operational within five years after an irrevocable permit. Vattenfall will now make the final preparations for the project, including the design of the wind farm, continuation of the internal planning and finalizing the tender process for major components. © Ørsted

Ørsted has signed a contract with the Taiwan-based Century Wind Power (CWP) for the construction of a jacket foundation transition piece mock-up. This €2.5M contract is the first manufacturing order signed in Taiwan since the government dedicated efforts to developing the local supply chain for offshore wind. As a first step, CWP will do project management, procurement, fabrication and storage of the mock-up prior to the delivery which is scheduled for the second half of this year. This process is expected to enable CWP to be more mature and ready for full-scale fabrication of jacket foundations for the Taiwanese offshore wind market, including Ørsted’s Greater Changhua projects for which the two companies signed an agreement to collaborate on turbine foundation manufacturing.

© RVO.nl Associations & Governments

Foundations & Towers

FNEZ PREDICTS POLAND’S OFFSHORE WIND GROWTH Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Poland could have 4GW of installed offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea by the end of 2030 and 8GW by the end of 2035, according to the Foundation for Sustainable Energy (FNEZ). If built to the projected capacity, offshore wind farms could feed between 30 and 36TWh of electricity per year to the Polish grid from 2035 onward. According to FNEZ’s recent analyses as part of the Baltic Energy for Poland 2025 program, offshore energy can play a key role in ensuring energy security for the country in the period between 2025 to 2035 in conjunction with a parallel development of gas power sources at approximately 4GW and the construction of a transnational offshore grid interconnection with a 2-3GW capacity.

© FNEZ Associations & Governments

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ST3 OFFSHORE RECEIVES RESTRUCTURING PROGRAM CONFIRMATION ST3 Offshore has withdrawn the bankruptcy petition after receiving positive feedback from a District Court on its application to open restructuring proceedings.

The restructuring program, submitted by the company’s new management board, enables an implementation of a recovery plan and stabilization of the company. The MARS Closed-End Investment Fund has now acquired 80% of the company’s shares and gained full operational control of the company.

The company paid off 50% of claims while the court proceedings were still ongoing, while the full stabilization is expected to be achieved after entering © Seawind into arrangements with creditors. The restructuring will allow the company to settle all other outstanding debts according to terms and rules while enabling continuous operations, especially for the period between 2020-2030, when many wind farms investments in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are planned, including the construction of Polish wind farms.

Company news

SUBSEA 7 COMPLETES SIEM OFFSHORE CONTRACTORS BUY Subsea 7 has completed the acquisition of Siem Offshore Contractors (SOC), as well as cable lay vessel Siem Aimery and support vessel Siem Moxie. Subsea 7 and Siem Offshore Group signed an agreement for the acquisition of the entire share capital of SOC and the two vessels in early March.

The initial consideration was agreed at €140M, split between 90M for the vessels and 50M for the shares of SOC subject to usual adjustments for net cash and working capital. In addition, Subsea 7 is entitled to contingent consideration based on the volume of work for SOC from 2019 to the end of 2024, which is estimated to amount to between €25-40M over the period.

© Siem Offshore Contractors Company News

AD HOC MARINE DESIGNS REVEALS NEW W2W CTV

© Ad Hoc Marine Designs

Ad Hoc Marine Designs has introduced a new 41m Walk to Work (W2W) SWATH Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV), capable of being at sea for up to two weeks with 24 technicians onboard, accommodated in their own individual cabins.

The vessel designer said that the new SWATH CTV, which can also carry any combination of 4 ISO containers, gives operators a better alternative to ordering larger vessels, especially when servicing offshore wind farms built far at sea. The new vessel is based on the company’s Typhoon Class SWATH design that meets significant wave height requirements for future rounds of offshore wind farms in the UK. The CTV can run in Hs=3.5m sea heights and adopts the same philosophy of MCS SWATH 2 by going quad drive with four CAT 3512C engines rated at 1,678kW each, giving 25 knots.

Support Vessels

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

57

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Are you interested in attending and would you like to find out more on the plenary program and the companies you will be able to meet? You can find everything on the website: WWW.NORTHSEAOFFSHORE.COM

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EA S H T R O N E H T D N A N O I IT S N A R T Y G ENER NSO IS ORGANISED BY THE PORT OF DEN HELDER, DEN HELDER AIRPORT, HSV (NORTHSEA PORT & OFFSHORE ASSOCIATION) AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOORD-HOLLAND. NAVINGO B.V. PRODUCES THIS EVENT AS WELL AS THE OFFSHORE ENERGY EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE ON (22), 23 & 24 OCTOBER IN THE RAI AMSTERDAM.

WINDFARMUPDATES

EUROPEAN OFFSHORE WIND DEPLOYMENT CENTRE (EOWDC)/ABERDEEN BAY CAPACITY

93.2MW

TURBINES

11

FOUNDATIONS SUCTION BUCKET JACKETS SUBSTATIONS 0 The world’s most powerful single turbine has been installed at Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC). The turbine is the first of eleven to be deployed at the demonstration facility and is one of two turbines that have been enhanced with further internal power modes to generate more energy from the project. The two turbines have each increased from 8.4MW to 8.8MW and the installation represents the first time an 8.8MW model has been deployed commercially in the offshore wind industry. Together with the nine 8.4MW turbines, this boosts EOWDC’s output to 93.2MW. The installation of the first turbine came shortly after the first of the EOWDC’s suction bucket jacket foundations was installed in Aberdeen Bay. The EOWDC is the first offshore wind project to deploy

© Vattenfall

the suction bucket jackets at commercial scale and pairing them with the world’s most powerful turbines represents another industry first.

BEATRICE OFFSHORE WIND FARM CAPACITY 588MW TURBINES 84 FOUNDATIONS JACKETS SUBSTATIONS 2 The installation of the first out of two Offshore

UK

Transformer Modules (OTMs) for the Beatrice offshore wind farm was completed in February. The works included the OTM 1 topside being placed on its jacket foundation, which was installed shortly before. The 588MW offshore wind farm, being built

© Ørsted

in the Outer Moray Firth in Scotland, will comprise

WALNEY EXTENSION CAPACITY 659MW TURBINES 87

two Siemens OTMs and 84 Siemens Gamesa 7MW wind turbines, all mounted on jacket foundations.

The first turbines are expected to be installed this summer, with the wind farm scheduled to become fully operational in 2019.

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATIONS 2 The Walney Extension wind farm brought the total installed offshore wind capacity in UK waters to 7.5GW after Ørsted installed the ninth out of 47 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines at the offshore site. The wind farm is being constructed in two phases using turbine technology from two different manufacturers – MHI Vestas and Siemens Gamesa. MHI Vestas has already finished the installation of the first phase of the project with 40 of its 8MW turbines in place. Walney Extension, which is a sharedownership project between Ørsted (50%) and two Danish pension funds PFA (25%) and PKA (25%), is due for completion in the second half of this year. Once fully complete, the 659MW project will leapfrog London Array to become the world’s largest operational wind farm. © Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL)

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59

HYWIND SCOTLAND CAPACITY

30MW

TURBINES

5

FOUNDATIONS SPAR-TYPE FLOATING SUBSTATIONS 0 Hywind Scotland, the world’s first commercial-scale floating wind farm, performed better than expected in its first three full months of production.

The floating wind farm produced 65% of max theoretical capacity during November, December and January, while the typical capacity factor for a bottom fixed offshore wind farm is 45% to 60%.

The wind farm’s first encounter with harsh weather conditions was the hurricane Ophelia in October when wind speeds of 125km/h were recorded. These wind speeds were surpassed during Storm Caroline in early December when gusts of more than 160km/h and waves exceeding 8.2m were recorded. While the wind turbines shut down for safety reasons

© Statoil

during the worst of these winds, they automatically resumed operation promptly afterward. A pitch motion controller is integrated with the Hywind turbine’s control system which adjusts the angle of the turbine blades during heavy winds mitigating excessive motions of the structure.

HORNSEA PROJECT TWO CAPACITY

1.4GW

TURBINES

174

FOUNDATIONS UNKNOWN SUBSTATIONS 4 Ørsted has selected Siemens Gamesa as the exclusive supplier of wind turbines for the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm.

The project will deploy the SG 8.0-167 DD turbines with the 167m rotor. The nacelles will be produced at Siemens Gamesa’s new factory in Cuxhaven, Germany, while most of the blades will be made at the factory in Hull, UK, where the pre-assembly work will also be carried out. Towers are expected to be partly sourced from UK suppliers.

Most recently, Ørsted and Balfour Beatty broke ground on the onshore substation for the wind farm.

The Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm is © Siemens Gamesa

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

expected to be operational in 2022.

HORNSEA PROJECT THREE CAPACITY

UP TO 2.4GW

TURBINES

UP TO 300

FOUNDATIONS UNKNOWN SUBSTATIONS UNKNOWN

© : Ørsted

Ørsted has updated plans for the proposed Hornsea Project Three offshore wind farm due to feedback received through consultations, meetings and wider briefings with statutory bodies and interested parties.

The maximum number of turbines has been reduced from 342 to 300, while the construction phasing has been cut down from three to two phases, meaning that the maximum onshore construction period will be three years shorter.

The cable corridor width has been refined from 200m to 80m, while the onshore HVAC booster station, if required, will be constructed near Little Barningham, and the onshore substation will be constructed near Swardeston. Refined landfall zone, the area where the cables come onshore, has been refined to avoid crossing Kelling Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Oulton Airfield has been selected as the main construction compound. Five secondary compounds will also be required along the cable route to facilitate construction works in those areas, providing equipment storage and welfare facilities.

HORNSEA PROJECT ONE

UK

CAPACITY

1.2GW

TURBINES

174

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATIONS 4 Bladt Industries loaded out the offshore substation topside Z12 for the Hornsea Project One wind farm onto a barge on 11 April. Following the sail-out, the structure is destined to be installed at the offshore site some 120km off Yorkshire.

The topside is the first of three units to arrive at Bladt Industries’ facilities in Aalborg, Denmark, for Ørsted’s 1.2GW project. In addition, Spain-based Dragados Offshore sent off all four jacket foundations for the wind farm’s offshore substations at the beginning of April. A © Bladt Industries

month earlier, the first of the 174 transition pieces was installed at the offshore site. Once operational in 2020, Hornsea Project One will become the largest operating wind farm in the world.

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61

WINDFARMUPDATES

ARKONA CAPACITY

385MW

TURBINES

60

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

1

Seaway Heavy Lifting’s crane vessel Oleg Strashnov has installed the offshore substation topside on the Arkona offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. The 1,000t jacket foundation and the 4,000t topside were installed in water depths of 30m some 35km northeast of the island of Rugen.

©E.ON

E.ON and Statoil, the 50-50 owners of the wind farm, will jointly use the platform with the transmission grid operator 50Hertz. The unmanned substation will be run from the operating station in the Mukran Port in Sassnitz, while E.ON’s Offshore Marine Coordination Center in Hamburg will monitor and control the operation.

The next step in the wind farm’s construction phase is the laying of the inter-array cables.

Vroon’s VOS Stone already started delivering offshore logistics support and walk-to-work services at the wind farm, initially supporting VBMS inter-array cabling activities.

GE

The erection of the wind turbines will start in the late summer, while the complete commissioning of the wind farm is planned for 2019.

BARD OFFSHORE 1 CAPACITY

400MW

TURBINES

80

FOUNDATIONS TRIPILES SUBSTATION

1

The Bard Offshore 1 wind farm generated 1.488TWh of electricity in 2017, a 13% increase year-on-year.

The project was Germany’s most productive offshore wind farm last year, generating 8% of the country’s total offshore wind output of 18.3TWh in 2017. The power generated in 2017 was equivalent to the annual ©BARD Offshore

consumption of 430,000 average households in Germany. Inaugurated in 2013, Bard Offshore 1 is the first commercial offshore wind farm in Germany.

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

©Statoil

BAŁTYK RODKOWY III (BSIII) AND BAŁTYK RODKOWY II (BSII) CAPACITY 1.2GW TURBINES

UP TO 75 EACH

FOUNDATIONS UNKNOWN SUBSTATIONS UNKNOWN Statoil has signed an agreement with Polenergia to acquire a 50% interest in Bałtyk rodkowy III (BSIII) and Bałtyk rodkowy II (BSII), two early-phase offshore wind development projects in Poland.

The two companies are also entering into a 50/50 joint venture to further mature these projects with a planned combined capacity of 1.2GW, in which Statoil will act as the manager for the development, construction and operational phases.

The construction works on the 600MW BSIII are due to commence in 2019 the earliest, while it is expected to start delivering electricity to the grid in 2021 or 2022. The 600MW BSII is anticipated to be operational in 2026.

MERKUR CAPACITY

396MW

TURBINES

66

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

2

The first of the 66 GE HaliadeTM 150-6MW wind turbines was installed at the Merkur offshore wind farm in the German North Sea

POL

in March. The installation of the remaining 65 turbines is expected to be completed around September, while the commissioning activities will continue until the end of the year. ©Merkur Offshore GmbH

In the meantime, remaining nacelles, blades and tower pieces will be shipped to the Eemshaven logistics hub in the Netherlands until mid-summer 2018, where local teams will perform pre-assembly works. The 396MW project is scheduled to be fully operational in

BORKUM RIFFGRUND 2 CAPACITY

450MW

TURBINES

56

2019.

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES AND SUCTION BUCKET JACKETS SUBSTATION

1

Jan de Nul’s jack-up vessel Vole au vent installed the first complete monopile foundation on the Borkum Riffgrund 2 offshore wind farm in March. Ørsted’s 450MW wind farm will use two types of steel foundations, suction bucket jackets and monopiles. Jan de Nul is in charge of installing 36 monopile foundations at the offshore site in the German North Sea, while GeoSea will install the wind farm’s 20 suction bucket jacket foundations.

Located 54km off the coast of Lower Saxony, next to Borkum Riffgrund 1, Borkum Riffgrund 2 will comprise 56 MHI Vestas 8MW turbines expected to be fully commissioned in 2019.

©Ørsted

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63

BORSSELE III & IV

© TenneT

CAPACITY

740MW

TURBINES

93

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

2

Private market investment managers, Partners Group, has signed an agreement to join the Blauwwind consortium developing the Borssele III & IV offshore wind farms as an equity investor on behalf of its clients.

The agreement is the outcome of a planned assessment by consortium partners Shell, Diamond Generating Europe (DGE), a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, and Eneco Group on how to best fund the project.

Following the completion of the agreement, Partners Group will control a 45% share in the project, with Shell controlling a 20% stake, DGE a 15% stake, and Eneco and Van Oord a 10% stake each. Shell and Eneco Group will also each purchase half of the renewable electricity production of Borssele III & IV once operational. All five planned Borssele offshore wind projects are expected to be operational by 2023.

NL SEASTAR AND MERMAID CAPACITY

246MW EACH

TURBINES

58

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

2

BE Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has been chosen as the wind turbine supplier for the Seastar and Mermaid offshore wind projects in the Belgian North Sea. Subject to completion of the ongoing negotiations and regulatory approvals, the two projects will comprise 58 wind turbines, with a rotor diameter of 167m, mounted on monopile foundations and two offshore substations connected to ELIA’s Modular Offshore Grid.

Seastar and Mermaid are expected to enter the construction phase this year, while the turbines are scheduled to start producing energy from 2020. © Otary

64

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

DK

© Vattenfall

HORNS REV 3 CAPACITY

406MW

TURBINES

49

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

1

GeoSea’s heavy-lift jack-up vessel Innovation installed the 49th and final monopile on Vattenfall’s Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm in the Danish North Sea just after the New Year.

The vessel commenced the installation on the site north-west of Blåvands Huk in mid-October 2017. The next step, which is expected to begin by the end of spring, will be the installation of the transition pieces between the foundation and the turbine tower. After this, the installation of the towers can begin, followed by the installation of the MHI Vestas 8.3MW wind turbines.

The Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm is expected to be

KRIEGERS FLAK

fully operational by 2020.

CAPACITY

605MW

TURBINES

72

FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION

2

Jan de Nul installed two gravity-based foundations that will support the offshore substations at the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in February.

The foundations were shipped to Køge Harbor on a barge in January, where they were waiting for the right weather for installation. The installation of each foundation lasted approximately 10h.

The topsides are expected to be installed this summer.

Kriegers Flak consists of two sections, each with its own substation. Kriegers Flak A, the west section, will have a total capacity of 200MW. The east section, Kriegers Flak B, will have a total capacity of 400MW and will also serve as an interconnector between the Danish and the

© Jan de Nul

German grid.

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65

GREATER CHANGHUA CAPACITY

UP TO 2.4GW

TURBINES UNKNOWN FOUNDATIONS UNKNOWN SUBSTATION UNKNOWN Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration concluded the review process and approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Ørsted’s four offshore wind projects located off Changhua County in February. With the EIA approvals, the company has secured exclusivity over the development of the four sites.

©Ørsted (illustration)

The Greater Changhua projects are currently in the contracting process of the onshore substation EPC contract, with three Taiwanese companies in the final stage to bid. Once the grid capacity and permits are in place in the first half of this year, the EPC contract for the first onshore substation will be signed in the third

CHN

quarter.

Subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision, the construction of the first of the four offshore wind projects

TWN

could potentially start in 2019.

FORMOSA 1 PHASE 2 CAPACITY 120MW TURBINES 20 FOUNDATIONS MONOPILES SUBSTATION UNKNOWN Siemens Gamesa will supply an additional 120MW of capacity for the Formosa 1 Phase 2 offshore wind farm, with the installation of 20 SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines scheduled to start in 2019. In addition, a 15-year full-service agreement has also been signed and includes the provision of spare parts and tools to help ensure the reliability and optimal performance of the turbines.

The new contracts are subject to the wind farm’s final investment decision and financial close, which are expected later this year. They come one year after ©Siemens Gamesa (illustration)

the commissioning of the pioneering Formosa 1 Phase 1 featuring two Siemens Gamesa 4MW turbines.

Swancor Holding plans to secure the funds necessary for the full development of the Formosa I offshore wind project through financing deals with banks in the second quarter of 2018. The company intends to secure between TWD 16 and TWD 17 billion (EUR 443 to EUR 470 million) through the project financing agreements.

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Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

FUJIAN XINGHUA GULF DEMO PROJECT CAPACITY 73MW TURBINES 14 FOUNDATIONS UNKNOWN SUBSTATION UNKNOWN GE Renewable Energy installed the first out of three of its HaliadeTM 150-6MW offshore wind turbines at the Fujian Xinghua Gulf demo project in January, as part of

USA

the first construction phase of the wind farm. The commissioning works are scheduled to start shortly after the remaining two turbines have been installed.

The three nacelles and generators were manufactured at GE’s Offshore Wind facility in Saint-Nazaire, France, while the towers were built locally in Chengxi, and the blades were made in Denmark. GE is one of the several wind turbine suppliers to participate in the 73MW wind farm project which will comprise 14 wind turbines in total.

© GE

ATLANTIC CITY WIND FARM CAPACITY 24MW TURBINES 6 FOUNDATIONS JACKETS SUBSTATION 0

© Fishermen’s Energy

A bill which allows the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to reconsider Fishermen’s Energy’s Atlantic City Wind Farm project has cleared both houses of the State legislature. The regulators have 90 days to respond to the company’s amended application, which reportedly is to be submitted in May. EDF Renewable Energy recently entered into a preliminary agreement with Fishermen’s Energy to acquire the 24MW project. The initiative is a result of New Jersey’s goal of promoting the development of 3.5GW of offshore wind by 2030. The Atlantic City Wind Farm is a USD 200 million demonstration project comprising six Siemens 4MW turbines installed some three miles off the coast of Atlantic City.

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

67

BUSINESSDIRECTORY

Contractors

Cables & Components

OIL CONTROL SYSTEMS Vlotlaan 232 2681 TV Monster The Netherlands T +31 17 42 81 67 5 info@oilcontrolsystems.nl www.oilcontrolsystems.nl

VBMS P.O. Box 282 3350 AG Papendrecht The Netherlands T +31 78 641 7500 E info@vbms.com

JAN DE NUL GROUP 34-36 Parc d’activités Capellen 8308 Capellen Luxembourg T +35 23 98 91 1 info@jandenulgroup.com www.jandenul.com

NGC TRANSMISSION Nanjing High Speed Gear Manufacturing 30 Houjiao Road Jiangning District, Nanjing, China T +86 25 5217 2849 sales@NGCtransmission.com www.ngctransmission.com

GEOSEA NV Haven 1025 – Scheldedijk 30 2070 Zwijndrecht Belgium T +32 32 50 52 11 Info.geosea@deme-group.com www.deme-group.com/geosea

SWAN HUNTER (NE) LTD. Station Road, Wallsend, NE28 6EQ United Kingdom T +44 (0) 19 12 95 02 95 info@swanhunter.com www. swanhunter.com Finance

Consultancy & Inspections

VERWEIJ HOEBEE GROEP Marine Surveyors and Consulting Engineers Osdorper Ban 17 BC 1068 LD Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 61 07 26 0 info@verweij-hoebee.nl www.verweij-hoebee.nl

GUSTOMSC BV Karel Doormanweg 35 3115 JD Schiedam T +31 (0)10 28 83 00 0 info@gustomsc.com www.gustomsc.com

Installation Vessels

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

BALTIC TAUCHEREIUND BERGUNGSBETRIEB ROSTOCK GMBH Alter Hafen Sud 3 18069 Rostock Germany T +49 39 18 11 10 00 info@baltic-taucher.de www.baltic-tacher.de

ING BANK N.V. Bijlmerplein 888 P.O. Box 1800 1000 BV Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 (0)20 56 51 02 4 steven.evans@ingbank.com www.ingwb.com

HSE & Training

68

Engineering Companies

Contractors

C-VENTUS OFFSHORE WINDFARM SERVICES BV Havenkade 100a 1973 AM IJmuiden The Netherlands T +31 25 58 20 02 0 E-mail: info@c-ventus.com

Diving Operations

LONDON OFFSHORE CONSULTANTS LIMITED Ibex House 42-47 Minories London EC3N 1DY United Kingdom T +44 20 72 64 32 50 london@loc-group.com www.loc-group.com

VAN OORD OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS BV P.O. Box 458 4200 AL Gorinchem The Netherlands T +31 88 82 65 20 0 area.owp@vanoord.com www.vanoord.com

DELTA LLOYD Postbus 1000, 1000 BA Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 (0) 61 06 23 93 1 willem_schrijver@deltalloyd.nl www.deltalloyd.com

STC-KNRM Quarantaineweg 98 3089 KP Rotterdam – Heijplaat T +31 (0) 10 42 83 86 0 info@stc-knrm.nl www.stc-knrm.nl

A2SEA A/S Kongens Kvarter 51 7000 Fredericia Denmark T +45 75 92 82 11 a2sea@a2sea.com www.a2sea.com

Suppliers

MPI OFFSHORE Resolution House 18 Ellerbeck Court Stokesley Business Park Stokesley North Yorkshire TS9 5PT United Kingdom T +44 16 42 74 22 00 info@mpi-offshore.com www.mpi-offshore.com

Port & Logistics

SEAFOX P.O. Box 799 2130 AT Hoofddorp The Netherlands T +31 (0)23 55 41 31 3 info@seafox.com

TOS - ENERGY & MARITIME MANPOWER Waalhaven O.Z. 77 3087 BM Rotterdam The Netherlands T +31 10 43 66 39 3 info@tos.nl www.tos.nl

HOLLAND HYDRAULICS B.V. Binnenhavenstraat 14 7553 GJ Hengelo The Netherlands T +31 (0)74 291 78 48 info@holland-hydraulics.nl www.holland-hydraulics.nl

VROON OFFSHORE SERVICES Het Nieuwe Werk 88 1781 AK Den Helder The Netherlands T +31 22 36 73 80 0 info@nl.vroonoffshore.com www.vroonoffshore.com

AYOP Het Havengebouw De Ruijterkade 7 (13e etage) 1013 AA Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 62 73 70 6 info@ayop.com

Lifting Equipment

www.seajacks.com

PROTEA SP. Z O.O. Galaktyczna 30A 80-299 Gdansk Poland T +48 58 34 80 00 4 protea@protea.pl www.protea.pl

DAMEN SHIPYARDS GROUP P.O. Box 1 4200 AA Gorinchem The Netherlands T +31 18 36 39 91 1 info@damen.com www.damen.com

HUBEL MARINE B.V. Karel Doornmanweg 5 3115 JD Schiedam The Netherlands T +31 10 45 87 33 8 info@hubelmarine.com www.hubelmarine.com

Towers, Foundations, Substations

Personnel Services

IPS POWERFUL PEOPLE Rivium Boulevard 101 2909 LK Capelle aan den IJssel The Netherlands P +31 (0)88 447 94 85 M +31 (0)6 15 088 257 H.vanBurk@ipspowerfulpeople.com www.ipspowerfulpeople.com

Ship Builders

Offshore

ELA CONTAINER NEDERLAND B.V. Rouaanstraat 39 9723 CC Groningen The Netherlands T +31 50 31 82 24 7 info@ela-offshore.com www.ela-container.com

BLUE OFFSHORE Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië 191 2593 BN The Hague The Netherlands T: +31 70 711 3774 info@blueoffshore.com www.blueoffshore.com

NV PORT OF DEN HELDER Postbus 4058 1780 HB Den Helder T +31 (0) 22 36 18 48 1 www.portofdenhelder.eu

EEW SPECIAL PIPE CONTRUCTIONS GMBH Am Eisenwerk 1 18147 Rostock Germany T + 49 38 18 17 16 0 info@eewspc.de www.eewspc.de

SMULDERS Hoge Mauw 200 2370 Arendonk – Belgium info@smuldersgroup.com www.smulders.com

Offshore WIND | NO. 02 2018

69

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AWEA Windpower Chicago 7 - 10 May Conference & Exhibition Chicago, USA www.windpowerexpo.org

ICOE 12 - 14 June Conference & Exhibition Cherbourg, France www.seanergy-convention.com

Taiwan Offshore Wind Energy Summit 2018 15 – 16 May Conference & Exhibition Taipei, Taiwan www.neoventurecorp.com/events/ taiwanoffshore

SEPTEMBER

Global Offshore Wind 2018 19 - 20 June Conference & Exhibition Manchester, United Kingdom www.offshorewind2017.com

Wind Energy Hamburg 25 – 28 September Conference & Exhibition Hamburg, Germany www.windenergyhamburg.com

FWP Atlantic Forum 2 - 4 October Conference France www.fwp-atlanticforum.fr Offshore WIND Conference 2018 22 & 23 October Conference Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.offshorewindconference.biz Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (22), 23 & 24 October Conference & Exhibition Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.offshore-energy.biz

Seawork 3 - 5 July Exhibition & Conference Southampton, United Kingdom www.seawork.com

NOVEMBER

Windforce Conference 15 - 17 May Conference Bremen, Germany www.windforce.info/windforce2018

3rd US Offshore Wind Conference & Exhibition 7 - 8 June Conference & Exhibition Bosten, United States of America events.newenergyupdate.com/ offshore-wind

OCTOBER

JUNE

All Energy 2 - 3 May Conference & Exhibition Glasgow, United Kingdom www.all-energy.co.uk

JULY

MAY

EVENTSCALENDAR

Offshore B2B 8 - 9 November Matchmaking meetings Billund, Denmark https://offshoreenergy.dk/event/ offshore-b2b-2018

GET YOUR VESSEL INCLUDED The 5th edition of the Offshore WIND Vessel Directory will be published this year in July. The directory provides a useful overview reference book for builders, suppliers, operators, brokers and charterers within the industry and will be released at Seawork International 2018 in Southampton.

Advertise in an unique way and reach your target audience through the vessel directory and use the opportunity by promoting your company's products and services.

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EDITORIAL Rebecca van den Berge-McFedries | rm@navingo.com Coco Kossmann | ck@navingo.com Jaap Proost | jp@navingo.com Nadja Skopljak | nsk@navingo.com Dick Hill | dh@navingo.com Adrijana Buljan | abu@navingo.com Adnan Durakovic | adu@navingo.com Helen Hill Eize de Vries MARKETING Marleen Varekamp | mv@navingo.com

Damen Page 2 Deme/GeoSea Page 12 EEW Page 23 Enerpac Page 12 ICOE Page 4 Global Offshore WIND

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