Offshore WIND 01 February 2010

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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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010, www.offshorewind.biz

Magazine for THE OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY

Foreword by Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Offshore wind sector in need of purpose built vessels to meet political targets Vestas battles to gain significant part of offshore market Preparing for wind park safety

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EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE

For more information about participation or visiting Offshore Energy 2010 please contact Mrs. Annemieke den Otter, Event Manager, +31 10 2092606 or ao@navingo.com

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Foreword

Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands

In your hands you hold the first issue of a new magazine dedicated entirely to offshore wind energy.

Made in Holland, this international magazine provides an independent source of information in what is rapidly becoming an industry in its own right.

When I opened the first offshore wind farm in The Netherlands in 2007, I knew that those thirty-six wind turbines off the coast at Egmond aan Zee were only the beginning of clean offshore power generation. Offshore wind offers more than renewable energy. It is an international growth market creating new business opportunities and new jobs for thousands of people.

Offshore wind is indispensable in meeting the Dutch Government’s and European targets for renewable energy. Last Spring the Dutch Government incorporated an additional 500 MW investment in offshore wind in its economic stimulus package on top of the 450 MW originally foreseen for the present Government period 2007 – 2011. This decision illustrates our position that the economic downturn must not dilute the support for our sustainability targets. On the contrary, we, as well as other economies around the world, should emerge from the present financial crisis stronger than we were before!

I am committed to working towards 6,000 MW of installed capacity by the next decade. In order to make that happen, there is a need for a clear, consistent and effective policy framework which allows the industry to take their investment decisions. In this Government period we have established accessible procedures for licensing and subsidies. Last November I have made 4.5 billion Euros available for the financial support of the combined 950 MW offshore wind projects. We are now accepting applications for subsidies.

I am proud of the Dutch offshore industry and their capability to work on constructing, installing and operating offshore wind projects. With their skills and those of the industries in other countries we will be able to develop the great global potential of offshore wind.

The sea is a huge source for wind power. I wish the editors and readers every success in capitalising on that power!

Maria van der Hoeven Minister of Economic Affairs The Netherlands

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

DEN HELDER, THE NETHERLANDS WILLEMSOORD, 10.00h - 19.00h

OFFSHORE WIND | OFFSHORE SUPPLY | OFFSHORE CONTRACTING | OFFSHORE VESSELS

7 OCTOBER, 2010

OFFSHORE OIL & GAS | TRANSPORT & STORAGE | MARITIME SERVICES

MVY

+LHKSPUL

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CONTENTS Colofon

Editor’s Note

3 Foreword by Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Published by: Navingo BV

4 Contents & Colofon

Westerlaan 1 3016 CK Rotterdam

5 Editor’s Note

The Netherlands T +31 (0)10 20 92 600

6 Interview: Anders Søe-Jensen, president of Vestas Offshore

F +31 (0)10 43 68 134

Vestas battles to gain significant part of offshore market

info@offshorewind.biz www.offshorewind.biz

14 Offshore wind sector in need of purpose built vessels to meet political targets

www.navingo.com Editorial Team:

20 Safe steps on big waves -Access systems for larger and far offshore wind farms: Ampelmann and OAS

Paul Hazebroek Hans Buitelaar Gail van den Hanenberg Rian van Dijk

28 A day with… Falck-Nutec. Offshore wind Health & Safety training 32 Lessons Learnt: C-Power EWEA to teach the offshore wind sector to talk about what can be learnt

Contributing Consultant:

from projects at sea

Willem Schellingerhout

Country Update: The Netherlands

Sales

36

FLOW project

General sales: Sabine Lankhorst

40

Egmond aan Zee: Modification completed

info@offshorewind.biz UK contact: Dick Hill dh@navingo.com

WE P R O U D LY PRESENT

42 Yet a step closer to meet 2020 renewable target Belgium, Dutch and UK announcements

German contact: Sandra Strobl st@navingo.com

47 Column - European collaboration for offshore wind

Design: TANK denkt en ontwerpt bv

48 A pan-European electricity super highway : EWEA’s power grid plan

D e a r r e a d e r, a f r e s h s t a r t o f a n e w d e c a d e w i t h O f f s h o r e Wind, a new magazine entirely dedicated to offshore wind energy. The offshore wind industry is growing fast and it is about time this young and dynamic sector gets its own ‘platform’ for independent information and discussion. That is exactly what Offshore Wind aims to be: a high quality magazine for a new industry that is dealing with the extreme demanding environment of open sea. As such the magazine addresses itself to professionals in the entire offshore wind industry who, instead of patting themselves on the s h o u l d e r, s h o u l d r e a l i s e t h a t t h e s e c t o r s t i l l h a s t o overcome important barriers.

Printing: Drukkerij VNV Cover image: 5MW wind turbines are being placed by DEME for the C-Power project on the Thornton bank, 30km off the Belgian coast. © 2010 Navingo BV. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright owner.

While every care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, neither the publisher nor the editor are responsible

any inaccuracies in the articles.

About: Offshore Wind is a publication by Navingo BV, a multi media maritime company based in the Netherlands.

Offshore Wind is the first independent international magazine entirely dedicated to the offshore wind industry. The magazine provides its readers with news and background information on projects, research, legislation and companies and upcoming events.

Offshore Wind is published quarterly (in January, April, July and October) and is available by annual subscription at 79 Euros or 110 US dollars (+postage). For regular updates the printed magazine is supported by the online platform.

www.offshorewind.biz To subscribe to Offshore Wind visit our website www.offshorewind.biz or send subscription enquiries to: info@offshorewind.biz or by phone: +31 (0)102092600.

60 Events Calendar 62 Business Directory

Nevertheless, the outlook for the offshore wind sector at the beginning of 2010 seems bright.

Despite the meagre results of UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, confirming that the road towards a green and low carbon world economy is still long and winding, offshore wind energy is picking up speed in Europe and elsewhere in the world, especially in the US and China. In Europe the growth is strongly supported by the EU binding target of 20% renewables by 2020.

By then some 10.000 turbines (40GW) will turn the harsh sea winds of Northern European waters into clean sustainable energy. Early in January the sector already received a major boost when the UK government unveiled the winners of the Round 3 offshore wind tendering process. It kicked off a development push with a price tag of some 115 billion Euros (around US Dollars 165 billion) by 2020, and an energy payoff of around 25GW. At the moment Europe produces some 1,5GW from installed offshore wind farms. Apart from creating thousands of jobs, it is also expected to boost the share of offshore wind of the worldwide wind market (now only 1%). In the US a first offshore wind project, Cape Wind farm, is about to receive a go-ahead after the nine-year environmental dispute over building it. China’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, the 100MW Shanghai Donghai Bridge Offshore Wind Farm, is expected to be operational by May of this year. Both countries have huge offshore wind potentials and are expected to catch up with Europe soon due to favourable wind policies.

To make all of this happen, the offshore wind sector has to overcome some major hurdles. In this first volume of Offshore Wind the need for further standardisation and cost reduction is highlighted as well as the shortage of large scale installation vessels and of well trained crews. Also addressed is the importance of an integrated offshore power grid and the urgent cry for more willingness within the sector to talk openly about the lessons learnt at sea to prevent recurrence of errors that could damage the image of the entire industry. In the next editions of Offshore Wind we will go more into detail on the obstacles for efficient offshore wind development such as the future job market, the financial aspects of offshore wind development and the availability of ports and supply chain.

Moreover the magazine is supported by the online platform, www.offshorewind.biz to provide you with daily updates. For now we wish you lots of reading pleasure and we look forward to hear your feedback!

Editorial Team

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

for the views and opinions expressed in this publication or for

51 Offshore Breezes - news overview

Authorities & Industry bodies

- New name for BWEA: RenewableUK

Cabling and Grid connection

- The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative - Shortlists of firms announced to run UK offshore transmission links

- COBRA cable

- € 300 million for BritNed Interconnector

- Three new subcontractors for London Array

- Subocean awarded £42 million investment

Foundations

- MME gets onboard Offshore Wind Energy

Investment

- € 565 million for offshore wind energy projects

Ports facilities

- Great Yarmouth open for business

Turbines - AMSC Windtec™ and Dongfang Turbine Co. Ltd. to design and jointly develop 5 MW turbines

- Low Carbon Energy Demonstration fund

Vessels

- Drydocks World Southeast Asia Pte to build GustoMSC Wind Turbine Installation Vessel

- Lamprell Energy Ltd. and wind turbine installation vessels

- New ships to be build by Korean shipyard

- Blue Ocean builds giant TIV

Wind farm update

- Cape Wind

- Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2

- Lincs

- Rhyl Flats

- Walney

- Scarweather Sands

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The V112-3.0MW turbine,... ‘one more step towards Vestas becoming even more competitive in the offshore market’

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F

or some reason, the story that we withdrew from the offshore sector in 2007 has stuck, regardless of the fact that we have clearly been seen to be back in this market since February 2008

VESTAS BATTLES TO GAIN SIGNIFICANT PART OF OFFSHORE MARKET

When it comes to offshore wind, Vestas is not losing any time in convincing the sector that it plans to claim a significant part of this market. Less than two months after launching a new 3MW offshore-market machine, the Danish manufacturer unveiled a plan for a 6MW turbine for the same market. As t h i s n e w , l a r g e m a c h i n e i s ‘ u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t ’, V e s t a s ’ offshore president, Anders Søe-Jensen, in an interview with Offshore Wind, declines to give us any further technical details. But he stresses that the new giant will dramatically reduce the cost of energy compared to the cost of all known competing products.

TOO BIG TO HIDE Unveiling an incomplete project for a 6 MW offshore turbine does not correspond with this no nonsense approach. Søe-Jensen: ‘Of course you can question why Vestas’offshore president, Anders Søe-Jensen, ... ‘I’m selling turbines, which means I can compete’

we are releasing two offshore wind turbines on top of one another. The V112-3 MW was launched in September last year because it made sense to do so then, and the 6 MW machine is actually being released earlier than we normally would have done. But it is so big that we can not simply hide it while we are working on it.

Rumours would have started and we wanted to avoid that.’ Indeed, some rumours were doing the rounds earlier, claiming that Vestas was working on a new offshore turbine based on a 4 MW+ former model by NEG Micon, the Danish turbine manufacturer that the company took over in 2004. By launching the plan for a 6 MW turbine at an early stage, Vestas is said to be wanting to steal a march on its direct rival, the German turbine manufacturer, Siemens, which is thought to be developing a 5 MW offshore machine.

One thing is certain, by going public with the 6 MW turbine project at this early stage, Vestas instantly exempt itself from the persistent uncertainty in the industry concerning whether the Danish manufacturer is really back in the offshore wind market. Even at the EWEA offshore wind conference in Stockholm in September last year, Søe-Jensen was plagued by questions of this kind. ‘For some reason, the story that we withdrew from the offshore sector in 2007 has stuck, regardless of the fact that we have clearly been seen to be back in this market since February 2008,’ the somewhat put out Vestas’ offshore president explained to Offshore Wind, calling the launch of the V112 a ‘milestone’ for the company. ‘This new machine is one

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Anders Søe-Jensen is a man of few words. ‘Thank you, sir’ he answers briefly when we congratulate him on the ambitious 6 MW offshore turbine-project. But he immediately makes clear that the plan is at the top of Vestas’ agenda: ‘It has been under development for a while, and you can be certain that our 1400 engineers are not just sitting on their hands.’ When the plan for the new turbine was unveiled on 27th October last year, along with the 2009 third quarter results, Vestas’ chief executive, Ditlev Engel, stressed that the venture is part of a strategy called ‘triple 15’; the goal is to have an earnings margin of 15% (Ebit) and a revenue of 15 billion Euros by 2015.

As he explains later on in the interview, instead of projects that are still in the pipeline, the Vestas’ offshore president prefers to talk about tangible results, such as concrete orders for his machines. Of course, he mentions the many ‘love letters’ the manufacturer gets in the sector, like MOUs, LOIs and the so-called ‘frame work agreements’. ‘Love letters are nice to get, but they do not put food on the table. They are nothing more than an intention to do something. But Vestas only makes announcements when things are certain, such as firm and unconditional orders.’

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All images courtesy of Vestas Wind Power A/S.

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more step towards Vestas becoming even more competitive in the offshore market’, Søe-Jensen underlined, ‘and we do not intend to stop here. We are in the offshore market for the long run, and will have even more to reveal within the coming months,’ indicating that something really big was already in the pipeline. Indeed, to emphasise its comeback in the offshore wind industry, in September Vestas also

Vattenfall, one of the biggest players in wind energy, choosing Vestas again.‘ Still, at that time CEO Ditlev Engel did not appear to be convinced of the potential of the offshore market, stating that: ‘Offshore is a niche. Looking ahead, it will basically be onshore’.

Søe-Jensen now tries to put the words of his boss into perspective: ‘When Mr. Engel said that two years ago, it might

about the new giant, the Dane becomes less talkative: ‘The machine has been under development for a while, but I am not going to give you a timetable telling you exactly when a prototype will be ready, or when it will be commercially launched.’

According to persistent rumours, it will be a direct drive turbine, but again SøeJensen declines to comment: ‘I can not reveal that now, it is too early to tell my

TOO BIG TO HIDE Manufacturing of blades for Vestas wind turbines in Lem, Denmark Vestas offshore wind turbine in UK waters

announced that it had started a programme with the Norwegian research institute Nowitech on floating foundations suitable for water depths of more than 30 meters.

PAINSTAKING AFFAIR

competitors about it.’

So far as gearless turbine designs are concerned, Siemens, after its take-over of direct drive (DD) specialist Bonus Energy in 2004, installed two DD ’concept’ 3.6MW machines in Western Denmark in 2008. Through testing for a minimum of two years, the German manufacturer hopes to discover whether DD-technology is able to compete with geared machines for large turbines. As a gearless system means fewer moving parts and, therefore, less maintenance, Siemens regards DDtechnology as especially attractive for the offshore sector. Other manufacturers like Clipper, Deawoo/DeWind, GE/Scanwind, Samsung and XEMC/Darwind think the same. But Vestas still seems to be keeping all options open. Søe-Jensen: ‘We are the only major turbine supplier that is focussing on nothing else but wind energy, so of course we are always scouring the market to see what options there are.’ Manufacturers like Bard, Multibrid and REpower already fabricate 5 MW offshore wind turbines, but all these are geared machines.

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Continuous gearbox problems with the 3MW V90 offshore model prompted Vestas to temporarily withdraw from the offshore market in early 2007. ‘For a new organisation which was watching a market blossom around us, it was a painstaking affair,’ Søe-Jensen later declared.

He had been recruited by Vestas in 2006 to run the new offshore wind business unit, but when it was hampered by faulty gearboxes, the company did not sign off.

Instead, it redesigned this complex piece of machinery and put the offshore version of the V90 back on sale in May 2008. An order for 100 of these rejuvenated units from Vattenfall for its Thanet wind farm, which is now under construction in the Thames estuary, brought the Danish manufacturer back into the offshore market. Søe-Jensen said at the time: ‘The order really is a sign of voter confidence with a customer like

have been true given the fact that if you looked at the wind industry at that time, wind power was providing only 1% of global electricity consumption. And of that tiny share, offshore wind was again only good for 1%. But looking forwards, we now expect wind power to provide 10% of the electricity that the world will consume in 2020. In Europe that might even be 20%, with offshore wind taking 15-25% of that cake, because a lot of politicians in countries in the EU now see offshore wind as the salvation for nimby-ism. So offshore wind will be a significant market.’

As Vestas now has three offshore wind turbines on the shelves (the offshore versions of the V80,V90, and the V112) and the 6 MW turbine in the pipeline, the Danish manufacturer likes to reconfirm that it is fully equipped to withstand the competition in the marine market.

‘Vestas is sending out a very strong message to the offshore community that we are in this industry to stay. There is complete focus from us. We want this,’ Søe-Jensen stressed in his interview with Offshore Wind after the 6MW machineproject was unveiled on 27th October last year. Asked for more technical details

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TURBINES AND SHIPS One thing Søe-Jensen is certain of is that offshore wind turbines should be built much more like ships are. ‘If you have a ship engine, even if it is as tall as a house, if it breaks down you can still take it out in small pieces with internal equipment and repair it on the spot. The same philosophy must be applied to offshore

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NECK-AND-NECK RACE When Vestas was tormented by gearboxproblems in 2007, Siemens took the lead in the offshore market with its successful 3.6MW-107 turbine. Like Vestas, this German turbine manufacturer is now also involved in producing a pilot for floating wind turbines (the Hywind project). And in their neck-and-neck

installed more offshore turbines than we have. That is ok when you consider that with the V90 we stepped out of the offshore business for a full year. But now we are back. What percentage of the offshore market we want to take, I am not going to tell you.

We have never announced a market share target for our offshore business.

But what I am saying is that we will

Manufacturing of nacelles for Vestas wind turbines in Ringkøbing, Denmark

‘ For me it’s also of great

concern that we have the entire supply chain with us’

race, Siemens, like Vestas, launched a new offshore machine, the 3.6 MW-120, at the EWEA Stockholm conference in September. Two prototypes of this new turbine were installed near Copenhagen just in time for the UN climate summit in December, while the first V112 turbines will be installed in late 2010. Vestas was, therefore, only able to offer delegations arriving at the conference a glance at its refitted V90 offshore model, of which seven units were rapidly installed last autumn near the Storebelt-bridge on the way to the Danish capital.

With an overall market share of almost 21% in 2008, Vestas can still call itself the world leader in the wind industry.

However, Søe-Jensen recognises that this share has shrunk considerably in the last few years because of growing competition and new Chinese manufacturers entering the market (according to Make Consulting of Denmark, Vestas’ overall market share in 2004 was 34%). In the offshore sector, with over 400 marine turbines installed, the company had an accumulated market share of 51 percent by the end of 2008. Søe-Jensen suggests, however, that Vestas Offshore has been overtaken by Siemens in 2009: ‘The fact is, if you look at the installed base today, Siemens has

reclaim a significant part of that market.’

TSAG-TSAG-TSAG Asked for his vision of the offshore wind sector overall, Søe-Jensen stresses that the industry has to move up to a higher level if it wants to meet the European Commission’s 20/20 target. Søe-Jensen: ‘We are talking about an industry that is between five and seven years old and has been moving at a breathtaking pace.

However, the sector is still very much at the beginning of the learning curve. We must bring costs down. This means serial production of turbines, better financing, lower costs of energy and more business plan certainty for our customers. Basically it is all about the industrialisation of the sector. For me it is also of great concern that we have the entire supply chain with us. Because do not forget that in offshore terms, the turbine itself is less than 50% of total costs. You have also the substructures, the cables, and the capacity and know how about how to install. I am certain we are going to see some new installation methods coming in, making the process more tsag-tsagtsag, automated production. But for this to become a reality, we need many more

Offshore wind farm Kentish Flats, UK, with 30 V90-3.0MW turbines

qualified people who can execute wind farm projects successfully, and who really know about offshore construction and multi-contract handling. At the moment there are very, very few experienced players in the field. Of course, there are contractors who already have the know-how, but if the expected takeoff for the sector really happens and the number of projects increases, there will still be a shortage of what I call brainpower. If, for example, a new installation vessel comes sailing in, but the owner doesn’t know how to operate it properly, it is good for nothing. But that is more or less the situation right now as I see it.’

CHINESE TAKEOVER Vestas itself is also in need of more ‘arms, legs and brains’, as Søe-Jensen puts it. The manufacturer is aiming to recruit 600 extra R&D employees for its existing R&D centres in Denmark, Germany, the US, Singapore and India, and for the R&D facility that is now being set up on the Isle of Wright in the South of England. This facility is

replacing the blade factory that Vestas had on the island but which it closed in March 2009 because ‘of a lack of political action in certain markets’ (read nimby-ism by local politicians). The new facility will be used for the development of large rotor blades and for testing prototypes for the offshore sector. Søe-Jensen: ‘Development is key for us as well for our competitors. If we do not keep up with our R&D efforts, we will certainly be taken over by China.’

With its long term goal to supply ‘North-America from the USA’, ‘Europe from Europe’ and ‘Asia from Asia’, Vestas is currently building new factories in China, as well as in the US. ‘Vestas has been in China since 1968, and we are now by far the biggest foreign supplier,’ Søe-Jensen underlines, adding that the company can also supply locally produced offshore wind turbines in China. Indeed, in November near the city of Shanghai, where five months earlier Vestas was the lead sponsor of the Offshore Wind China 2009 Conference, the Danish manufacturer opened its own foundry in Xuzhou. The

suggestion that the factory for the production of the planned 6MW offshore turbine will also open its doors in China is described as pure speculation by Soe Jensen. ‘It is an option. We are talking about 750GW potential offshore wind in China. But right now I can not say whether this factory will be built in Asia, Europe or the US.’ Vestas’ rival, Siemens, is only now entering the Chinese market. But the German manufacturer is optimistic about its growth perspective, underlining that it has an advantage over its competitors in the offshore wind sector while, as a large industrial group, it also has the ability to connect wind farms to the power grid. But that claim does not seem to impress Søe-Jensen: ‘That is not necessarily true.

Just look at the facts. I am still selling turbines, which means I can compete.’

Paul Hazebroek

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

wind turbines, so that you do not need expensive crane ships to bring a turbine ashore.’ He goes on: ‘You do not run a ship to fail either,’ he adds. ’You maintain it on a preventive basis. The same applies to offshore wind turbines. To meet political ambitions, the sector must provide much more reliable marine turbines that are more easily available.’ In its control centre in Denmark, Vestas is monitoring some 13,000 turbines online, enabling controllers to predict whether a component should be replaced or not.

Søe-Jensen: ‘The thing about offshore is that you have to remain closely involved to prevent turbines from breaking down at the moment you start to make money, i.e. when the wind starts to blow. With the waves picking up as well, repairs then become very expensive because you have to send in a repair crew by helicopter.’

What the average availability of Vestas’ offshore wind turbines is, Søe-Jensen says he cannot tell us: ‘For the simple reason that we operate wind farms that belong to customers with whom we have confidentially agreements. He does, however, refer to Vattenfall, which as one of Vestas’ main offshore clients, mentions on its website an availability of 97%: ‘I think that is very good’.

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‘ The sector needs a stable market in which the industry can look ahead for at least five years, and with four to six offshore wind projects a year.’

OFFSHORE WIND SECTOR IN NEED OF P U R P O S E B U I LT VESSELS TO MEET POLITICAL TARGETS Resolution, delivered in early 2004 as the worlds’ first self-elevating turbine installation vessel

The process of installing offshore wind farms still looks very much like there is a regatta in progress, with all sorts of vessels being used which are not really suitable for the task in h a n d . S o f a r, t h i s ‘ o f f t h e c u f f’ a p p r o a c h t o getting things done has worked. But if the offshore wind industry is to meet the ambitious targets that European governments and ‘ B r u s s e l s ’ h a v e s e t f o r t h e s e c t o r, i t i s i n u r g e n t need of a whole range of large, purpose built installation vessels.

Courtesy of MPI Offshore

48 WEATHER WINDOWS

‘We need to get bigger to become better at installation’ managing director Aidan Cronin of Merchant Green recently told an audience of offshore wind experts. ‘Even today projects are one-offs, which makes it very difficult to assess the risks and the costs,’ the Danish consultant stressed when explaining why contractors are hesitant about investing in dedicated large vessels. A steady flow of offshore work is essential for the sector to professionalise and become more efficient, and until now this has not been possible. For years, ‘offshore wind’ hasn’t been happening as quickly as expected, mainly because of indecisive governments. He added: ‘The sector needs a stable market in which the industry can look ahead for at least five years, and with four to six offshore wind projects a year.’

But since December 2008, when the European Union agreed on a binding target of 20% renewable energy by 2020, the future for the sector looks a lot brighter. Governments of North Sea countries in particular now seem to be convinced that only by making offshore wind farms possible on a large scale can the 20/20 target be met. The next stage is translating this new political resolve into a willingness within the offshore wind industry to invest in new, purpose built boats, and Cronin expects that by 2012 the sector will have at least five larger, dedicated installation vessels. He also foresees that in the years which follow, this fleet will expand to 25 vessels. The Resolution, owned by Dutch Group MPI Vroon, is one of the few custom built offshore wind installation vessel capable of working in water deeper than 30m.

Henrik Lynderup, head of Siemens Wind Power’s technology

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Many of the installation vessels that are currently being used in the offshore wind sector are actually either too small, or barely have enough lifting capacity, or are not as stable as they need to be. In these conditions, contractors need all of their ingenuity to get the job done. But despite their admirable talent for improvisation, the installation process is often hampered by the inefficiency of this hotchpotch armada.

Other boats, such as some of the heavy lift crane vessels that are available, were built for the oil & gas sector and are, therefore, too large and un-necessarily ‘gold-plated’ for the offshore wind business, resulting in excessive day rates.

A good example of what is called the regatta model in the sector is the Thornton Bank wind farm-project near the coast of Belgium. As many as 48 different types of vessels, including several jack-up platforms and the shear legs crane, Rambiz, were involved during the first phase of this project, which involved the installation of six gravity-based Repower 5 MW turbines in 12-27m deep waters, 28km off the coast near Ostend. ‘This required huge planning because each and every vessel has its own specific weather window in which it can operate,’ general director Filip Martens of the operator, C-Power, recently explained during a case study-session. He continued: ‘Every 4 hours we received new weather forecasts which influenced the whole cascade of the development at sea.

Sometimes, taking into account the daily rate of the vessels, we had to change our overall project planning’.

BIG AND FAST

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and engineering unit, also sees room for substantial improvement on offshore installation sites: ‘Siemens, as a turbine manufacturer today, is limited by the capabilities of the vessels in the market. It isn’t possible to assemble more of the turbine onshore because the vessels cannot handle these bigger structures. For the future we see further cost reductions of 10 to 20 percent, depending on how far we can go with assemblage onshore.’

According to Lynderup, the solution to having to handle more projects per year is simple: ‘We have to do our work faster.

EXTREMELY DEMANDING In its report ‘Oceans of Opportunity’, the EWEA confirms that with only 1.5 GW installed, the offshore wind sector today is still very much in its infancy, with each project having its own procedure. Yet according to the survey presented in September at the 2009 European Offshore Wind Conference in Stockholm, the sector will soon leave the ‘demonstration phase’ and enter a period of strong industrial growth: ‘In the coming years, the main focus will be on standardising the installation processes

Bard Engineering’ brand new installation vessel Wind Lift 1 ‘stretching its ‘legs’

T H E O F F S H O R E W I N D S E C T O R W I L L S H O R T LY L E A V E T H E ‘ D E M O N S T R AT I O N P H A S E ’ T O E N T E R A P H A S E O F S T R O N G INDUSTRIAL GROWTH: ‘IN THE COMING YEARS, THE MAIN FOCUS W I L L B E O N S TA N D A R D I S I N G T H E I N S TA L L AT I O N P R O C E S S E S S A N D D E V E L O P I N G D E D I C AT E D O F F S H O R E T U R B I N E S F R O M A D E D I C AT E D S U P P LY C H A I N , J U S T A S I T W A S F O R O N S H O R E W I N D 1 5 Y E A R S A G O .’

A2SEA’s Sea Power in action, Siemens press picture

Therefore, we need equipment capable of working the whole year round instead of only from March to October. That would optimise the economy of the whole project and would give us a better utilisation of equipment and manpower. Looking at the North Sea market we need big and fast vessels with a reach of some 350 nautical miles and capable of loading a lot of turbines.’

Many other experts in the sector share this vision. They all believe that offshore wind farms will become larger and be built further out at sea with bigger and heavier components. Most of the European projects will be installed in water that is 30-40 metres deep. There is a strong belief in the market that self-elevating vessels/platforms are best suited for operating in these waters, offering a large and stable work platform for the job of turbine installation.

As speed counts when it comes to the installation of turbines, especially in view of weather window restrictions, the cruising speed of the new vessels is also seen as an important factor.

The same applies to the jacking system capacity and speed and crane capacity and outreach. Yet there is still disagreement about the type, size and number of crafts that will emerge from the drawing board. A general belief is that the ideal vessel does not exist, and that the usability of a boat varies per project, depending on the size of the turbines and foundations, water depth, distance to the shore, and the installation strategy.

Contractors in particular need to make up their minds about whether they would invest in large, self-propelled multiple jack-up vessels or plump for the option of a high speed feeder vessel combined with a jack-up platform.

and developing dedicated offshore turbines from a dedicated supply chain, just as it was for onshore wind 15 years ago.’

The EWEA calls the availability of purpose built installation vessels a critical factor if its market vision for Europe, the installation of 10,000 offshore wind turbines (40 GW) by 2020, is to come true. According to the organisation, to increase the number of days of operation from an estimated 180 a year to 260-290, such vessels must be able to install offshore wind farms in medium water depths (30-40m and beyond) and operate in harsh conditions.

Compared to the oil and gas sector, the EWEA describes the installation processes for the offshore wind industry as ‘extremely demanding’ because of the greater number of operational days and the repetitive installation processes. ‘Many installation vessels that are now being used in the sector are not ideal for such conditions. Their equipment is often not up-to-date as most up-to-date vessels are booked by the oil and gas industry’.

So far as the types of vessels that will be needed are concerned, the EWEA distinguishes three strategies for the development of future offshore wind farms: the pre-assembly of turbines in the harbour (turbine components are shipped to the local construction port), manufacture and pre-assembly in the harbour, and assembly offshore. In this latter case, a feeder vessel shuttles from the manufacturing site to a jack-up platform at the wind farm site, whereas in the first two examples, a high speed jack-up vessel shuttles from the construction port to the wind farm.

Like Siemens, the EWEA believes that most of the offshore assembly should be done on land to avoid the sensitive and time consuming element of the lifting operation at sea. To ensure

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

A C C O R D I N G T O T H E R E P O R T W I T H 1 . 5 G W I N S TA L L E D T O D AY,

Wind Turbine Shuttle concept by Huisman

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that this ‘one lift’ concept of fully erected turbines becomes the reality, the organisation stresses that the offshore wind industry should be located near to harbours in order to optimise an operation and reduce costs. A showcase from this perspective is Bremerhaven. Focussing on offshore wind energy since the early 2000s, this German port now has accommodation for two offshore wind turbine manufacturers (REpower and Multibrid).

Yet, as the EWEA underlines, at least two or three more of these logistical centres need to be created in the region.

OSK - Ship Tech A/S vessel design for GAOH Offshore Ltd.

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vessels lack sufficient finance to be built. Banks are increasingly reluctant to take risks because of the financial crisis. To ensure that investors do come across on time, the EWEA is putting pressure on the European Investment Bank to take the necessary measures to support the risk related to these significant investments.

Because of the difficulty in getting these very large-scale vessels financed, some market researchers believe that parties will prefer to invest in ships of a more modest size. ‘Two vessels of Blue Ocean Ships multiple carrier concept

SUFFICIENT INSTALLATION CAPACITY WILL BE IN THE MARKET AROUND 2013-2014

RELUCTANT BANKS

Despite the EWEA’s attempt to speed up investments, New Energy Finance doubts whether the new large scale vessels will come to the market on time. The London based consultancy forecasts a shortage of installation capacity after 2011. However, like Merchant Green, the Danish company, MAKE Consulting, foresees that sufficient installation capacity will be in the market around 2013-2014. The fact is that MPI Vroon has ordered two larger GustoMSC design installation vessels (Discovery and Adventure) that the Chinese shipyard, Cosco Nantong, will deliver in 2011. Beluga Hochtief Offshore is also developing some next generation installation ships. According to this German joint venture, the first vessel of this new type will be launched in 2012. The German utility, RWE Innogy, has plans to order at least two installation vessels (Schiffko design) of its own, following the example of DONG, which took over A2SEA in June 2009. And finally, Bard Engineering took delivery of its own GustoMSC designed vessel, Wind Lift 1 last year. Other vessel developers like Gaoh, Blue Ocean Ships and IHC Merwede also expect to announce orders this year.

Courtesy of Eneco

There are also some different concepts for future heavy foundation vessels. For the transportation and installation of concrete foundations in particular, there are the options of either a relatively simple unmanned barge or a self-propelled dumb vessel. An example of the first kind is BMT Nigel Gee’s design of a towed barge that can carry and install a 3500 ton structure by remote control. The French group, Saipem, has embarked on the other option with the design of the Castoro Vento. This self-propelled float-over device, with a maximum payload of 7500 tons, is designed for the installation of a complete turbine with its support structure in one sequence.

The support structure may be concrete gravity bases, steel tripods, or jackets, depending on water depth and soil conditions. The German contractor Züblin developed a similar type of vessel based on a catamaran-design. This vessel, with a payload of 7000 tons, is due to enter service in 2011.

MURPHY’S FIRST COUSIN In its report, the EWEA only briefly mentions other barriers to offshore wind deployment, such as the need for more cable laying vessels. More particularly, there will be also be a

requirement for large vessels to install the converter stations necessary to connect the future offshore wind farms to the onshore power grid. The first sub-station of this kind in the world was installed in May 2009 to link the German offshore wind farm, Borkum 2, to the German grid. The Dutch Heerema Group likewise installed the 4800 ton sub-station with its semi-submersible crane vessel, Thialf.

Finally, the EWEA also mentions the shortage of offshore personnel trained to operate all of these new large-scale boats at the required security level. As a growing number of contractors are now entering the offshore wind industry, this may become a serious problem. It is perhaps because the industry does not yet pay the attention it should to training and security that Aidan Cronin of Merchant Green, as a keynote speaker, also likes to teach audiences about ‘Hung’s law of offshore wind’, with Hung being Murphy’s first cousin: ‘If anything can go wrong it will go wrong, at least twice but never on the same project’.

Paul Hazebroek

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

The EWEA emphasises that the current technology trend will favour large-scale vessels able to carry multiple pre-assembled wind turbines. On the basis of a minimum capacity of ten turbines, ten sets of blades, and ten tower sections, the organisation calculates that by 2020, 12 of these large vessels will be required.

According to the EWEA, each could cost in the region of 200 million Euros, with a total investment of 2.4 billion being required.

In addition to the turbine installation vessels, the EWEA also stresses that only a few vessels, such as the Svanen (Ballast Nedam), the Eide (Eide Marine Services), and the Rambiz (Scaldis) are available now for heavy foundation installations.

As offshore wind farms increase in both number and size, and the industry migrates into deeper waters, the demand for largescale vessels that can handle major substructures like jackets, tripods, and gravity based structures will also grow. Because of this bigger-further-deeper trend, Kai Lindvig, managing director of the offshore constructor, A2SEA, expects the sector to end up with two types of vessels within ten years, one for the installation of turbines and one for the installation of foundations In its survey, the EWEA refers to a number of existing plans to build new large capacity vehicles, such as the Blue Ocean Ships multiple carrier concept and the Gaoh Offshore vessel designed by the Danish naval architects OSK-ShipTech. The EWEA calls the second model an ‘ideal example’, since it has a planned capacity of 18 x 3.6 MW wind turbines, including towers and rotors. Yet the organisation adds that many of the planned

150 million Euros per unit also offer more operating flexibility than one giant vessel of 250 million Euros,’ one of them adds.

He also suggests that the industry may, at some point over the coming years, be allowed to migrate back to shallow waters near to the coast on the basis that the public will, by then, have learnt to appreciate offshore wind turbines. Of course this is crystal ball gazing, but it does illustrate why the industry is having such a hard time in deciding which types of vessels are really needed.

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SAFE STEPS ON BIG WAVES

NEW SYSTEMS FOR PERSONNEL TRANSFER FROM SHIPS TO TURBINES ON ROUGH SEAS

New wind parks will be constructed at locations away from the coast and the further out at sea, the more challenging the conditions. Norway, Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are all investing in large turbine parks in their territorial waters in the North Sea in a bid to contribute to the 2020 targets the European Union has set for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and to get more of their energy supplies from renewable energy sources.

Further offshore, weather conditions are more severe, reducing the time window for repair jobs and regular

check-ups significantly. Transfer to and from turbines can only be done on seas with a significant wave height of 1.5 m or less, using current transfer methods.

Engineers may therefore only be able to reach turbines for half of the days between mid-April and the end of September each year. Naturally, most of the damage needing repair is caused under heavy loads, in very windy conditions during other times of the year.

The overall productivity output of a wind farm would dramatically improve if repairs and maintenance could be done for a greater part of the year.

Anticipating the need for extensive turbine maintenance further out at sea, various solutions to the problem have already been developed, including SWATH vessels, sliding ladders placed at the turbine base and several heave-compensated systems.

Offshore Wind Magazine interviews two manufacturers of heavecompensated access systems: Ampelmann inventor and Chief Executive Officer, Jan Van der Tempel and Ian Sadler, General Manager of Offshore Solutions, producer of the Offshore Access System.

EASY ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVES WIND PARK OUTPUT

Commenting on the need for improved systems, Sadler says: ‘Every time I go out to sea to one of the bigger wind farms, I see too many turbines that are not working. Maintenance and repair is not carried out instantly. As a result, the output of a wind farm is much lower than it should be. Everybody knows that in today’s wind industry, no big wind farm project can start without government funding. Failures in turbine operation occur quite often, while at the same time, offshore turbine maintenance is not organised efficiently yet. If turbine maintenance could be done in a more efficient way, more cost effectively, the consequent impact on wind farm exploitation could be enormous. This is one of the improvements the industry has to make in the next few years to become an independent and commercially profitable business.’

OAS is a heave-compensated, transit walkway, mounted on a ship equipped with Dynamic Positioning. In the connecting operation, the ship is manoeuvred near the turbine, within a 17 m reach of the OAS walkway. The walkway then swings out and is hydraulically positioned at the height above sea level where the turbine-boarding platform is. When approaching, the walkway is heave-compensated: the end of the walkway – both vertically and horizontally - is maintained at a constant height. When the walkway is stably positioned in front of the platform, the telescoping walkway slides the last section out. A hydraulic hook then clamps on a pole at the turbine-boarding platform.

Heave-compensation can now be deactivated, as the walkway is

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Systems making it possible to access turbines in rough weather on heavy seas, expand the time frame in which it is possible to service offshore wind parks. ‘This is the step needed to p r o f e s s i o n a l i s e t h e i n d u s t r y ,’ s a y s I a n S a d l e r. H i s c o m p a n y p r o d u c e s O f f s h o r e Access System, one of the heavecompensated systems to get to and from offshore turbines.

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Significant wave height

Heave compensation

The average height from trough (lowest point) to crest (highest point) of the 33 percent highest waves during a given period of measurement, in meteorological forecasts typically measured during a 20 minute period. The lowest two third are not measured. Significant wave height in the North Sea is around 1 . 5 0 m e t e r s t h r o u g h o u t t h e y e a r.

Highest waves occur during wintertime. In the months of November through March, only during very few days the weather allows safe stepping-over from a boat to a t u r b i n e b o a r d i n g l a d d e r.

Heave compensation is the technology to keep a load stable, even when attached to a swinging and rocking vessel in waves. The technology was first developed for cranes aboard ships that operate diver bells and equipment to the sea bottom. Accurate and very quick calculation and operation of hydraulic cylinders is crucial in this technology. A gyroscope records the movement of the vessel in vertical and horizontal directions. Software connects the gyroscope with the pump of an hydraulic installation, and activates the pumps and valves at exactly the right times to have the far end of the crane or walkway totally stable from swinging or rocking.

now a free, pivoting connection between the ship and the turbine. Stepping from the ship on to the walkway and stepping from the walkway on to the platform is easy. OAS can be used in waves of up to a 2.5 m significant wave height, roughly doubling possible operation time compared to the transfer methods in use today.

If turbine maintenance could be done in a

more efficient way, more cost effectively, the consequent impact on wind farm exploitation could be enormous.

With an operating reach of 17 m and weighing 23 tonnes, the telescopic and heave-compensated OAS is only suitable for larger vessels. For operations at near-shore wind parks, the economic benefit of the purchase of such a system is prohibitively expensive.

However, Sadler explains how he believes it will be a real benefit for the larger offshore wind parks. ‘Transport to and from wind parks further from the coast will be extremely time-consuming. So a large ship with enough accommodation for the workforce, which stays at the wind park for some days, is then more economic. Key market players in the operation of offshore wind farms will

have to accommodate their workforce in safe, reliable and comfortable work places.’

It is hard to find skilled technical staff and people will readily find other jobs if their work at the wind farms - far out at sea - is dangerous and uncomfortable, he stresses.

‘During my years in the offshore industry, I have been thinking a lot about the personnel operation. Having a central mother ship is in my opinion, the ideal way to operate with maintenance crews. The mother ship can carry the OAS and have cabins for all the personnel in comfort and safety. At the same time, engineers can access the turbine safely with the OAS. The ship can make a tour alongside the turbines, delivering mechanics to all the ones that need servicing and then it can start at the first turbine again to pick up the technicians. When repairs are done, the ship can sail home and board a crew for another wind park.’

Sadler believes that such a maintenance operation will dramatically save costs and improve efficiency. Additionally, the OAS can be used while building and installing turbines, he says. To make sure an investment in the OAS is optimised, it is best to acquire the OAS in the early stages of the total wind park operation, he adds.

Hans Buitelaar

OAS CAN BE USED IN WAVES TO A MAXIMUM OF 2.5 M

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Ampelmann on board of the Jumbo Javelin during installation work at an offshore wind farm off the UK south-east coast. Courtesy of Ampelmann.

AMPELMANN O B TA I N S F I R S T MAJOR ORDER IN OFFSHORE SECTOR

Last autumn the Jumbo Javelin, utilising the Ampelmann A-02, already installed the first Transition Piece (TP) at Greater Gabbard. This was also the first time a TP has been transported and installed with a free floating, Dynamic Positioned (DP2) vessel. The installation trial included levelling and grouting operations. The Ampelmann unit was used to give the crew safe access from the vessel to the installed 255 tonne TP and to help guide the grout hoses.

The whole operation, including 20 landings with 72 transfers, was completed in 24 hours. Jumbo Javelin is able to carry nine TPs and can install these in significant wave heights (SWH) of up to 1.5 m, a Jumbo Shipping spokesperson explains. Access and support is possible in wave heights of up to 2.5 m. The Rotterdam-based heavy lift shipping company hopes to install all 110 TPs before the next winter season.

Ampelmann inventor and Chief Executive Officer, Jan Van der Tempel explains that the two existing Ampelmann units, the prototype A-01, built in 2007 and the A-02 are now both leased out to the oil and gas sector, the A-01 in Australia and the A-02 in Italy. A third unit, the A-03, is under construction and will be delivered before the summer. Van der Tempel says that the major Dutch shipbuilder, Damen Shipyards, is considering installing an Ampelmann unit on a new wind farm service vessel, the Fast Crew Supplier (FCS), that Damen launched last year. A Damen spokesman says that the axe-shaped bow of the 50 m vessel improves the seakeeping abilities considerably when compared to conventional vessels, with less pitching and rolling in rough seas. The new vessel can therefore maintain a high cruising speed of 25 to 30 knots even in Sea State 4, without exhausting the crew.

Van der Tempel says an FCS equipped with his Ampelmann work platform provides fast, save transit and high workability, so is ideally suited for the offshore wind sector.

The Ampelmann Chief Executive estimates a productivity gain of 20 to 25%, compared to the common practice of personnel crossing from a vessel to a wind turbine by pushing the rubber fender of the bow of the workboat against the mast of the turbine.

The 5 x 5.5 m Ampelmann platform remains stationary by continuously measuring the movements of the vessel on which it stands by means of motion sensors. Any movements are immediately compensated for by a computer that

T

he whole operation, including 20 landings with 72 transfers, was completed in 24 hours.

controls the length of each of the six hydraulic legs of the platform. On the A-01 prototype the gangway towards the turbine had a telescoping length of 15 m. The A-02 as well as the A-01, now has an extended gangway of 25 m that can rotate 360 degrees and pitch up and down by 20 degrees.

Van der Tempel calls the Ampelmann cost price of 2 million Euros ‘relatively small’ compared to a total investment of 0.5 to 1 billion Euros for a wind farm.

However, he recognises that for wind farm operators, which pay 2,000 Euros a day for a small workboat, investment in an Ampelmann is still a big step. But as the sector becomes more industrialised, with bigger wind farms being built further out at sea, he expects more wind park owners to see the benefits of his invention. Cost analysis of a total wind park, rather than per turbine and the need for a long term maintenance strategy, will make them more aware of the advantages the Ampelmann, he predicts.

Van der Tempel says he is in contact with several wind park owners already and in five years time, he expects to see more than 100 of his units active in the offshore wind sector, as well as in the oil and gas industry.

Paul Hazebroek

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

The Ampelmann access system has obtained its first major order in the o f f s h o r e w i n d s e c t o r. D e p e n d i n g o n favourable weather conditions, the heavy lift transport vessel, Jumbo Javelin, is set to start installation activities for the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm, that lies 23 km off the UK’s south-east coast. With an Ampelmann unit onboard, the Jumbo Javelin will install 110 transition pieces at Greater Gabbard

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Falck Nutec health and safety training, photos taken by Hans Buitelaar.

PREPARING FOR WIND PARK SAFETY

O N P R A C T I C A L S A F E T Y C O U R S E S S P E C I A L LY D E V E L O P E D 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, P E O P L E W O R K I N G O N O F F S H O R E W I N D T O W E R S L E A R N T O B O A R D A N D W O R K S A F E LY O N T H E M .

THE TRAINING COMPRISES OF MODULES FROM OTHER OFFSHORE SAFETY AND SURVIVAL COURSES AND CLIMBING INSTRUCTIONS. THE SCHOOLS AND TRAINING CENTRES HAVE DESIGNED NEW S Y L L A B U S E S T H A T A R E S L O W LY B E C O M I N G A C C E P T E D B Y T H E I N D U S T R Y A N D A P P R O V E D B Y R E L AT E D T R A D E A S S O C I AT I O N S .

The industry is calling for standards of safety training to be uniform, at least within the E.U. but hopefully also further abroad. The European Qualification Profile EQP represents an initiative of the European wind energy sector to specify uniform transnational qualification standards for the Industry Offshore Wind sent a reporter to Falck-Nutec in the Dutch port of Den Oever to take their offshore wind energy safety course.

UNIFORM RULES ARE SAFER

Installation work by AREVA at Alpha Ventus, photos taken by Jan Oelker. Courtesy of Falck Nutec

‘We work with modules from other courses, which are certified by the industry associations,’ senior safety instructor Co Kuijpers of training institute Falck-Nutec explaining how the course is set up. ‘The fact that these are always oil & gas industry groups, indicates the fact that no regulating body or international industry association for the offshore wind energy industry has been established yet. As a training institute, we would very much like to adapt our courses to an international standard. This

would be more cost effective to us, as we do not need to invite several associations to test our course curriculum and see if it meets their standards. All certification is expensive, so we would like to design courses to improve safety that are practical and effective. A common regulation body would be able to control this.’

The Basic Safety Course for personnel involved in installing or maintaining offshore wind farms is taught at the Den Oever training centre of Falck Nutec and is certified by OPITO. As the working conditions at offshore wind farms are different from those in other branches in the offshore industry, a special course was developed for the wind energy industry. Trainers of Falck Nutec aim to prepare their students to get to and from an offshore wind turbine park safely, make them aware of the risks at sea and on the turbines, teach them basic safety rules and emergency procedures and develop an attitude to be actively involved in safety issues. How to work safely and how to respond to emergencies.

The course consists of theory lessons as well as practical training. Understanding the causes and possible spreading of fire is one part, followed by extinguishing fires with various methods. First aid is taught in theory and practice, as well as survival techniques in the water. Climbing techniques are only briefly explained in a theory course.

CALM ALONG THE BREAKWATER ‘Every seventh wave is higher,’ instructor Kuijpers teaches our small class in the Basic Safety Course Wind Farms. A group of

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

As a relatively new industry, no specific standard for national or international rules has been developed for the offshore wind industry as yet. At sea, when approaching the turbines, international maritime SOLAS rules apply, developed over many years by sea farers for sea farers’ safety of life at sea. On the turbine towers some countries are applying laws and regulations in force for the offshore oil and gas installations, but on the turbine itself electrical industry safety laws are applicable, and in order to enforce this the UK has, for example, extended the HSE regime from the 12 mile limit to include the whole of the offshore renewable energy sector.

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Installation work by AREVA at Alpha Ventus, photos taken by Jan Oelker. Courtesy of Falck Nutec

four is preparing to sail by rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to a mast near the harbour entrance of Den Oever. At this mast, the instructor will stop at the base and the students in the safety course will practise how to step from a RIB, rolling and pitching in the waves, onto the ladder of a wind turbine in the middle of the sea. ‘It is important to anticipate the waves, count them, and in the rhythm grab the ladder when the RIB is at the peak of one of the waves,’ Kuijpers instructs. ‘When you try to hold on to the ladder with the RIB still moving upwards, or if you can not climb up before the next wave lifts the RIB, your feet and ankles will be smashed between the RIB and the ladder. So it is helpful to grab the ladder at the peak of the seventh wave. You will have the duration of six waves rolling by to climb up the ladder before the RIB will rise as high again.’

PREPARING FOR WIND PARK SAFETY

Not really in the middle of the North Sea, but only along the breakwater of Den Oever harbour in the Waddenzee, circumstances are not too hard. We are relieved to see the hard wind and rainfall that dominated the first course day, have now calmed down. The seventh wave theory does not get the attention it may get in rougher seas, as the water near the outer harbour breakwater is relatively smooth. Unaffected by the small waves, four men step on to the ladder. We enjoy being out on the water after several hours of theory lessons in a classroom.

From the top of the small column we see instructor Theda Wiebrands sail off with the RIB. She circles the column with its platform at high speed, to return only minutes later. She manoeuvres the bow to the ladder and keeps the RIB in place despite the strong tidal current. Trainees descend the ladder one by one to board the RIB again. A speedy ride takes the course members back to shore, where they change from the offshore watertight suit worn on the RIB, to a survival suit for practice of lifesaving techniques in the indoor pool at the training centre.

The donning of survival suits, life jackets and fire-protective overalls is an ongoing part of the program. Trainees pull on different safety overalls six times during the two-day course.

RUBBER DUCK

POOL PLAY Stepping into the water from heights is one of the escape routines practised. Trainees learn how to make a big step forward – never jump – after checking if the water they will land

Safety trainings for offshore professionals are provided by numerous institutions throughout Europe, such as the BZEE and the Danish Esbjerg Safety Consult.

in is clear. Legs crossed, arms folded in front of the body with one hand covering nose and mouth, the other arm securing this hand in place at impact with the water. ‘When jumping in from higher levels, you guys especially want to keep your legs crossed,’ Wiebrands laughs. ‘We women are protected well enough by the watertight suit, but the impact of water may hit you men unpleasantly.’ Swimming the ‘crocodile’ is a wellknown routine to be practised in offshore survival trainings.

When the group of people in the water needs to swim to safety, this is a way to keep together and swim fast: everybody lies on their back. Each person puts his feet under the armpits of the one floating in front of him and all in the chain use their arms to paddle in the direction of their heads. Only the last person in the chain is going belly-down, face ahead through the water, holding the last in the chain by the feet and steering the ‘crocodile’ in the desired direction. The trainees in their orange suits then practise turning over a life raft that has landed in the water upside down. Some participants had a hard time climbing up on the raft, using the tape ladders that hang down from the sides under the entrances of the tent covering the life raft.

Instructors Kuijpers and Wiebrands repeatedly underline the importance to count heads after every operation with the group, be it after landing in the water or after collecting everybody inside the life raft.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT During theory lessons, Kuijpers explains a very common way dangers occur. ‘When entering a turbine, stepping off the RIB onto the ladder first, then entering the tower with its high voltage installations, a rookie would typically be afraid while an experienced worker would have stopped seeing the dangers. He is used to them and knows how to handle them. What happens?

The rookie, very aware of all the dangers, adapts his behaviour to the experienced colleague. Dangers seem to be denied.

The inexperienced worker has to push himself. This is often underlying cause of accidents. But it is also human behaviour that is hard to change. We need people to be aware of dangers and we need experienced personnel to respect the fears of their fresh colleagues.’

Course participant Wybe Dijk is very interested in regulations about safety equipment, climbing gear and first aid kits. He is part of the design team developing new wind turbines at Darwind, a Dutch turbine manufacturer and he needs to know what gear to buy and how to install it. The instructor’s practical knowledge is quite helpful in forming the safety plan in and around his turbines. Different types of rope brakes, used for descending from the turbine in case of emergency, are discussed.

The design team has been struggling with the question whether they should create the possibility to descend from the turbine on the outside. Kuijpers considers the situation where a fire occurs in the ground floor alternator. The whole turbine shaft would fill with smoke and the heat would rise intensely through the column. Dijk sees his idea reaffirmed that ropes and harnesses for descending outside from the turbine structure should be available at the top of every turbine. Again, the lack of clear regulations is recognised.

Training provides an exciting preview of the real thing. Having practised offshore wind park skills in the comfortable environment of a harbour entrance and a pool, all trainees are keen to go out on the sea and do the real thing. A few weeks following the course, course-taker Christ Verwijmeren proudly tells about his first experience at the Egmond wind park. ‘A different kind of experience. We had to do a three hour job. All together, we were out on the sea 27 hours. Currents and pilots at IJmuiden harbour, are two of the things that effect the planning of such a maintenance trip. Temperature has a really big influence on the proceedings out on the sea.’

Despite it being long, exhausting and cold, the other trainees on the course are envious of his experience. Doing the Basic Safety Course Wind Farms bears the promise of the excitement of actually climbing one of these giant providers of green energy far out on the sea. At the first chance, we will go to one.

Hans Buitelaar

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Besides practicing the skill of stepping over from a rocking RIB to the ladder of a wind turbine, the course teaches a lot of basic offshore safety tricks. For example, during practice it quickly becomes clear that after donning a survival suit on the dry, there is always a lot of air encapsulated in the suit, held there by the rubber collars and cuffs. When all this air is still inside the suit when you are in the water, it is hard to swim. People float like a rubber duck on the water with all this air in their suits.

Especially when stepping into the water from a certain height, too much air inside the suit will make it hard to get yourself into an upright position, after splashing in and going underwater, the air might flow to the feet in the suit and make the person in this suit float feet up. There is a trick: it helps to double up, sitting on both feet, before going into the water and pull the collar from the neck. Excess air will be expelled from the suit.

Other training institutes:

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In his own country they call him ‘Mr. 100,000 volts’ for his energetic charisma and his ability to do ten things at once.

But in the interview with Offshore Wind on a rainy afternoon in the C-Power visitor’s centre in Ostend, Filip Martens takes his time. Amidst the scale models and engineering drawings, he spoke extensi

NEGATIVE IMPACT According to Martens, there is neither the time nor the willingness to discuss thoroughly the problems at major events such as those organised by the EWEA annually. At these meetings every one tries to be bigger and better than their

other. The Dutch-Belgian consortium Belwind is developing a wind farm close to the Thornton Bank project but he does not see them as a competitor, and wishes them all the best. The same applies to all developers because if a project really fails it would have a negative impact on the image of the entire industry. It is in the

Load out of GBF by Rambiz in the port of Oostende

J-tube

EWEA TO TEACH THE OFFSHORE WIND S E C T O R T O TA L K ABOUT WHAT CAN BE LEARNT FROM P R O J E C T S AT S E A

occur during our projects. This does not happen often enough; everyone is acting as if there is nothing to be learnt. But this way means we do not learn from each other’s experiences and we risk projects really getting into trouble, which will damage the image of the entire industry.’ So says Filip Martens, Director of C-Power, the consortium that is building the Thornton Bank wind farm off the coast of Belgium, and he regrets that people still often play hide and seek. In his view it prevents the sector from becoming more competitive with the established energy suppliers.

At major conferences, those involved in the industry do not really expose themselves much. The Belgian therefore calls on the EWEA, along with other such event organisers and promoters in the sector to organise smaller seminars where parties dare to share their painful lessons.

competitors, but that doesn’t help the industry. They would be better off if they were able to learn from each other’s mistakes. At the moment they can only guess whether someone is facing problems, when, for example, a casual remark from an insurer is overheard. The EWEA, according to the Belgian, has attempted to get a dialogue started on ’lessons learnt’ but has not yet been completely successful. He understands the reason why this is so, as every company has their own commercial interests and these setbacks could well have juridical consequences. The EWEA could try harder to take away the feeling of shame that prevents people from talking about their setbacks. This would benefit the entire industry, especially knowing that an enormous challenge is facing us when considering current ambitions. Martens calls on the EWEA to organise smaller panels and workshops where project developers, in particular, can privately discuss how to prevent mistakes in the future. This is obviously different for turbine manufacturers. They won’t discuss their gearbox problems with their direct competitors. But developers do not directly compete against each

best interests of the whole sector to avoid such problems. According to Martens, open discussion would also contribute to a process of standardisation of practices and contracts in the industry which would lead to greater efficiency and also increase confidence with financiers and insurers. As a consequence, the industry would become more competitive when compared to the established energy suppliers. Filip Martens has been the driving force behind the Thornton Bank project for 10 years and must now search for new funding for the next two phases.

The problem with the J-tubes during Phase 1 of the project was solved quickly

by C-Power and their maritime partner DEME, even though a few months were lost while the repair was made. Originally the park had been planned to formally start operating as from October 1st 2008, but the official opening by the then Belgian prime minister, Herman van Rompuy, took place eight months later in June 2009.

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

‘It is high time that parties in the offshore wind industry start discussing what can

vely about the problems he and his team had encountered during the construction of Phase 1 of the wind farm at Thornton Bank, at that time a world first because of the 27 km distance from the coast and the 30m water depth. One example is the problem incurred with the J-tubes, the protective cable channel through which the power cable is run up to the turbine from the inside of the concrete base (gravity based foundation - GBF). When filling the last of the six GBFs with 3,000 tons of sand, the J-tube burst under the pressure. This made it impossible to pull the power cable up from the seabed up to the turbine. There had also been a stability problem. They had found themselves with a major problem at a vital stage in the project. According to the Belgian it is exactly this kind of setback and how to find a solution that should be discussed more openly in the industry. In his opinion the one thing to expect in this relatively young industry is that building an offshore wind farm is largely down to managing the unexpected, and there are many things that can go wrong. Thomas Edison’s light bulb wasn’t perfect the first time it was switched on. There is still much to be learnt from each other in this industry.

36 | Of fshore Wind

LACK OF EXPERIENCE Martens explained that the issue with the J-tubes had been a design error, and that each design and each step in the construction process was subordinated to six checking phases at the engineering level. This had highlighted the fact that the industry was still young and there was simply a lack of experience. It had been a new type of GBF and it also the first time that such large turbines, 5 MW Repower, had been commercially placed at sea. For the repairs they had decided on an external solution with new J-tubes on the outside of the GBFs. Repair from the inside of the GBFs would have been too complex and expensive. First the turbines would have had to have been removed and then the ballast sand removed. This would have also affected the warranty with the turbine supplier, an availability guarantee of 95% for 10 years. The design and testing of more than 1,300 components of the new external J-tubes took over a month.

The J-tubes were attached with straps around the GBFs as it would not have been possible to simply drill holes in that

kind of conic foundation of pre-stressed concrete. The process took place during the winter period but fortunately the weather was good. They had been insured against such setbacks, but they wanted the turbines to be operational as quickly as possible in order to start generating income.

The J-tubes had not been the only problem. GeoSea, the offshore subsidiary

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of the Belgian dredging group DEME, had faced extreme weather conditions during the construction activities in the summer of 2008. Due to persistent south western storms, it was only possible to work at sea for a few days; for the remaining time the installation fleet had to stay onshore, with the average costs being around 150,000 Euros a day. Although it had been ahead of schedule at that time, the lifting operation to install the complete turbines and rotors from the Buzzard jack-up platform was delayed by a few weeks due to the bad weather. Earlier, a floating work platform damaged a GBF when it was set adrift by the storm.

Fortunately there had been no structural damage, this had been a relief for Filip Martens but he then frankly told us about another unexpected problem that had occurred when laying the export power cable. ‘The cable needed to be cut off when the ploughshares that lay the cable trench in the seabed got stuck in an unknown obstacle. This happened even though we had investigated the cable trench thoroughly in advance and had already removed several obstacles, including a car wreck and a Second World War bomb!’

and blaming each other. ‘It is of great importance to have the right partners in projects such as this. Especially when the road ahead is a rocky one, you need to have a common goal.’ Having a maritime partner, DEME, who is also a shareholder in the consortium, is seen by Martens as being a great advantage when facing problems during installation activities at sea. ‘It is really important to have one admiral at sea. If more partners are involved and problems arise then, before you know it, there are more lawyers involved than actual employees and you can take your business home quickly.’

The Belgian defines a wind farm at sea as ‘an offshore project that happens to need wind turbines. Primarily you need parties with sea legs around you’. He does think that there is a lack of expertise in offshore wind in the maritime industry.

The compounded unsolved errors made by individual operators are seen by Filip Martens as being like dominos. ‘The traditional offshore industry is not yet used to the fact that in a wind farm at sea each foundation with the turbine on top is like a piece in a huge domino game and each piece is put in place under different circumstances. This explains why you can

turbines available when Phase 3, the final stage, begins. Phase 3 will then involve 24 turbines. Filip Martens told Offshore Wind, ’The great challenge with projects such as this is to keep looking into the future because the techniques aren’t standing still and a wind farm is expected to last for 20 years. We are not therefore committed to anyone, not even to REpower. We are just looking for the most economically viable solutions. Even the type of the Phase 2 turbines is still to be determined’.

FINANCING RISK He expects the construction of Phase 2, including the transformation hub for this wind farm, to start in June this year at the earliest, even though the financing is not completed yet. For Phase 1, 153 million Euros were needed. At that time, the 15 years long-term financing was structured during negotiations with one bank, Dexia, and was syndicated amongst 5 banks six months after financial closing. According to C-Power it has now become impossible for banks to support a full financing risk due to the credit crunch. For Phase 2, a much larger

3 is being considered. The consortium is also hoping to be able to create co-financing from special funding from the Belgian state. On 9 December the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted Euros 10 million. Last year, the EIB already supported Belwind with a 300 million Euros loan. The fact that Eneco buys the electricity and RWE has become the main shareholder in C-Power since 2009 demonstrates that at least the energy industry has faith in the Thornton Bank project.

The type of foundation that will be used for Phase 2 is also not decided yet. The consortium is seriously considering using jackets instead of concrete foundations.

He denies that if they choose to use jackets that it would have anything to do with the problems with the GBF in Phase 1. ‘This decision is more to do with the reduced steel prices and the fact that 30% less steel is needed for jackets today compared to those that were used, for example, 5 years ago in the Beatrice wind farm off the Scottish coast. But should the steel prices go up again soon, it may well be that we will decide on concrete again for Phase 3.’

capacity and many more options. So it can be worthwhile taking a step back now and again in order to be able to aim higher later. The biggest mistake we can make now is to tie ourselves down to a fixed time-scale. It is important that we spread our risks properly.’

At GeoSea’s headquarters in Zwijndrecht near Antwerp, general manager Luc Vandenbulcke is not saying much about the installation vessels that the company is planning to order. But he does explain that the jack-up Goliath, with a payload of 1,600 tons, will take care of the installation of the turbines in Phase 2. The progress of the construction will therefore be less dependent on the weather. In Phase 1, this work was done with the smaller Buzzard, with a crane on top from the Dutch Sarens Group. But this was an ‘ad hoc construction’ according to Vandenbulcke.

GeoSea took the Goliath, the largest jack-up of its kind in use in September 2009, and used the experience it had gained during the construction of Phase 1. Immediately after the first phase was completed, it announced contracts and

Installation work at Thornton Bank

AN ENORMOUS DOMINO The reason why the six turbines of Phase 1 have been consistently producing enough electricity to supply 60,000 Belgian households for over six months is, according to Martens, mainly because the partners in the C-Power consortium acted as a team when things went wrong, rather than hiding behind contracts

see the same mistakes repeated in the different offshore wind farms.’

The concession states that 300 MW is the maximum production capacity allowed for the Thornton Bank wind farm. Initially, a total of 60 turbines of 5 MW each were to be installed, with 30 more planned for Phase 3. The consortium is now looking to reduce the total number to 54 because there will be 6 MW

amount is needed, around 500 million Euros. The entire project was initially estimated to cost 800 million, but Martens now thinks that 850 million Euros is a more realistic number. There are even talks about an estimated 1000 million. According to the C-Power director, the consortium is still studying different financing options and the combined financing of Phases 2 and

PUZZLE WITH MOVING PIECES Filip Martens agrees that the plans for GeoSea to purchase larger installation vessels affect the timing of the rest of the project: ‘Indeed, it is a puzzle with moving pieces. Today’s vessels are nothing when compared to what the vessels of tomorrow will be. They will have greater

intention declarations worth 110 million Euros for the construction of three other offshore wind farms in northern European waters: Alpha Ventus in the German sector of the North Sea, and the 2 Irish Sea projects Walney I and II, and Ormonde.

Paul Hazebroek

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DUTCH OFFSHORE WIND SECTOR G O E S F A R O F F S H O R E A N D A I M S F O R H A R B O U R AT S E A Harbour at sea plan by We@Sea ‘In order to make the Dutch government’s goal of using 6000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2020 a reality, the r e a l i s a t i o n o f t h e F L O W - p r o j e c t i s e s s e n t i a l ’. A t a conference held on 2nd and 3rd December in the Dutch p o r t D e n H e l d e r, M a r t i n We i s m a n n , s e n i o r d e v e l o p e r o f RWE Offshore Wind Netherlands, the Dutch division of the German RWE energy company, made it clear that it is in The Hague’s interest to fully support the plan for a far and large offshore wind farm (FLOW) that RWE has launched with ECN (the Dutch research institute for development of renewable energy technologies) and the Technical University Delft. The R&D aspect of the plan c o m m e n c e d a t t h e t u r n o f t h e y e a r. L i n k e d w i t h t h e FLOW-project, a consortium of Dutch offshore wind related companies are aiming to build a ‘harbour at sea’ to service future far offshore wind farms in a more efficient a n d c o s t e f f e c t i v e m a n n e r.

BOTTLENECKS A 2 blade down wind turbine concept by 2-B Energy.

The FLOW-consortium stresses that the lessons learnt during the programme will be commercialised in future large-scale investment in offshore wind farms and will also accelerate this funding. RWE Offshore Wind director Martin Skiba told Offshore Wind in an interview that he thinks that the FLOW-project is very important because it will teach how to operate a wind farm at such a distance from the coast, while reducing the costs and risks. Also that the project will give rise to standardised technologies and installation methods and help to create a market, because competition in this business is minimal now. According to Skiba, the project will particularly help to solve persistent bottlenecks such as the availability of offshore wind turbines and the shortage of installation and cable laying vessels.

He expects RWE’s entire offshore wind portfolio to

benefit from FLOW. RWE Innogy already operates two offshore wind farms in Wales and is also involved in construction and developing projects in the UK (Gwynt y Môr, Greater Gabbard), Belgium (Thornton Bank) and Germany (Nordsee Ost, Innogy Nordsee 1). The FLOWprogramme should enable the Dutch offshore industry to acquire a leading position in the fast-growing European market for offshore wind energy. Along with the Netherlands, other North Sea countries, in particular Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany, are designing and constructing wind farms in the North Sea and have ambitious plans for the future. The FLOWconsortium estimates that in 30 years time, about 80,000 MW in total will be installed in the North Sea. Currently, only two offshore wind farms have been built in Dutch waters, Egmond aan Zee (108 MW) and Prinses Amalia (former Q7,120 MW). The Dutch government will subsidise the construction of another 950 MW before 2015, of which the 300 MW from Tromp is expected to be included. This will be announced on 1st April. Overall, 14 developers are hoping to be selected, but 11 of them will probably drop out of the race.

Lack of confidence The FLOW-consortium hopes to obtain some 60 million Euros of government support spread over a period of five years, but insiders at the Ministry of Economic Affairs anticipate that The Hague will come up with less money.

The consortium also wants the government to make its target of 6000 MW of offshore wind power by 2020 a

As a result of environmental and harbour restrictions, the Netherlands, like neighbouring countries, does not have enough sites available close to the coast. The government has indicated that at least 50% or even 60% of the 6000 MW required will have to be built far off shore. Skiba estimates that it will be 4000 MW: ‘Our R&D plan for FLOW can help in preparing for this, but at the end of the day we obviously want to build a wind farm that is commercially viable.’

Apart from ECN,TU Delft and RWE, which is participating through Essent – the local subsidiary it acquired last year - the consortium is also comprised of the offshore contractors Ballast Nedam and Van Oord, specialist shipbuilder IHC Merwede, and offshore wind turbine developers XEMC Darwind and 2-B Energy.

Eneco, another Dutch energy producer, as well as the national transmission system operator TenneT, are also on board.

CALL FOR 25 BILLION The plan for a harbour at sea near the FLOW-location stems from the offshore wind investigation programme We@Sea, which was started in 2004 with government support of 12.9 million Euros for a period of five years. A foundation and private partnership have been set up in

order to realise this offshore wind ‘hub’ by 2015.

According to the instigators, several of whom also take part in FLOW, the artificial island will serve as an operating base for the Tromp farm as well as for other wind farms that are expected to be built in this area off the Dutch coast. Taking into account the number of wind farms that are projected for the whole of the Dutch part of the North Sea and adjacent areas of neighbouring countries, the general director of We@Sea, Chris Westra, thinks that there is room for three such harbours at sea in Dutch waters. Since the Minister of Economic Affairs, Maria van der Hoeven, recently stood up for the project in a letter to Parliament, Westra expects to receive a million Euros for a feasibility study in the coming months. The procedure for obtaining a building permit for the three islands from the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management has also been started, but will take at least a year or two to finalise. In Den Helder, Westra repeated his call for The Hague to come up with a new offshore wind industry policy to support the emerging national offshore wind industry, following the example of the UK, Denmark, Germany and Spain. The We@Sea-director stresses that in order to realise the goal of 6000 MW by 2020/21, the sector needs 25 billion Euros of government support spread out over a period of 20 years until 2035.

OFFSHORE WIND HUB The harbour at sea-design is in the shape of a circle with a diameter of one kilometre. A dike protects the artificial island against heavy seas. The island itself is designed as a station for transporting, assembling and maintaining offshore wind turbines. There is room for two contractors and two sets of 20 installation vessels of all kinds. Westra: ‘As each spread of vessels has an installation capacity of a hundred 5 MW turbines per year, the total installation capacity of such a hub is 1000 MW annually.’

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

The goal of the FLOW-consortium is the development and construction of the 300 MW offshore wind farm, 75 km off IJmuiden on the Dutch coast. Currently there are no wind farms in the world operating at such a distance from the coast and at these depths (between 30 and 35 metres). The total investment is estimated at 750 million Euros. RWE will construct the offshore meteorological mast as the first step towards the realisation of the demo wind farm later this year. This mast will deliver information on wind speed and patterns for the realisation of the Tromp farm, named after the famous 17th century Dutch admiral.

reality, meaning that a stable and target-orientated policy is required.

‘The Netherlands is not on the same stable offshore wind track as the UK and Germany,’ Skiba stresses. ’The Hague cannot fulfil the target of 6000 MW by 2020 by coming up with guidelines and conditions for 950 MW over the next couple of years. To make the goal of 6000 MW a reality, the industry needs two things: a stable concessions system and a long-term subsidy support mechanism. The government is now working towards such a system.

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Co-located with:

Larger and faster installation vessels will come onto the market along with hotel vessels and offshore platforms with accommodation for crews involved in building and maintenance activities

www.renewableenergyworld-europe.com

PLUG INTO RENEWABLES

Direct drive turbine concept by XEMC Darwind.

The island will also provide accommodation for personnel and space for workshops and the storage of spare parts. There will be foundations for commissioning assembled turbines and a test site with room for five of them. The support base will have a heliport and will also serve as an electrical hub, with a transformer station and a cable connection to the coast. The realisation costs of a harbour at sea are estimated at 750 million Euros.

Discussions with the port authorities of Amsterdam are taking place about the possible use of a site near the port of IJmuiden for the construction of the concrete foundations that will be used for the future far shore wind farms. The Tromp wind farm will be the first one in Dutch waters to use this type of support structure.

In its report ‘Oceans of Opportunity’, the EWEA underlines that multi-purpose platforms such as the Dutch harbour at sea concept could enable installation and maintenance sailing times at future large far shore wind farms to be reduced. However, at the conference in Den Helder, technical project manager Bart Ummels of Siemens Wind Power was sceptical about the concept.

Ummels stressed that in the coming years, larger and faster installation vessels will come onto the market along with hotel vessels and offshore platforms with accommodation for crews involved in building and maintenance activities. What’s more, new installation methods will start to be used and a new generation of offshore direct drive turbines that will require less maintenance will be available. Ummels, therefore, believes that there will be no need for the artificial service islands proposed by the We@Sea-consortium.

NEW OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES On 2nd November, the Ministry of Transport gave RWE permission to build the Tromp farm. With the installation of the turbines set to start in 2012, Tromp should be fully operational by Q3 2013 (earliest projection). Tromp will also offer room for some new offshore wind turbine designs. The Dutch offshore wind turbine developers Darwind and 2-B Energy hope to have their machines installed in Tromp. Darwind was founded in 2005, and was taken over last year by the Chinese conglomerate XECM after its former owner, the Dutch Econcern Group, went bankrupt. The new Sino-Dutch company is currently working on the third generation of direct drive offshore wind turbines. The prototype of the 5 MW turbine will be put into operation in 2010 and commercial production is scheduled to start from 2011.

2-B Energy, founded in 2007, is developing a 2 blade 6MW offshore wind turbine with the rotor installed at the backside of the mast. A prototype will be put into use in 2011.

Paul Hazebroek

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‘ It differs from case to case and depends very much on the amount of

shear stress in each situation. All this is now being researched carefully by the industry’

EGMOND MODIFICATION COMPLETED, DNV R E V I S E S S TA N D A R D Shell announced just before the turn of the year that they had completed the modifications at the 108 MW Egmond aan Zee wind farm off the coast of The Netherlands in order to solve grouting settlement issues.

between the monopile and the transition piece, an issue that concerns the whole industry’

The oil giant stresses that the wind farm is still safe and operational. The construction A spokesperson for the oil company declined of the Egmond farm, the first offshore wind to give further details of the work. In August farm in The Netherlands, started in 2005. last year the Dutch press reported that most The farm was officially opened in October 2007 but was immediately confronted with of the project’s 36 turbines were problems, namely some of the Vestas V90 affected by increased grouting settlement, causing the transition pieces to sink several turbine gearboxes had to be replaced. The 200 Euros million Egmond project was the centimetres into the monopile foundations first offshore wind farm constructed using beyond the levels described in the original monopiles with an internal transition piece, design. Shell, also on behalf of their project partner Vattenfall (via Nuon), then revealed placed inside instead of over the monopile.

But contractor Ballast Nedam says that that it recently had discovered the problem they are certain that the settlement issue and was inspecting all 36 turbines. In early November last year the company made their has nothing to do with this design innovation. repair program public. In three of the 36 turbine installations the bottom half of the ‘The problem has to do with the capacity monopile foundations were to be filled with of the grouting connection between the concrete to create a solid basis that should monopile and the transition piece, an issue prevent further slippage. The remaining 33 that concerns the whole industry’, an expert turbines were to be monitored ‘as long as close to Ballast Nedam explains. He stresses needed’ and only to be repaired when that within the sector discoveries have been necessary. For the repair activities the A2SEA work ship Sea Energy was fitted with found about the way this capacity has to be calculated, and that Det Norske Veritas the necessary equipment such as concrete silo’s and pumps in the harbour of IJmuiden. (DNV), as the certification authority for

these offshore wind turbine structures, has therefore temporarily withdrawn its certification standards for grouted connections. Although no other wind farms with monopile foundations are known to suffer from increased settlement, it could very well be the case, according to the same spokesman: ‘It differs from case to case and depends very much on the amount of shear stress in each situation. All this is now being researched carefully by the industry’.

At DNV a spokesman confirms that the standards for the sector are being revised: ‘Until the new standard is in place, new projects will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.’ He adds that standard development is usually a cooperation between industry stakeholders and DNV. In this way the newest and best practices are compiled into a unified approach: ‘This, I think, will ensure that already rapid developing industries can progress even faster and more safely’. The standard was previously updated in 2004 and 2007. The DNVspokesman estimates the new standard will be in place by June of this year.

Paul Hazebroek

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

‘ The problem has to do with the capacity of the grouting connection

Shell would not comment on the precise cause of the problem nor on the cost of the repairs, saying this is commercially sensitive information.

44 | Of fshore Wind

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Q10 (to Eneco New Energy BV), Scheveningen Buiten (to Evelop Ontwikkeling BV) and Q4-WP (to Q4-WP BV i.o.

E-Connection). Interested parties will have until 2 February to file legal complaints against the 3 permits.

The announcement brings the total of granted permits for new wind farms to be developed off the Dutch coast to 12. Back in September Huizinga announced the first 2 permits, followed by 4 more in November and another 3

Prinses Amalia wind farm, courtesy of Eneco

YET A STEP CLOSER TO MEET 2020 R E N E W A B L E TA R G E T NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT

BANK WITHOUT A NAME On 15 December the Belgian Minister of State for the North Sea, Etienne Schouppe, handed over the license for the construction and operation of the third Belgian offshore wind farm, ‘Bank-Zonder-Naam’.

Eldepasco NV, the consortium behind the project consisting of Electrawinds, Depret, Aspiravi and WE Power was already granted a joint domain concession back in May 2006. The final investment decision will be made mid this year. Construction is expected to start in 2011 and will be operational by the end of 2012 at the earliest.

The planned wind farm will be located on the sand bank with the same name, 37 kilometres from the coast of Zeebrugge. The type of turbine and foundation has not yet been decided but depending on the type of turbine the wind farm will consist of 36 to 72 wind turbines with a

maximum capacity of 216MW, The wind farm will cover a surface of around 15 km2, excluding the 500m safety zone. Once operational the wind farm should be able to supply 200,000 families with electricity per year. An agreement was signed in June 2009 with the Belgian TSO Elia to deliver the power from the wind farm via its 150 kV station at Blondeellaan in Zeebrugge into the existing high-voltage grid.

DUTCH GOVERNMENT COMPLETES 12 PERMITS FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT On 18 December Dutch State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Tineke Huizinga, granted 3 final permits for offshore wind sites off the Dutch coast. The permits were granted for the sites

on 4 December. At the moment there are only two operating wind farms off the Dutch coast; Egmond aan Zee and Princess Amalia (former Q7). The latter is

All 12 permit holders are eligible for state funding organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Though, with Euros 4,5 billion available for funding (equalling around 950 MW) it is not expected that all 12 projected wind farms will be built. The wind farms to receive state funding will be announced in May at the latest.

With the last 3 permits granted the State Secretary fulfilled the task set out in the plan that she presented back in June 2008. The plan described how the state should deal with all received applications for offshore wind farm developments and state funding until 2010, after which new elections will take place. No further new applications are expected to be taken into consideration under the current ruling government. From 2011 the National Water Plan will come into place. In this plan, outlining the long term usage of the North Sea, enough new sections of the North Sea suitable for wind farm development will be indicated in order to meet the target set by the Dutch state to produce 6 GW of offshore wind power by 2020. The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is working together with the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), and Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The permits and state funding will then no longer be handled separately.

The Dutch still lag behind countries such as Denmark,

Name

Developer

Location

Turbines

MW per Turbine

Total estimated MW

BARD Offshore NL1

BARD Engineering GmbH

56 km off Schiermonnikoog

60

5

300

Beaufort

NUON

24 km off Katwijk

93

3

279

Breeveertien II

Airtricity

60 km off IJmuiden

97

3.6

349

Brown Ridge Oost

Brown Ridge Oost BV

74 km off IJmuiden

94

3

282

Den Helder I

Airtricity

63 km off Den Helder

78

6

468

EPS Offshore NL1

Eolic Power GmbH

56 km off Schiermonnikoog

55

5

275

GWS Offshore NL1

Global WindSupport GmbH

56 km off Schiermonnikoog

60

5

300

Q4-WP

WPQ4-WP BV i.o.

24 km off Egmond aan Zee

26

3

78

Q10

Eneco

23 km off Ijmuiden

51

3

153

Scheveningen Buiten

Evelop

28 km off Scheveningen

59

3.6

212

Tromp Binnen

RWE

75 km off IJmuiden

59

5

295

West Rijn

Airtricity

37 km off Scheveningen

72

3.6

259

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

The turn of the year has brought along quite some exciting news that could mean for some European countries getting yet another step closer to meeting their 2020 targets of 20% of renewable energy coming from o f f s h o r e w i n d p o w e r. O n 1 5 D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9 t h e g o a h e a d w a s g i v e n I n Belgium for the Bank Without a Name wind farm project followed three days later by the Dutch government announcing the last three out of a total of 12 permits granted for offshore wind sites. Though, these were overshadowed by the announcement made by Crown Estate on January 8. That day Crown Estate released the list of developers that were granted permits for 9 offshore wind sites, the greatest single project announcement made since the start of the offshore wind industry.

reported to have had an excellent performance in 2009, considering that year to have been a relatively bad ‘wind year’. The 12 wind farms will total an estimated 800 wind turbines that, with the expected production of 3,2 GW of wind power, will be able to provide 3.2 million households with electricity.

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UK GOVERNMENT EXPECTS OFFSHORE WIND TO MEET A QUARTER OF THE COUNTRY’S ELECTRICITY NEED BY 2020 Source: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, press release 21 December 2009

the United Kingdom and Germany when it comes to offshore wind development and there is still a lot to do in order to reach the 2020 target. As yet there is no indication what emphasis the political parties will place on offshore wind energy after the next election.

UK ROUND 3 OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT SITES ANNOUNCED

The winning bidders have now all signed exclusive Zone Development Agreements with The Crown Estate, to take the proposals through the planning and consenting phase. The Round 3 process was initiated by the Government back in 2007. Over 40 bids were received

Round 3 differs from the previous 2 rounds in its magnitude, the permits granted in the previous 2 rounds only add up to 8 GW, and the fact that multiple projects can potentially be developed in each of the nine zones.

Also different is the role of Crown Estate. To ensure efficient delivery of the wind farms Crown Estate will co-invest with the developers. The development of wind farms in the 9 zones is expected to need up to UK Pounds 100 billion of private sector investment. The UK offshore wind industry could provide 70.000 jobs by 2020 depending partly on whether the supply chain will be based in the United Kingdom. As with other offshore wind development sites, there are still obstacles in the way of realising the development of all Round 3 offshore wind farms such as a lack of offshore grid connections, rising productions costs and limited existing supply chain capacity. The UK also has to work with a low exchange rate against the Euro making offshore wind development more expensive. The cost per MW has doubled comparing Round 1 and Round 3. Other factors such as high commodity prices and a lack of competition among manufacturers are also contributing to the increased costs.

is also making investment in offshore wind development more attractive through the ROC (Renewables Obligation Certificate) system. In the United Kingdom a certain percentage of the electricity that is made available to the consumer by the electricity suppliers needs to be obtained from renewable sources such as offshore wind power. At the moment the figure is around 8 % but this is expected to grow annually. The Government expects offshore wind to meet a quarter of the country’s electricity need by 2020. The Government is also organising supply chain events

SL

Wind farm

Developer

Location

Bristol Channel

RWE Npower Renewables

Off the South Wales and North Devon coasts

Dogger Bank

Forewind Consortium (equally owned by SSE Renewables, Between 125 and 195 km off the east coast RWE Npower Renewables,Statoil and Statkraft) of Yorkshire

Firth of Forth

SeaGreen Wind Energy Ltd (equally owned by SSE Renewables & Fluor)

Around. 22 km from the East coast of Scotland

3,5

Hastings

Eon Climate & Renewables UK

Around 20km off the South Coast

0.6

Hornsea

Siemens Project Ventures and Mainstream Renewable Power

Between 34km and 190km off the Yorkshire coast.

Irish Sea

Centrica Renewable Energy

15 kilometres off the coast of Anglesey, Wales

4.2

Moray Firth

Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (75 EDP Renovaveis & 25% SeaEnergy Renewables) East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd (equally owned by Scottish Power Renewables & Vattenfall Vindkraft

On the Smith Bank in the Moray Firth off the northeast coast of Scotland

1.3

Southern North Sea

7.2

West of Isle of Wight

0.9

Norfolk Bank

There are national and European initiatives for overcoming these obstacles. As mentioned, the Government will co-invest with the developers and

throughout the United Kingdom. With regards to connecting the power produced by the wind turbines to the national grid the English Government is developing a new offshore transmission network regime which with other European countries, including the UK, would develop into an interconnected European grid which should decrease the costs and guarantee continuous supply availability.

West of Isle of Wight

Eneco New Energy

Estimated GW

1.5 9

4

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

Just after the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management granted the final 3 permits for offshore wind sites at the end of December last year, Crown Estate, owner of the UK’s territorial seabed, also made its own long awaited announcement for the winners of the third tender round for 9 offshore wind sites in early January. The 3,2 GW granted offshore wind development in Dutch waters may seem insignificant compared to the approximate 25 GW offshore wind development announced by the Crown Estate.

The possible 25 GW could meet the electricity needs of around 19 million households. At the moment nine wind farms with a capacity of 700 MW are installed, with around 1.2 GW under construction and a further 3.5 GW planned.

for the 9 development zones. Construction is expected to start in 2013.

48 | Of fshore Wind

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WHEN THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY (THE PREDECESSOR OF THE EUROPEAN UNION) WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1951, ITS MEMBERS SHARED THE CONVICTION THAT COLLABORATION WITH RESPECT TO NATURAL RESOURCES WAS MANDATORY FOR THE REGION’S DEVELOPMENT AND STABILITY.

But even more than 10 years after the first wind turbines were installed in the water, neighbouring countries have not developed a platform around which such discussions could take place. The European Union is not the right forum, since most of its members do not have any interest in the development

of offshore wind. The EU structure does not, however, prevent countries or regions from taking ownership of the industry’s development, like the founding members of the ECSC did. Collaboration between countries would serve everyone’s best interests when it comes to creating a mature and effective offshore wind industry. This is not only crucial when it comes to meeting the 20% renewable energy targets by 2020, but would also enable this to be achieved for the lowest possible cost. The current national approach, however, will only lead to sub-optimizing.

But it is not only the legislators who are not taking an integrated approach. The industry itself tends to have a strong national focus.

Indeed, in many projects, the best qualification a subcontractor can have appears to be its location in the same country as the project developer. This is especially true for the purchase of services and knowledge. By adopting such an approach, the industry is failing to mobilize the experience and knowledge required to execute projects effectively and with the lowest possible risk. This is particularly the case given that none of the relevant countries have a mature enough supply chain to support their ambitious goals.

Germany and Denmark are lacking experienced and knowledgeable staff in the field of offshore construction, whereas when it comes to knowledge in the field of wind

technology, the baseline of Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom is fragile.

In the light of the multiple millions (or even billions) of Euros that need to be invested per wind park, the requirement to execute the work with international project teams would appear to be obvious. In practice, however, ventures where the project language is set to the local tongue are not – unfortunately - the exception.

The buying in of experience from other industries, such as the oil and gas sectors, is even more limited. Nonetheless the economic down-turn provides an opportunity to hire very experienced staff who can bring their extensive knowledge of project management, standardisation systems, offshore planning and logistics, HSE and QA/QC methods to the table.

The limited number of links between industries and countries endanger the potential success of offshore wind. It almost certainly increases the costs per project, which is in none of our interests. Changing the attitude of all involved is, therefore, essential and starts with an awareness that offshore wind is never a national, but always a regional development.

Willem Schellingerhout Fair Wind Consultancy

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

less than 60 years, however, this principle In seems to have vanished, and individual EU member states appear to have little motivation to find common ground or share resources. Sadly, the offshore wind sector might be symbolic of this unfocused development. From a geographical perspective, the key markets – the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands – are centred on the North and Baltic Seas. Starting up at the same time, they have all developed different structures for the issuing of building permits, incentives, HSE regulations and even grid issues. Even relatively simple matters, such as determining whether the costs of a shore connection should be borne by the project or the grid operator, have not been aligned.

Due to the nature of the market, an international structure is mandatory if the sector is to become (cost) effective. There is no well developed national or international legal, financial or technical framework for offshore wind. There is also no legacy and no past to work with, and developments could, therefore, have been planned on a clean slate basis.

C O LU M N

EUROPEAN COLLABORATION FOR OFFSHORE WIND

50 | Of fshore Wind

‘A p a n - e u r o p e a n e l e c t r i c i t y s u p e r h i g h w a y ’, i s w h a t t h e ewea is aiming for with its recently launched 20 year plan for an offshore energy grid in the north and baltic seas. According to the organisation, such a transnational offshore grid will reduce the operational costs of power

Of fshore Wind | 51

According to the EWEA, 2010 is a key year for planning Europe’s future electricity grid, since the European Commission is due to publish a Blueprint for a North Sea Grid. The EWEA has urged the Commission to incorporate its 20 year plan for a dedicated offshore grid into this Blueprint. The European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) is likewise encouraged by the EWEA to do the same when drafting its Ten Year Network Development Plan.

generation at the eu-level by more than 300 million e u r o s a y e a r. T h e e w e a e s t i m a t e s t h e t o t a l b u i l d i n g c o s t s of the grid to be over 20 billion Euros.

The organisation also stresses the need for the entire European electricity grid to be massively upgraded, underlining that a truly European grid, which harnesses renewable energies and improves security of

The offshore grid that the EWEA proposes includes the construction of eight additional HVDC offshore grids by 2020 and six more by 2030. These are on top of the 32 grids already in place or being studied by grid operators in these waters. ‘A realistic planning schedule for the offshore grid should closely follow existing initiatives for offshore interconnectors, and we would conceive a grid in a modular and methodical way,’ the EWEA writes in its 20 year plan.

The organisation points out that the offshore grid will, in particular, provide access to more remote offshore wind farms, and it underlines that these should have first call on the right to use the grid connection. It estimates the capacity usage of the grid by the wind farms to be 40%. By offering additional interconnection capacity, the grid will also improve the trading of electricity between the different national electricity markets and will improve the variability of the output of the offshore wind farms on these markets, the EWEA claims. ‘The EWEA’s new offshore network plan will provide a truly pan-European electricity super highway’, Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive, said when the organisation launched the proposals on September 14th at the European Offshore Wind Conference in Stockholm: ‘This will bring affordable electricity to consumers, reduce import dependence, cut CO2 emissions and allow Europe to access its largest domestic energy source – offshore wind.’ The EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, also stressed at the conference that the Commission is committed to ‘doing everything we can to support offshore wind developers and make sure their planned projects come to fruition’.

The financing of the offshore grid that the EWEA proposes will require significant investment. The organisation estimates that the total cost up to 2030 will be in the range of 20-30 billion Euros. This sum would include both the trade interconnectors and the dedicated lines for offshore wind power connection. In order to speed up investment, the EWEA stresses that support should be provided to private investors. In this respect, the organisation believes that existing EU-instruments, such as the funds for trans-European Networks, or the European Investment Bank’s forthcoming ‘Marguerite fund’, should be directed towards offshore wind power, even as stuctural funds at a regional level.

The final cost for consumers would be lowered by the fees collected by the network operators through the use of the interconnectors. ‘Therefore, as the European Electricity market becomes fully operational, trading develops and the grids are used at full capacity, [meaning that] the cost for the final consumer would be minimal’, the EWEA explains. The organisation estimates the reduction in the operational costs of power generation at the European level to be in the region of 326 million Euros per year.

In Stockholm, the EWEA also produced new research findings which revealed that existing and planned European offshore wind projects would, if implemented, supply 10% of the continent’s electricity whilst reducing CO2 emissions by 200 million tonnes every year.

The full extent of existing and planned European offshore wind projects is outlined in a new EWEA-report called the ‘Oceans of Opportunity’. ‘There is huge developer interest in offshore wind power’ said Arthuros Zervos, President of the EWEA, in Stockholm.

‘The scale of planned projects is far greater than most people realise.’

Paul Hazebroek

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 N o 01 FEBRUARY 2010

EWEA PRESENTS PLAN FOR TRANSNATIONAL OFFSHORE POWER GRID

supply, is essential for a single European energy market.

More specifically, the EWEA states that the offshore grid should be built so that it is able to integrate the expected 40 GW of offshore wind power by 2020, and the expected 150 GW by 2030.

52 | Of fshore Wind

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www.offshorewind.biz

offshore

BREEZES

DISCOVER WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS...

Offshore wind energy is rapidly becoming an industry in its own right. Strong growth of the sector is foreseen in the coming years. So offshorewind.biz will be there to keep you updated with news, events, facts and figures.

Everything that is hot in this booming industry. international focus - daily news - headlines - events & seminars - vacancies - news feeds

Authorities & Industry bodies

New name for BWEA: RenewableUK After thirty one years of existence the British Wind Energy Association association which has also represented companies from the wave and (BWEA) is changing its name to RenewableUK.

tidal energy sector for the past 5 years in addition to the on- and offshore wind companies.

The new name and supporting new logo was approved by the members of the BWEA at the Annual General Meeting on the 17th of December The implementation period for the new name and logo will be completed We will be your independent partner providing you with all essential information.

www.offshorewind.biz

Open FOr Business

Easy access at all states of the tide 210m width at harbour entrance Harbour dredged to 10m CD 700m of quay space Sheltered water Barge / barge operations Over 30 acres development land

Up to 250m of developable quay Adjacent warehousing & open storage Short & long term office accommodation Heavy lift and project cargo capability Multi-skilled port operatives 24 hours x 365 days working No bridges or locks

England’s N 1 Offshore Support Port +44 (0) 1493 335510

Email

jhardy@eastportuk.co.uk

www.eastportuk.co.uk

name is more appropriate to identify the activities and purposes of the

Cabling and Grid Connection

The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative

o

Tel

of three wavy lines will be replaced by a ‘green spark’ logo. The new 2010.

The clOsesT deepwaTer pOrT TO nOrFOlk ’s rOund 3 zOne FACILITIES

following 12 months rebranding consultation. The blue logo consisting in time for the Wave and Tidal Energy Conference on the 4th of March

EastPort UK House South Beach Parade Great Yarmouth Norfolk NR30 3GY

At an Energy Council meeting held in Brussels on 7 December,

quickly to the national grids thus making expensive offshore wind farm

Ministers of nine European countries signed The North Seas

development

Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative. With this initiative the countries,

distribution network could also ensure continuous electricity supply

United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark,

availability in each of the connected countries as the flow of power

Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands agreed to work on developing an

can be interchanged. This will at the same time make the market more

offshore grid system in the Irish and North Seas in order to get a step

competitive.

closer to meeting the EU renewable targets for 2020.

A workshop will be organised with relevant stakeholders to prepare

more

cost

effective.

Having

such

integrated

a strategic working plan which is expected to be presented near the An integrated offshore electricity distribution network could enable

end of this year. Existing collaborative initiatives will be taken into

the power from wind turbines to be transmitted more effectively and

consideration and will be further build on.

Cabling and Grid Connection

Shortlists of firms announced to run UK offshore transmission links Following the first tender to run transmission links from several UK the tendering process and are willing to make a substantial investoffshore wind farms, Ofgem E-Serve has made a shortlist of firms for ment.’ The links are worth over £ 1 billion and will connect up to 2,000 each of the nine projects. These projects mark the beginning of a £ 15 MW of renewable electricity. The output from all of the offshore billion programme to ensure that links to offshore farms are built wind farms could total 33 GW by 2020. This tender follows the introon time and within acceptable budgets for both consumers and duction of a new regulatory regime for licensing offshore electricity generators. According to Ofgem’s Chief Executive Alistair Buchanan transmission, using competitive tendering. Winning bids for all projects there has been some strong but useful competition between both the will be announced in May 2010. These firms will own and manage the existing network companies and the new entrants: ‘The strong compe- transmission links once constructed. This will guarantee them a stable tition for the first round of transmission links demonstrates the value of and regulated income for the next 20 years. A second tender process is attracting new entrants and shows that firms have confidence in scheduled for summer 2010.

54 | Of fshore Wind

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offshore

BREEZES

Cabling and Grid Connection

COBRA cable to advance integration of sustainable energy in Denmark and Holland During this project the possibility of connecting offshore wind farms

ment for two offshore substations platforms, which will be installed on de fibre optic lines for sending large volumes of data. The contract also includes the cable accessories such as repair joints and terminations.

location at the wind farm.

Distribution cable

routes

over

two

within

platforms the

wind

has

the

advantage

farm

are

shorter,

that

and

the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, is a joint ven-

power ture being developed by Danish DONG Energy, British E.ON and Masdar

In early December 2009 the European Commission awarded a subsidy directly to the cable will also be investigated. Research on this subject

transmission losses are kept therefore as low as possible to from Abu Dhabi. It will be located in the Thames Estuary, about 20 km

of approximately € 86 million to COBRA, the undersea electricity cable will contribute to the development of an offshore electricity grid. COBRA

enhance the wind farm’s energy efficiency. Siemens will also prepare the off the Kent and Essex coasts and is scheduled to be operational in

to be installed on the seabed between the Netherlands and Denmark. is one of nine offshore wind projects that have been awarded subsidy

requisite design studies for grid access for all of the wind farm’s electrical 2012. The project will have a total capacity of 630 MW with an option

Energy companies TenneT and Energinet.dk submitted a joint subsidy under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR regulation),

components and prepare the grid studies to demonstrate fulfilment of to uprate to 1000 MW which will be sufficient to supply 750.000 British

application for the development and installation of this new electricity a programme aimed at advancing new initiatives in the field of energy

grid access requirements.

interconnector. The new cable is planned to advance the integration of development. The purpose of this subsidy is to promote economic

Nexans will design, manufacture and supply four 150 kilowatts the UK Government’s target to provide 15.4 % of all electricity supply to

more sustainable energy into the Dutch and Danish electricity supply. progress and sustainable development in this field in Europe.

submarine power cables, two in 2011 and two in 2012. These be from renewable sources by 2015.

households with electricity. It is estimated that this will be nearly 7% of

transmission lines will connect the array to the UK grid and will inclu-

Cabling and Grid Connection

€ 300 million for Dutch-British joint venture BritNed Interconnector

Cabling and Grid Connection

Subocean awarded £ 42 investment

It was announced in December 2009 that Dutch TenneT and British Grid will receive € 150 million. The BritNed Interconnector consists of a

Subocean, the Aberdeen based offshore subsea construction company The company is involved in the installation of export power cables and

National Grid will receive € 300 million from the European Investment high-voltage direct current submarine power cable, which will be placed

mainly active in the renewable sector, announced on December 21 that it associated infield interconnecting cable networks in over 50% of the

Bank (EIB) for the construction of their 50:50 joint venture BritNed between the Isle of Grain in Kent, United Kingdom and Maasvlakte near

has secured a £ 17 million investment from LDC, the private equity arm offshore wind farm projects currently under construction in the UK. Part

Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Interconnector.

of the Lloyds Banking Group as part of a £ 42 million fundraising . The of the investment will be used to expand the existing UK offshore wind remaining £ 25 million it secured from HSBC Bank.

operations but according to Subocean’s Managing Director John Sinclair

The new BritNed Interconnector is a 260 km long electricity transmis- Construction already started in September and it is expected to be

it offers ‘an even bigger opportunity to capture a significant share of

sion cable between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. With its complete by December 2010. The BritNed Interconnectior will be

Currently the four year old company employs 90 people and has business outside the UK from 2011 when other European governments

capacity of 1.000 MW it is expected to contribute to the diversity and available for commercial use by the first quarter of 2011

a turnover of £ 70 million. The investment is expected to help the start progressing their own renewable targets for 2020.’

security of electricity supplies in both countries. According to Simon

company to achieve its goals to double the business in two years and

Brooks, EIB Vice President responsible for lending operations in the

reach a turnover of £ 300 million by 2014.

United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the BritNed Interconnector will be a key element of European electricity infrastructure, enabling greater electricity trading, and improving security of supply.

The overall costs for the project will be € 600 million, of which EIB will

MME gets onboard Offshore Wind Energy with corrosion protection systems

contribute 50%. It was agreed that both TenneT and British National

Foundations

With more than 45 years of experience as an independent company in the

marine and offshore industry MME is now also successful in the world of

Cabling and Grid Connection

renewable energies.

Three new subcontractors announced for London Array

MME is a major supplier of products and services for corrosion protection by cathodic protection to Offshore Oil and Gas industry, Civil Engineering companies and now Offshore Wind Turbine manufacturers.

It was announced in December 2009 that Siemens, JDR Cable Systems

Currently MME has a number of projects in wind-, wave and tidal power

and Nexans have won contracts for the London Array offshore wind farm.

generation. The Bard Offshore I project is probably the best known.

Corrosion is a major threat to all marine structures and turbine

JDR Cable Systems has been awarded the contract for the supply of

foundations are no exception to this. The structural integrity of these

subsea power array cables. It includes the engineering, design and

heavily loaded installations is of the utmost importance. Corrosion

manufacture of over 200km of 33 kilovolt array cables complete with

protection systems are not only required by Class rules but are a

proprietary hang-off and termination systems linking the individual

necessity for a trouble free operation.

wind turbine generators, the wind turbine generator arrays and the

The design and manufacturing of electrical systems for impressed

offshore substations. The company will produce the cables in 2010 and

current cathodic protection and corrosion monitoring is carried out in

2011, at their newly opened deepwater quayside facility in Hartlepool

MME’s production plant in The Netherlands. Their own R&D facilities

which was designed specifically to manufacture subsea power cables for

guarantees that the latest technologies are used. MME also owns a large

this purpose.

foundry for the manufacturing of sacrificial aluminum anodes.

MME can provide a cost-effective solution , with either an Ethernet

Siemens In addition to the supply of 175 wind turbines, Siemens will

accessible and controllable impressed current system or a well balanced

provide the grid connection of the London Array to the power supply

aluminum anode system.

network. Also, the company agreed to supply the electrical equip-

Hartlepool harbour

ICCP anode No dielectric shield needed

56 | Of fshore Wind

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offshore

BREEZES

Investment

€ 565 million for offshore wind energy projects The European Commission has granted € 565 million to nine offshore wind energy projects in the scope of The European Energy Programme of Recovery (EEPR). This programme was created as part of the € 200 billion European Economic Recovery Plan that was presented in November 2008.to invest in green energy projects.

These investments are considered as an important tool to push the economy and employment and will also support innovative energy technologies that may create further jobs and growth in future. In total, a budget of € 4 billion was allocated, of which 14% (€ 565 million) is for offshore wind energy projects that are believed to enhance development and consolidation of a competitive offshore wind industry in Europe. From the 29 proposals received the following 9 projects were granted funding:

3 € 74,10 million for HVDC hub Transmission Ltd., United Kingdom)

(Scottish

Hydro

Electric

Turbines

AMSC Windtec™ and Dongfang Turbine Co. Ltd. to design and jointly develop 5 MW turbines AMSC Windtec™, the subsidiary of American offshore wind turbines. Dongfang will have the in the second half of this year. Dongfang is well

established in China but is looking to broaden their horizon in the rest of the world. They are Turbine, a subsidiary of Dongfang Electric Cor- The contract was a result of an earlier planning to start introducing their turbines to poration, signed a contract early in January to agreement to design 2.5 MW turbines which are the international offshore wind market in 2012.

Superconductor

New turbine structures and components optimalisation of manufacturing capacities: 4 € 53,10 million for BARD 1 (Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co KG, Germany) 5 € 58,55 million for Global Tech I - Gravity Foundations (Wetfeet Offshore Wind Energy GmbH and Strabag Offshore Wind GmbH, both Germany) 6 € 50 million for Nordsee Ost (Essent Wind Nordsee Ost Planungs- und Betriebsgesellschaft GmbH, Germany) 7 € 42,71 million for Borkum West II (Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum GmbH & Co. KG, Germany) 8 € 40 million for Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm (Aberdeen Offshore Grid Integration: Wind Farm Limited, United Kingdom) 1 € 150 million for Baltic – Kriegers Flak I, II, III (Vattenfall Europe 9 € 10 million for Thornton Bank (C-Power, Belgium) Transmission GmbH, Germany, Affärsverket Svenska Kraftnät, Sweden and Energinet.dk, Denmark) 2 € 86,54 million for COBRA CABLE (TenneT TSO B.V., the The Commission will annually report to the European Parliament and the Netherlands and Energinet.dk, Denmark) Council on the implementation of the regulation with the first report to be expected in spring 2010.

Corporation

(AMSC)

and exclusive rights for the 5 MW offshore turbine

Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Dongfang in China.

design and jointly develop 5 MW full conversion expected to be introduced on the Chinese market

Turbine

Low Carbon Energy Demonstration fund Also at the Energy Council meeting in Brussels on 7 December, UK Vestas Technology UK Limited. The latter is also receiving £ 1.75 Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Hunt announced the recipients million from the South East England Development Agency, SEEDA, and of the second round of grants from the £10 million Low Carbon Energy will use the grants to build a research and development center on the Isle Demonstration fund (LCED). The object of the fund is to stimulate the of Wight where large wind turbine blades will be built and tested. Vestas development of offshore multi watt wind turbine technologies in time to have already received £6 million from the first round of the LCED. meet the 2020 renewable target. £ 2.5 million was granted to Clipper Windpower Marine Limited, who also Lord Hunt also announced an additional 5 million in new grants for received first round funding of £ 4.4 million, Mitsubishi Power Systems offshore wind technology and research.

Europe Ltd received £ 0.81 million and £ 1.75 million was granted to

Ports facilities

NEW PORT READY FOR BUSINESS

Vessels

Drydocks World Southeast Asia Pte to build first Gusto Wind Turbine Installation Vessel Dutch based GustoMSC announced late December last year that it had licensed Singapore based Drydocks World Southeast Asia Pte Limited (DDW-SEA ) to build its NG-9000C-HPE Wind Turbine Installation Jack-Up Vessel at their Drydocks World - Graha yard.

The Jack-up turbine installation vessel will be the largest of its kind to be serving the offshore wind industry. With a 6,500 ton Variable Load capacity, a DP-2 dynamic positioning system and an unique, ‘around the leg’ crane with a lifting capacity of 800 tons it will be able to make

Great Yarmouth beach with Scroby Sands in the distance.

The new harbour.

heavy loaded transports at a high speed in North Sea water depths of up to 45 m.

Just two and a half years after construction commenced, the new The facility has 10 metres of water depth and provides 700 metres of deepwater outer harbour at the port of Great Yarmouth has opened for quay space, 30 acres of development land and 250 metres of developable business this month.

quay.

GustoMSC provides the Basic Design and will be supplying the Jacking System and Main Crane.

The port is the closest deep water facility to Norfolk’s Round 3 Zone, Trading as EastPortUK, new owners Great Yarmouth Port Company

DDW-SEA and GustoMSC have been working together on several projects

offers the shortest sea route to the continent and experience in handling Limited have rebranded the port to reflect its increased offering as a

since 2005 such as the design and building of construction jack-ups,

components for both offshore and onshore wind farms. This means that modern, multipurpose facility designed to service the needs of a large

drilling jack-ups, Service Jack construction / decommissioning jack-ups

the port has a significant offering to the renewable energy sector.

range of vessels.

and a Multi-purpose jack-up.

The development boasts some impressive figures such as the Three major clients have already signed up to land within the outer

The vessel is expected to be delivered at the beginning of 2012. The name

importation of 1 million tonnes of rock and 10 million tonnes of sand harbour and with the port being England’s number one offshore support

of the buyer has not been disclosed.

being displaced to reclaim approximately 60 acres (24.28hectare) of port port in the southern north sea for nearly 50 years, interest levels from the land.

renewable sector are understandably high.

58 | Of fshore Wind

Of fshore Wind | 59

offshore

BREEZES

Vessels

Wind farm update

Lamprell Energy Ltd. and wind turbine installation vessels

Borkum Riffgrund I and II

After years of refurbishing , maintaining, and the water on their own legs to provide a stable 1500 kW azimuth thrusters producing a speed

DONG Energy announced in December last year they had acquired project. PNE WIND AG will continue their involvement in the development

of 8 knots.

constructing Jack Up Drilling rigs at their UAE, and sizable work platform.

full ownership of both the Borkum Riffgrund I and II wind farms. Both of both projects serving as a service provider for DONG Energy.

Middle East Facilities, Lamprell have diversified Perfectly suited for installing wind turbines, When the company first embarked on these

offshore wind farm projects were previously owned by DONG Energy, Borkum Riffgrund 1 and II are located north of Borkum and Norderney

into building an alternative type of rig in order to equipped with suitable marine cranes and, as is projects two years ago, there was a real buzz

Vattenfall AB and PNE Wind. On 15 December Vattenfall AB sold its in the German part of the North Sea. The Borkum Riffgrund I project has

the case with Lamprell’s Leviathan, fitted with a in the market for such units, but then, proba-

minority stake of 24.5 % in Borkun Riffgrund I to DONG Energy followed already been approved by the German Authorities and will have up to 77

These rigs are commonly known as ‘Lift Boats’ large basket/rack arrangement off the bow for bly partly fuelled by the worldwide recession,

by the acquisition by DONG Energy of PNE Wind AG’s 50% ownership turbines erected offering a 277 MW total nominal output. The Borkum

support the alternative energy industry.

and have been buzzing around offshore oilfields storage of turbines and blades. for years, primarily functioning in a suppor- Lamprell

have

recently

constructed

all went quiet. Now, due to growing political and and commercial commitment, and mass public

ting role for platform shutdowns, and various delivered two such vessels to international awareness and realization of the acute need for

interest in both German offshore wind farm projects a few days later.

Riffgrund II project has yet to be approved and is expected to have up to

PNE WIND AG will receive an initial payment of approximately € 11.3 96 turbines. A final investment decision is expected to be made in 2011 million followed by partial payments when reaching certain phases in the or 2012.

offshore jobs where temporary workshops and operator, Seajacks International. Both Seajacks a reduction in conventional energy sources, it is extra accommodation are needed, enabling Kraken and Seajacks Leviathan are identical in predicted that 2010 will be a banner year for the the fixed platforms and resident Jack Ups to design, NG 2500X, by Gusto MSC of Holland, and wind energy sector. are specifically suited for operating in harsh en- Lamprell Energy Ltd., despite the highly complex

continue production.

Traditionally

designed

and

built

as

self vironmental conditions of the North Sea. With and sophisticated specification, completed both

propelled, self elevating vessels, the lift boats luxury accommodations for up to 100 persons, Seajacks Lift boats on schedule, within budget can rise rapidly to an elevated position, clear of the units are Class 2 DP with propulsion from 4 and to full Client and Class approval.

Vessels

New ships to be build by Korean shipyard Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering have signed a contract with RWE Innogy to build a specialist ship for the construction of offshore wind farms, with a contract value around € 100 million.

Wind farm update

Lincs English energy company Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, announced on 23 December it would sell 50% of its stake in the Lincs offshore wind farm project to the joint venture DONG Energy and Siemens Project Ventures (SPV) for an estimated £ 50 million, covering half of the development costs that have been made up to then. Both parties in the joint venture will acquire 25% and will each pay 50% of the total investment which is estimated at £ 375 million. The transaction is expected to be finalised this month.

Centrica will continue to be the leading partner in the Lincs project.

Centrica announced at the same time that Siemens Wind Power will provide 75 of their SWT-3.6-120 class turbines, an upgrade of the SWT-3.6-107 released in September last year. The supply of the

turbines for the Lincs project is an extension to the agreement for the supply of offshore wind turbines that was signed in March 2009 between Siemens and DONG Energy. Siemens will also be the design-build contractor for grid connection.

British Gas Trading will purchase 75 % of Lincs’ generated electricity and 50% of the generated Renewable Obligation Certificates for the next 15 years. The Lincs project site is located 8 km off the coast of Skegness in Eastern England. Construction is expected to start this summer. With its maximum permitted capacity of 270 MW it is anticipated to provide 200,000 households with electricity once being operational which is scheduled for the second half of 2012.

This unique type of ship can both transport and install up to four larger class offshore wind turbines and foundations. The ship has a length of 109 meters, with a width of 40 meters. It is expected to be completed in 2011. The contract also includes options for two further identical construction ships.

RWE Innogy believes this type of vessel will overcome the main obstacles in the construction of offshore wind farms.

Wind farm update

Cape Wind After nine years of struggle Ken Salazar, the United States Secretary of the Interior, wants clarity about the plan to build ‘Cape Wind’ at Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts, probably the United States’ first offshore wind farm. Salazar has set a deadline to resolve the differences between several parties about the coming of the wind turbines. If they don’t reach an agreement before the first of March, he’ll make a decision.

He issued this statement after the National Park Service announced that Nantucket Sound is a candidate to be added to the National Register of Historic Places after a request from two American Indian tribes. The Native Americans believe that the wind farm will block the greeting of the sunrise, which is a spiritual ritual. If listed in the registry, the area is protected against any far-reaching developments.

Wind farm update

Rhyl Flats On 2 December last year the Welsh offshore wind farm Rhyl Flats was officially opened after just a 14 months construction project. The wind farm, located in Liverpool Bay,

approximately 8 km off the north Wales capacity of 90 MW could meet the electricity coast, has 25 Siemens SWT-107-3.6 type needs of around 61,000 households per year. turbines operating which makes it the largest Welsh offshore wind farm built. The installed

Wind farm update

Walney Just before Christmas 2009 DONG Energy sold a 25.1% share in their The 367 MW wind farm, to be located 14 km west of the Isle of Walney in the previously fully owned offshore wind farm project Walney to Scottish and Irish Sea off the English coast near the Isle of Man , is to be built in two phases Southern Energy (SSE). The acquisition will cost SSE approximately £ 39 with the construction of the first one to start this spring and the second one million of which around £ 17million is subject to the operational perfor- in spring 2011. The wind farm is expected to be in operation in the first half of mance of the wind farm. Being a shareholder now in the project, SSE will pay 20111 and end 2011 respectively.

In the past local inhabitants, politicians and several agencies had complaints about the realisation of the project, that will be handled by Energy Management Inc. Landowners in particular have lodged complaints because they feel that the wind farm will obstruct the view. The energy company claims that the turbines, of which the highest blade tip will be 440 feet above the surface of the water, will appear one and half-inch above the horizon when the sky is clear and is seen from a nearby beach.

its pro rata share of the construction costs (around £ 250 million ) with the Also in December, SSE and DONG Energy also announced they are forming commissioning of each phase of the wind farm.

a 50:50 joint venture to develop the three offshore wind farms, Den Helder

DONG Energy will manage the construction and operation of the wind farm. I, Breeveertien II and West Rijn wind farms off the Dutch coast. When and The total cost for the construction of the wind farm is expected to slightly whether these projects will be developed will depend partly on the financial less than £ 1 billion, excluding the connection to the national grid. Siemens support made available by the Dutch government. is to supply the turbines. The electricity output will qualify for 2 Renewable Construction already started in September and it is expected to be complete by

If the project is given the go-ahead, the maximum expected production will be 454 megawatts. Each of the 130 wind turbines in the farm can produce 3.6 MW.

Obligation Certificates per MWh and will be proportionally sold to the market December 2010. The BritNed Interconnectior will be available for commercial by both parties.

use by the first quarter of 2011

Of fshore Wind | 61

offshore

BREEZES

Wind farm update

Scarweather Sands DONG Energy and E.ON announced early December last year that the development plans for the offshore wind farm Scarweather Sands had been cancelled. The reason given by both developers was that it was no longer commercially viable.

The wind farm, located next to the Scarweather sandbank off the South Wales coast in Swansea Bay, was expected with its 30 turbines with a total capacity of 100 MW to provide 82.000 households with electricity. There has been strong opposi-

tion from the local habitants of Porthcawl but DONG Energy and E.ON claimed that the main reasons for cancelling the project were the challenging seabed conditions, relatively poor wind speeds and a restriction on turbine height.

Vessels

BLUE OCEAN, PART OF SWIRE GROUP, BUILDS GIANT TIV

MME Group Headoffice - Rietdekkerstraat 16 - 2984 BM Ridderkerk The Netherlands - P.O. Box 4222 - 2980 GE Ridderkerk Tel.: +31 (0)180 48 28 28 - Fax.: +31 (0)180 46 22 40 - info@mme-group.com

Blue Ocean Ships (BOS) A/S of Denmark, of which is rumoured that it has been taken over by Swire Pacific Offshore, will soon commence building the world largest turbine installation vessel (TIV) on speculation. At this moment the Danish TIVdesigner is selecting a shipyard to build the huge multiple carrier-jack up TIV (with room for 12 turbine-towers). Three Asiatic yards

are said to be competing for the order, the Korean yards of Samsung and Daewoo and Dalian Ship Building of China. BOS indicates that a second order for the same type of vessel will follow as soon as the first giant TIV will be operational. With the buy-out of the Danish company, Swire Pacific Offshore is said to be strongly committed to acquire a leading position in the offshore wind instal-

lation market. Blue Ocean Ships develops concepts and supply services that will enable the global players in the offshore wind industry to install offshore wind farms significantly more efficiently than what is possible today. Swire Pacific Offshore, a subsidiary of the UK-based Swire Group, already operates some 70 offshore supply vessels as well as several crane vessels.

IN THE NEXT EDITION OF OFFSHORE WIND....

- PORTS GETTING READY FOR OFFSHORE WIND - HOW THE MAN IN THE STREET CAN INVEST IN OFFSHORE WIND OFFSHORE WIND IS HERE FOR YOU: TELL US YOUR IDEAS!

www.offshorewind.biz info@offshorewind.biz

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY EVENTS 2010

62 | Of fshore Wind

March

April

3

Introduction to Wind Energy Utilisation

Seminar

Berlin, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

2-3

Offshore Wind Power

Conference

Philadelphia, USA

4

Technical Operation of Wind Farms

Seminar

11-12

Wind Power Finance & Investment Summit

16-17

May

OfOf fshore fshore Wind Wind | 63 | 63

10-14

GH Bladed

Training

Bristol, England

www.garradhassan.com

www.greenpowerconferences.com

19-20

All-Energy2010

Conference & Exhibition

Aberdeen, England

www.all-energy.co.uk

Berlin, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

23-26

WINDPOWER 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Dallas,Texas, USA

www.windpowerexpo.org

Conference

San Diego, CA USA

www.infocastinc.com

26

BWEA Cymru 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Cardiff, UK

www.bwea.com

AWEA Wind and Transmission Workshop

Workshop

Denver, USA

www.awea.org 8-10

Renewable Energy World Europe

Conference & Exhibition

Amsterdam, Netherlands

www.renewableenergyworldeurope.com

Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America

Conference & Exhibition

Austin, USA

8-10

EnergyOcean 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA

www.energyocean.com

Towers and Foundations for Wind Energy Converters

Technical conference

Essen, Germany

15-16

Wind Turbine Rotor Blades International Conference with Supporting Exhibition

Conference & Exhibition

Essen, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

9-10

Drivelines in wind power installations

Seminar

Essen, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

29-30

BWEA Offshore Wind 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Liverpool. Uk

www.bwea.com

10-12

Wind Power Commercial Strategies

Conference & Exhibition

Prague, Czech Republic

www.inno-qube.com

21-25

Husum WindEnergy 2010

Trade fair

Husum, Germany

www.husumwindenergy.com

11-12

Wind farm development and Technical Due Diligence

Seminar

Essen, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

25-30

WREC1XI 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Abu Dhabi, UAE

www.wrenuk.co.uk

23

Preventive Maintenance To Minimize Underperformance And Maximize Availability

One-day debate

Houston, Texas

www.windpowermonthlyusa.com

5-7

North American Offshore Wind Conference & Exhibition

Conference & Exhibition

Atlantic City, NJ, USA

www.awea.org

7

Conference

Hamburg, Germany

www.greenpowerconferences.com

Conference & Exhibition

www.offshore-energy2010.com

Offshore Wind & Transmission

Offshore Energy 2010

Den Helder, Netherlands

30-31

2-4

BWEA32

www.bwea.com

Offshore Wind Energy Europe

Conference

Copenhagen, Denmark

www.windenergyupdate.com/ wind-conference

Conference & Exhibition

Glasgow, UK

7-8

23-24

Grids 2010

Conference

Berlin, Germany

www.ewea.org/grids2010

23-25

23-24

June www.renewableenergyworld-events.com

www.my-windenergy.com

2011/12

AGENDA2010

February

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY EVENTS 2010

September

October

November

15

20-21

20-23

Bladed Software Training

Training

Wind Power Transmission and Distribution 2010 conference

Conference

EWEC

Conference & Exhibition

Bristol, England

Manchester, England

Warsaw, Poland

www.garradhassan.com

www.windpowertd-events.com/2010

www.ewec2010.info

26-27

Wind Turbine Based Electrical System

Seminar

Essen, Germany

www.my-windenergy.com

27-29

The 4th China(Shanghai) International Wind Energy Exhibition & Conference 2010 Offshore Wind Shanghai Expo 2010

Conference & Exhibition

Shanghai, China

www.cwee.com.cn

FUTURE EVENTS

March 2011

14-17

EWEC

Conference & Exhibition

Brussels, Belgium

www.ewec2011.info

May 2011

22-25

WINDPOWER 2011

Conference & Exhibition

Anaheim, California, USA

www.awea.org

Nov/Dec 2011

29-1

EOW 2011

Conference & Exhibition

Amsterdam, Netherlands

www.ofshorewind2011.info

June 2012

3-6

WINDPOWER 2012

Conference & Exhibition

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

www.awea.org

To have your event included in the next edition of Offshore Wind or on the website www.offshorewind.biz please contact Offshore Wind at info@offshorewind.biz

64 | Of fshore Wind

Of fshore Wind | 65

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Consultancy

Port Facilities

GEO

MME Group

EastPortUK

Maglebjergvej 1

P.O. Box 4222

EastPort UK House, South Beach Parade

2800 Kgs. Lyngby

Rietdekkerstraat 16

Great Yarmouth

Denmark

2980 GE Ridderkerk

Norfolk, NR30 3GY

w w w

•

g e o

•

d k

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

offshore@geo.dk

T +31 180 48 28 28

T +44 1493 335510

www.geo.dk

info@mme-group.com

jhardy@eastportuk.co.uk

www.mme-group.com

www.eastportuk.co.uk

T +45 4588 4444

Containers

CARU Containers B.V.

Ship builders

EWEA

Damen Shipyards Gorinchem

4782 PP Moerdijk

European Wind Energy Association asbl

P.O. Box 1

The Netherlands

Renewable Energy House

4200 AA Gorinchem

T +31 168 387 000

63-65 Rue d’Arlon

The Netherlands

info@carucontainers.com

B-1040 Brussels

T +31 183 63 99 11

Contractors

European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC) 20-23 April 2010, Expo XXI Warsaw, Poland

Industry Associations

Graanweg 11

www.carucontainers.com

Give your business a lift

Belgium

info@damen.nl

T: +32 2 400 10 78

www.damen.nl

LEARN ABOUT THE POLISH MARKET

Warsaw

, Hilton Hotel

ewea@ewea.org

DEME nv

Training

www.ewea.org

SAIO Safety Training

Scheldedijk 30, Haven 1025 B-2070 Zwijndrecht

Renewable Energy World Europe

Quarantaineweg 98

Belgium

PennWell Corporation

3089 KP, Rotterdam

T +32 3 250 52 11

Warlies Park House

The Netherlands

info@deme.be

Horseshoe Hill

T +31 10 2042255

www.deme.be

Upshire, Essex

info@saio.nl

EN9 3SR

www.saio.nl

Engineering

United Kingdom

Transport , installation, vessels

Huisman Equipment BV

T +44 (0) 1992 656 600

Admiraal Trompstraat 2

nchristie@pennwell.com

Jumbo Offshore

3115 HH Schiedam

www.renewableenergyworld-europe.com

Van Vollenhovenstraat 3

The Netherlands

3016 BE Rotterdam

T +31 102 45 2222

Offshore Construction

The Netherlands

info@huisman-nl.com

Lamprell Energy Ltd

www.huismanequipment.com

PO Box 6941, Sharjah

info@jumbo-offshore.nl

United Arab Emirates

www.jumbo-offshore.nl

T +31 10 4134 630

Foundations

T +971 6 528 2323

SIF Group

F + 971 6 5284325

P.O.Box 522

lamprell@lamprell.com www.lamprell.com

6040 AM Roermond Mijnheerkensweg 33 6041 TA Roermond

Register now to both events and save up to €250

Personnel

IPS Group

The Netherlands

IPS Group

T +31 475 385 777

Rivium Boulevard 46

info@sif-group.com

2909 LK Capelle aan den IJssel

www.sif-group.com

The Netherlands

www.ipspersonnel.com

T +31 10 447 94 94 info@ipspersonnel.com www.ipspersonnel.com

ADVERTISE IN OFFSHORE WIND MAGAZINE

Where do you want to be in a year’s time ahead of the competition or standing still?

Whether you are an established industry player or a newcomer to this thriving sector, EWEC 2010 is a must-attend event.

Join over 7,000 key players in Warsaw to develop new opportunities and lift your company to the next level.

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66 | Of fshore Wind

DEME nv Haven 1025 - Scheldedijk 30 B-2070 Zwijndrecht, Belgium T +32 3 250 52 11 F +32 3 250 56 50 info@deme.be www.deme.be

Sustainable solutions: our contribution to renewable energy DEME has been a top player in every segment of worldwide dredging, hydraulic fill and marine engineering for decades. We have participated in the construction, deepening and or widening of important waterways and navigation channels in every corner of the world for over 150 years.

Today our multidisciplinary expertise in project development and hydraulic engineering enables us to offer a total package of services to design, operate and maintain offshore wind farms.

C-Power offshore windfarm: Total package of marine Works 1) Hydrographic surveys and offshore soil investigations 2) Construction of Gravity Base Foundations 3) Installation of gravelbed 4) Lifting-off and offshore heavy-weight transport GBF’s 5) Infill and backfill GBF’s and installation scour protection 6) Assembling of wind turbines 7) Subsea cable-laying and electrical connections

Creating land for the future