Windpower Engineering & Development May 2021

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MAY 2021

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & D E V E LO P M E N T / / V O L . 1 3 N O. 2

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COVER STORY

Health and safety risks across offshore wind and how vessel data can minimize them

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Crew transfer comes with its challenges, including vessel collisions and short-term motion sickness. Offshore O&M activity has safety implications that constantly need to be managed. Cover image credit Ørsted

IN EVERY ISSUE

FEATURES

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CONTRIBUTORS

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WINDWATCH

08 Mitigating wind turbine radar interference with radar absorbing materials

22 3 steps to keep wind turbines spinning through extreme cold events

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WIND WORK AROUND THE UNITED STATES

15 Improved wind designs require a re-invented seal

26 Unlocking offshore wind’s potential with lidar

Some interesting product and policy news from our website.

On- and offshore wind project announcements from across the country.

FIND US ONLINE WINDPOWERENGINEERING.COM

See the latest wind power developments and U.S. project news on our website. Also find expert webinars and more from the leading wind power engineering magazine today.

MAY 2021

The use of radar absorbing materials to mitigate radar interference opens a unique opportunity to access potential benefits for the wind turbine itself.

The immediate reaction from Texas regulators after a February winter storm has been to winterize power assets across the state to prevent a repeat of this disaster. But how?

With wind turbines now expected to achieve a working life of more than 20 years, there is a demand for components — like seals — to offer efficiency benefits in addition to long life.

www.windpowerengineering.com

While offshore wind farms promise excellent wind availability and energy capture, they also bring a new set of design and wind measurement challenges that can be solved with lidar.

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

ELVIRA ALIVERDIEVA

GARETH BROWN

DR. ADAM NEVIN

ELVIRA ALIVERDIEVA is a product and marketing specialist for Leosphere, a Vaisala Company. She participates in the evolution of the company’s onshore and offshore wind product strategy, with a primary focus on the booming offshore market.

GARETH BROWN is CEO of Clir Renewables, a renewable energy AI software company. Gareth has over a decade of experience leading identification, development, construction, financing and operation of renewable energy assets for a world leading renewable energy technical consultancy. He is an entrepreneur, chartered engineer with the IMechE, and has degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering.

CHRIS HUXLEY-REYNARD is the Managing Director of Reygar Ltd. and creator of the BareFLEET remote vessel monitoring system. Chris has close to two decades of experience in the commercial marine and marine renewables industries. An aeronautical engineer by training, his broad experience in hydrodynamics, subsea electro-mechanical and software engineering, combined with his hands-on practical offshore experience, means he brings a multi-disciplinary approach to solving engineering problems.

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

CHRIS HUXLEYREYNARD

ANDRAS KALDOS

MATHIAS REGNIER

ANDRAS KALDOS is Product Engineering Group Manager for Key Industries at James Walker. Andras is based at the James Walker Centre of Excellence for elastomeric materials in Cockermouth, UK, and was involved in the research, development, design and testing of Walkersele X-Gen. DR. ADAM NEVIN is the Innovation Lead within Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Nottingham on highly functionalized nanomaterials and their potential for revolutionizing the renewable energy sector, before continuing to a subsequent post-doctoral position developing novel smart polymer materials at Cardiff University.

MATHIAS REGNIER is the product manager for the WindCube Offshore lidar at Leosphere, a Vaisala Company. As such, he continually evaluates customer needs in order to develop lidar product strategies and solutions for the booming offshore wind market.

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

wind windWatch Watch Biden Administration sets national goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 President Joe Biden’s administration and the Departments of Interior, Energy and Commerce established a shared goal to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind in the United States by 2030. Along with that development goal is the promise to strengthen the domestic supply chain and create union jobs through the offshore wind industry. The industry is expected to generate $12 billion per year in capital investments from projects on both U.S. coasts by meeting the development target, and with it create 44,000 industry jobs by 2030 and another 33,000 jobs in communities supported by offshore wind activity. Investing in port and development infrastructure will put the country on a path to install 110 GW of offshore wind by 2050, the announcement predicted, creating an additional 77,000 offshore wind jobs.

MAY 2021

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WIND WATCH

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Offshore monopile manufacturing facility breaks ground in New Jersey

Berkeley Lab survey predicts wind energy costs to drop by almost 50% by 2050

Ocean Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and PSEG, and steel pipe manufacturer EEW have broken ground at the EEW monopile manufacturing facility at the Port of Paulsboro Marine Terminal in Gloucester County. Once complete, the facility will manufacture monopiles to supply the 1,100-MW Ocean Wind farm off the coast of southern New Jersey.

A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory survey predicts wind energy costs will be driven down by 17% to 35% by 2035 and 37% to 49% by 2050 because of production of bigger and more efficient turbines, lower capital and operating costs and other advancements.

Those cost estimates are half of those determined in a similar Berkeley Lab study from 2015.

U.S. offshore players request larger infrastructure support from Congress

Offshore wind could generate 90% of the country’s electricity, report finds

Several offshore wind industry members addressed a letter to Congress requesting the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program’s budget be increased to $750 million in the FY 2022 infrastructure appropriations bill. The budget increase would fund port infrastructure in states where lease sales for offshore development have already occured.

Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group published a report that offshore wind could deliver 90% of the United States’ projected 2050 electricity demand, with the Atlantic and Gulf regions having the highest potential capacity. If fully developed, the Atlantic region could generate fourtimes as much electricity as was used in 2019.

European sea vessel company partners with U.S. shipper for emerging offshore market

BOEM conducts environmental analysis on Vineyard Wind proposed offshore site

Domestic maritime shipping company Crowley plans to bolster purpose-built, Jones Act-compliant sea vessel availability to support the emerging U.S. offshore wind energy market. Crowley will own and operate the vessels with its U.S. mariners, and Danish company ESVAGT will provide technical advice on the design, construction and operation of said vessels.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management completed environmental analysis of the 800-MW Vineyard Wind I offshore wind project lease area off the shore of Massachusetts. Analysis went over foreseeable effects from expanded maritime activities from offshore wind development, fishing data and transit lane alternatives.

The BOEM is currently working with involved parties to finalize any modifications to the proposed project.

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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MAY 2021

Wind work around the

united states

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Oklahoma The 148-MW Boiling Springs wind project in Woodward County has reached commercial operation. The wind farm is RWE Renewables’ first in the Southwest Power Pool and is powered by 60 GE turbines, a mix of 2.82-MW and 2.3-MW models.

American Honda Motor Co. contracted a 120-MW PPA on Boiling Springs.

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Avangrid Renewables brought the 154.8MW Tatanka Ridge Wind Farm online earlier this year. The facility’s 56 wind turbines are located in Deuel County, and Dairyland Power Cooperative has a 51.6MW PPA on the project. The balance of Tatanka’s generation is contracted to a large commercial customer. Between land lease payments and taxes, the wind farm will provide $1.7 million of local economic benefits annually over the life of the project.

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7 AEP completes third wind farm in 1,485-MW Oklahoma project portfolio

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Oklahoma American Electric Power flipped on its 199-MW Sundance Wind Energy Center in Woods County. Sundance is one of three wind projects in the North Central Energy Facilities, which will, in total, produce 1,485 MW for AEP’s Public Service Company of Oklahoma and Southwestern Electric Power Company subsidiaries. The North Central wind projects were a $2 billion investment and will serve customers for the next 30 years.

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Enel Green Power starts construction on 350-MW wind + storage project in Texas

Texas Enel Green Power North America started construction on its 350-MW Azure Sky wind project paired with 137 MW of energy storage. Located in Throckmorton County, this is Enel Green Power’s third wind + storage project in the United States. The Kellogg Company signed a PPA for half of the wind farm’s output.

MAY 2021

South Dakota electric cooperative customers get boost from 155-MW wind farm South Dakota

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i m ag e C r e d i t: Enel Green Power

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148-MW Boiling Springs wind farm comes online in Oklahoma

Apex Clean Energy’s 190-MW kansas wind farm should be finished by year’s end

Kansas Apex Clean Energy is managing construction of the 190-MW Jayhawk Wind Farm in Bourbon and Crawford counties. Apex awarded the construction and civil contract to Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives subsidiary IEA Constructors. Construction on Jayhawk started in February and completion is expected by the end of 2021. IEA is selfperforming all engineering, procurement and construction on the project.

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91-turbine, 200-MW East Raymond wind now powering homes in Austin, Texas

Texas RWE Renewables’ 200-MW East Raymond wind farm began commercial operation in Willacy and Cameron counties. The wind farm is composed of 91 Vestas 2.2-MW turbines. Austin Energy signed a PPA on the East Raymond wind farm, putting the utility at more than 60% of its customers’ energy needs offset by renewables.

350-MW Expansion brings Duke Energy’s largest wind project to 550 MW

Oklahoma The 350-MW Frontier Windpower II project in Kay County started commercial operation in March, marking Duke Energy Renewables’ largest wind project to date. The project is an addition to Duke’s Frontier I 200-MW wind project, taking the total facility to 550 MW. AT&T and Ball Corporation both signed PPAs on Frontier Wind, for 160 MW and 161 MW, respectively. Frontier II created 250 jobs at peak construction.

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US Wind sets sights off Maryland coast for 270-MW offshore wind project

Atlantic Ocean US Wind is developing a 270-MW offshore wind project sited off the coast of Maryland. The company appointed K2 Management as owner’s engineer on the Maryland Offshore Wind Project and will handle design, engineering and package management for the system.

Maryland Offshore Wind is expected to be commissioned by 2024. US Wind’s lease area for the facility is 85,000 acres and can support up to 1.5 GW of offshore wind capacity if fully developed.

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MAY 2021

The latest developments in wind turbine technology to facilitate

radar and windfarm coexistence

BY ADAM NEVIN • INNOVATION LEAD • TRELLEBORG

OVER

the last few years, renewable energy has become more prominent and features in almost every governmental policy across the globe, with China most recently declaring an ambitious goal to become carbon neutral by 2060.

The importance of renewable energy sources is exemplified by the fact that green investment and targets have been one of the few areas not affected by the dramatic changes to every level of society during 2020. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, even stated that the European Green Deal will be Europe’s “motor for recovery.” Wind power forms a central pillar to these renewable energy targets, with both onshore and offshore wind projects projected to increase dramatically over the coming decades, with up to 450 GW offshore wind targeted by 2050, across Europe alone.

In order to reach these targets, the impact of wind turbines on radar installations and the consequential objections raised to prevent degradation of radar coverage must be addressed. Wind turbine radar interference is an urgent and complex problem facing the wind industry, compounded by the drive to improve renewable energy contributions within the UK and globally. The global importance of the issue has resulted in leading associations for wind energy across the world identifying it as a key area, resulting in the creation of several dedicated task forces formed specifically to find viable mitigation strategies.

The detrimental impact of wind turbines on radar performance has been known for over two decades, yet is only recently seen as a significant issue, as the number of wind farms increases and the space where radar stations can be sited without interference is shrinking. The pursuit of a solution has therefore become of paramount importance.

Mitigating wind turbine radar interference with radar absorbing materials Identifying that stealth solutions hold great promise in overcoming interference issues, Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation and Loughborough University’s

MAY 2021

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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FACILITATING RADAR AND WINDFARM COEXISTENCE

Materials Department in the UK, has developed Frame (Full Radar Absorbing Materials and Equipment) to deliver dependable mitigation solutions to the wind and aviation industries.

As a global provider of signature management, Trelleborg developed Frame from the ground up, designing the product collaboratively with input from both the wind and aviation sectors. This approach highlighted areas of particular importance when considering the role of radar absorbing materials in wind turbine radar interference mitigation: • Frequency of absorption – Depending on their location, primary function and desired operation range, radar sites across the world operate at various frequencies. The frequencies of primary interest are between 1-12 GHz; and as such any solution must be available across this range.

• Strength of absorption – As the demand for wind power grows, so does the blade length, hub height and

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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megawatt-capacity of each turbine. There is a direct correlation between the size of a wind turbine and the size of the radar cross section, with the largest wind turbines generating a reflection in the order of 1,000,000 m². Reducing this to a level acceptable to modern day radar requires strong radar absorption.

Bandwidth/single band – There are many instances where wind farm sites may be planned in locations, which would impact on more than one radar station operating at more than one frequency. It is important to have the ability to mitigate both radars at the same time, with either an absorption band wide enough to cover both operating frequencies, or an absorber with multiple absorption bands.

Weight of solution – Imperative in the development of a material solution designed specifically for use on wind turbines directly, is the implication it has on the operation of the turbine. The additional weight of the material

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MAY 2021

FACILITATING RADAR AND WINDFARM COEXISTENCE

•

could cause problems for wind turbine manufacturing, and the solution for the blades must not increase drag or change the shape of the aerofoil.

Method of integration – In order to meet the criteria outlined above, while maintaining the efficient manufacturing necessary for costeffective implementation, the method of integration of radar absorbing technology into wind turbine construction is critical to realizing the incredible potential this mitigation strategy holds.

By addressing each of these areas, Frame has been developed to offer exceptional levels of radar absorption across a wide range of frequencies, including multi-band absorption for wind farm sites situated in the vicinity of multiple radar stations. By using a cost effective ‘fit-and-forget’ material solution that is easy to install, Frame facilitates an easy route to radar mitigation for the developer, radar operator and manufacturer alike.

Making mitigation accessible to all While the issue of wind turbine radar interference can seem more pressing for large offshore wind farms comprising of hundreds of wind turbines generating gigawatts of power, the coexistence of wind turbines with radar is equally important for a single wind turbine built, for example, at an onshore environmentally-conscious company site wishing to lower their carbon footprint.

Depending on the location of the wind turbine, even a single site can cause enough clutter on a radar screen to warrant an objection from the operator and necessitate a mitigation strategy. This can leave developers both large and small with considerable additional costs to their wind farm, which might not have been anticipated at the outset; particularly for small developers, this might mean the difference between continuing with a project or not.

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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A focus of Trelleborg’s new Frame technology has been to develop a radar mitigation strategy, which is available to all wind farm developments regardless of size. A recent key development has been the incorporation of active radar absorbing fillers into the glass fiber fabric, thus minimizing disruption to wind blade manufacturing, removing any turbulence or additional weight complications, and ensuring a highly cost-effective solution for all parties. Effective at thicknesses of just 3 mm for X-band radar interference, and capable of reducing the radar cross section of complex moving

blades to below the detection threshold, this innovation has been instrumental in making the new technology an at-source solution in all scenarios.

Exploring the wider benefits of reduced radar cross section wind blades using Frame The use of radar absorbing materials to mitigate radar interference opens a unique opportunity to access potential benefits for the wind turbine itself, which are not possible when using mitigation techniques that focus solely on the radar capabilities. Uniquely unlike its alternatives, such as radar hardware solutions or radar absorbing materials, Frame can actively improve the wind turbine mechanical properties, as they are applied directly to the wind farm itself.

FACILITATING RADAR AND WINDFARM COEXISTENCE

Full Radar Absorbing Materials and Equipment (FRAME) tiles developed by Trelleborg offer exceptional levels of radar absorption across a wide range of frequencies.

Recognizing that in the current climate it is perhaps more important than ever to avoid over engineering and additional expenses with no benefit beyond simply solving a problem, Trelleborg has designed Frame to bring added value to wind blade manufacturing. By improving the mechanical properties of the blades, Frame can increase efficiency over the lifetime of the turbine, resulting in a reduction in the overall cost of energy production.

As with any new technology, manufacturability is perhaps one of the most critical aspects to the widescale implementation of these new reduced radar cross section wind blades with enhanced mechanical properties and performance. The method of integration of Frame into the fiberglass fabric itself has been a key development focus to ensure it minimizes the disruption to the blade manufacturing process.

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

Old and new manufacturing methods have been trialed, and compatibility optimized with the technology for resin infusion, wet lay-up, prepreg and thermoplastic methods. By utilizing this non-intrusive integration into the blade manufacturing process, we believe it is possible to establish a new standard of low-RCS wind blade manufacturing, saving considerable time in the planning process, and bringing additional benefits to the wind turbine itself, as discussed above.

Hub height, swept area, MW capacity… electromagnetic compatibility?

One thing becoming more apparent in this age of wind proliferation and radar upgrades, is that large reflective structures will always inherently adversely affect the electromagnetic (EM) environment. Whether through clutter on a radar screen, track

www.windpowerengineering.com

seduction of aircraft plots, interruption of line of sight, scrambling of radio and microwaves or disruption of myriad telecommunication transmissions, the construction of large structures with high reflectivity of electromagnetic waves can cause a chaotic EM environment.

Beyond the widely discussed clutter on radar screens and impact on aircraft and weather tracking, the EM effects of unmitigated wind turbines can be felt throughout many telecommunication operations.

When a radar wave operating in the microwave region hits a structure, it can induce an oscillating charge on the surface, thus generating a current, which in turn produces a wave radiating scattered energy away from the structure. These scattered fields can cause interference to any device operating in this part of the EM spectrum.

MAY 2021

FACILITATING RADAR AND WINDFARM COEXISTENCE

A key area of research at Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation is to proactively calculate and predict the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of everything from wind components, turbine structures and whole wind farms.

By computationally analyzing the monostatic and bistatic RCS plot for wind turbines and their components, it is possible to start to categorize wind turbines in terms of how they might impact the EM environment.

By implementing a grading system, it should be possible for wind developers to know ahead of submitting a planning application, the likelihood of an objection from radar operators and telecommunication stakeholders, simply by selecting the wind turbine components and systems that fit into the highest EMC rating. Eventually, once the system is established, the EMC rating could become a key feature

MAY 2021

and benefit to note on wind turbines of choice, alongside hub height, swept area and megawatt capacity.

While the exact impact of wind farms will always need to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis by key radar stakeholders (certainly in the short term), EMC categorization can start the process of de-risking a large part of the risk of wind farm planning process with respect to whether an objection is going to be raised. Furthermore, by combining the EMC rating system with radar absorbing materials, such as Frame, wind developers will have the freedom to select the most appropriate wind turbines, not just in terms of power generated and service lifetime, but also how compatible the proposed wind farm will be with the wider EM environment.

Overall, this will benefit wind developers, reducing costly delays to wind farm applications by staying

one step ahead of any anticipated objections. This method of reducing the EM interference of the wind turbine structures and thereby solving the problem ‘at source’ is a cornerstone to the future happy coexistence of wind farms and radar.

Further research projects include the development of new materials that can change their radar signature and absorption frequency, and advanced metamaterials to actively manipulate the radar wave at the point of contact to provide ultra-wideband absorption. By developing these materials, Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation hopes to provide a vital part of the solution needed by the wind industry to solve the issue of wind turbine radar interference; something that is rapidly becoming of paramount importance as countries across the world aim to reach their renewable energy targets. WPE

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James Walker’s newest seal design, the Walkersele X-Gen.

TIME TO RE-INVENT

THE SEAL

By Andras Kaldos • Product Engineering Group Managee • Key Industries • James Walker

IN

recent years wind turbines have made significant increases in size as operators and OEMs seek to optimize the costs of power generation by building fewer larger and more efficient turbines. Whilst these will produce substantially more energy than they take to manufacture, install and maintain, larger units do present significant challenges.

In mechanical terms, an increase in size means an increase in the loads generated throughout the equipment,

MAY 2021

in turn leading to more stress being imposed on virtually every component in the system, but particularly on rotating and transmission components.

Seal performance Elastomeric rotary lip-seals of the type used to seal bearings and rotating shafts follow a long-established seal design that has changed little over the years and is now being required to achieve new levels of performance at a reduced cost. With loads on the main

shaft of a large wind turbine being high enough to cause flexing and distortion of bearings, it falls to the seal to cope with any eccentricity of movement while still performing its intended duties of preventing the escape of lubricant and the ingress of contamination.

Lip-seals were also originally designed to work with oil as a lubricant, their sealing principle relying on the sealing lip running on a thin film of oil on the surface of the shaft. In modern wind turbines however, the majority of

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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TIME TO RE-INVENT THE SEAL

The end-view of the Walkersele X-Gen seal.

bearings now use high-performance greases for lubrication, bringing a whole new dynamic to the operation of the bearing seal.

With turbines now expected to achieve a working life of 20+ years and the industry driving to achieve higher load capacities, there is a demand for components to offer efficiency benefits in addition to long life.

In line with the aim of improving load factors and reducing overall generating costs, all elements of a turbine are being brought under close cost scrutiny, forcing the whole supply chain to seek ways of taking cost down while also delivering the improvements in performance demanded by increasingly harsh operating environments and the increase in turbine size.

Faced with these growing challenges, James Walker decided to take a closer look at every element of the largediameter lip-seals required for the wind industry and see what could be done to meet current and future needs.

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Marginal gains can provide significant benefits As part of this investigation and in collaboration with customers in the wind industry, detailed finite element analysis (FEA) modeling and in-house dynamic testing was undertaken and led to James Walker redesigning its existing seal-lip, Walkersele. By breaking the Walkersele down into its "constituent parts" and making small but significant improvements in each of these areas, James Walker has taken an already successful and proven product and pushed it to deliver new levels of reliability and performance to meet customer demands.

Identifying that a "finger" spring would provide the necessary assistance required to accommodate eccentricity/ deflection and maintain a constant/linear lip-load at all points on the shaft, modeling techniques also allowed engineers to refine the spring design, optimizing it for the material and diameter of the seal.

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

TIME TO RE-INVENT THE SEAL

Once the sealing element was optimized, the focus moved to the backing material and the result of a comprehensive program of experimentation and testing is a new innovative rubber/glass fiber composite material in which the glass strands are aligned circumferentially, providing enhanced dimensional stability yet retaining full flexibility that makes a large diameter seal of this construction easier to fit into its housing.

The new product, called Walkersele X-Gen, meets the challenges thrown by the increasing size of turbine designs — maintaining effective sealing against deflected shafts or housings and increased offset, plus enhanced retention of sealing forces over the full circumference of the sealing face.

Supporting operations and maintenance demands Throughout this project James Walker has been working in partnership with a number of OEMs seeking to test factors such as seal rotation in the housing, lip load, leakage performance and life expectancy.

Product development and validation testing has all been carried out in-house at the James Walker centre of excellence for elastomeric materials in the UK. Further real-life simulation testing was then carried out

by OEMs using commercially produced seals on fullsize housing/shaft/bearing setups.

Due to the sizes of seal required for the next generation of turbines, the joining capability of the new glass-elastomer material was also fully tested through a comprehensive regime of twist and flex motions. The conclusion drawn from these results was that the new material provides a strong homogenous bond across the area of the join, equal to or better than that observed with any alternative backing constructions.

The developed solution has demonstrated excellent capabilities in terms of maintaining shaft contact and preventing leakage or the ingress of contaminants, even when faced with eccentric running or extreme shaft deflection.

As technology progresses and demands for turbines change and increase, it is important to be able to rely on the sealing technology to reduce risk and unnecessary, unplanned maintenance. The reinvention of this particular seal aims to do that, optimizing efficiency through prolonged seal life and ultimately giving operators peace of mind. WPE

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Ørsted

Health and safety risks with offshore turbines and how vessel data can minimize them

By Chris Huxley Reynard • Managing Director • Reygar

18

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

Providing

operations and maintenance (O&M) services for an offshore wind farm can be a grueling task. Consider the complexity of installing or fixing a machine as large and intricate as a wind turbine — a task difficult within itself.

Paired with an ocean-bound commute through a variety of weather and sea conditions, and the health and safety considerations only rise in severity and occurrence.

Whether it’s the transfer of crew from vessel to turbine, impact events where the vessel collides with a turbine or large wave, short-term motion sickness, longterm vibration-induced illnesses or stresses caused by a challenging journey from shore to turbine, O&M activity comes with serious health and safety implications that constantly need to be managed and eliminated where possible.

For the workboat sector, an immediate blockade to managing and improving these risks is the isolated nature of working at sea.

Asset owners and operators have typically had little oversight over the vessels that transport their technicians to site. It’s not like sharing an office.

To combat this, wind farm operators make the operational improvements necessary to have control and oversight over an offshore project, while maximizing the effectiveness of their crew and technicians. In the absence of this approach, there’s a risk of an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality manifesting, but asset owners realize that this would be detrimental to the success of their project.

As such, owners ensure that their workboats are equipped with data monitoring tools to provide an "eye in the sky" through data. This data is collected and used to make informed decisions about how to protect crew by changing operations to minimize the risks that have been identified in both real-time and longer-term.

MAY 2021

Crew transfer One of the most frequent health and safety risks for workboat crew is the transfer itself. This is when the boat parks up against the turbine, known as "pushing on," and the crew moves off the boat and onto the turbine.

For this process to go as smoothly as possible, the boat must be stable, with low risk of bow slippage, which causes technicians to become unsteady on their feet. If the tides and wind are too strong, the boat will move up and down excessively, making the crew transfer unsafe to complete.

This poses two immediate issues for asset operators.

Firstly, engaging in the crew transfer under poor conditions immediately risks the safety of workboat crew and technicians; and secondly, failure to transfer technicians onto the turbine quickly, if at all, reduces the time-window possible to perform maintenance work.

This could lead to the cost of maintenance increasing as failure to reach the site may result in the repair of a broken turbine taking an extra day, making the owner lose out on even more revenue from lost energy production as the turbine remains offline.

Impact events Similarly, impact events are a health and safety risk to workboat crew, especially if weather conditions or vessel design aren’t accommodating. While approaching a turbine, if the vessel is unstable it could collide with the turbine’s foundations, causing anything between minor vessel damage to complete vessel write-off and injury to staff.

Similarly, in intense weather conditions like storms and hurricanes extremely strong waves can present an impact risk to workboat crews and technicians.

These health and safety risks can, however, be reduced if the right data is collected. By consistently

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

19

H E A LT H A N D S A F E T Y R I S K S

measuring the stability of the boat while parking against a turbine, operators can increase their understanding of when bow slippage is most likely to occur.

With this data, vessel operators can make informed decisions about which conditions (and vessels) pose the lowest risk of bow slippage, increasing the probability of the safe transfer of crew. For example, the tidal and weather conditions at a particular site are both measurable factors that can influence the likelihood of bow slippage.

A similar principle can be applied to impact events. By collecting data on which weather and sea conditions are most likely to trigger heavy impact events, operators can aim to get workboat crew to site within weather windows that are more likely to provide safe and stable conditions.

In extreme cases, the collection of this data is essential for ascertaining what went wrong at sea so that it doesn’t occur again — like a blackbox does for an airplane.

Ørsted

Ørsted

Motion sickness Seasickness is the most frequent health and safety consideration for assetoperators. When spending hours, if not days, travelling via boat to an offshore wind project, it is likely that staff will experience seasickness at some stage of the journey. If upon arrival to the turbine a technician is not fit to work because the commute has made them unwell, they will not be able to complete maintenance work to an optimal standard or, in some cases, be able to get off the boat at all.

Both of those scenarios can lead to negative implications for asset owners.

For example, if the job isn’t completed properly due to sickness, the health of the turbine is at risk as there’s a possibility that the technician will be unable to perform their task to their usual standard.

Moreover, if staff refuse to get off the

20

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

H E A LT H A N D S A F E T Y R I S K S

GE

boat due to sickness, another time and date to carry out maintenance work will need to be found, increasing fuel consumption and extending the time the turbine remains offline.

If wind farm operators use the advanced vessel motion monitoring systems available, however, they can reduce these risks significantly.

By using motion sensors to create a motion sickness index, operators can understand the conditions in which workboat staff are forced to return to shore or when technicians choose to not get off the vessel. This data also enables the crew to adjust their operations to reduce pitch and roll as much as possible, so that motion can be reduced to prevent seasickness.

By using these data-based insights, naval architects can also gather more understanding of which areas of the boat experience the strongest vibrations and apply dampening materials to reduce the strain on the vessel staff.

Moreover, collecting this data at certain sites allows operators to make informed decisions about which vessels to add to their fleet. Understanding the strength of sea conditions and its impact on boats, operators can order

MAY 2021

vessels that are less reactive to specific conditions and provide more stability for staff on the boat.

Alternatively, they can retrofit the existing fleet with hydrofoils that are designed to suppress motion.

Changing nature of offshore wind As offshore wind projects are developed further from shore, a new health and safety challenge is being presented to vessel operators and O&M teams: Instead of setting sail in the morning and returning in a few hours, some offshore projects require days at sea. Staff are often required to sleep on the vessel overnight and complete their duties the following day at the site. This increased length of travel time exacerbates the other health and safety and comfort challenges outlined earlier, as the presence of those risks are prolonged.

Now, it is imperative that asset owners ensure that they are collecting the right data on motion sickness, vibration and comfort, to prevent short-term efficiency reductions or long-term health consequences in their staff.

Conclusion The adoption of advanced monitoring allows forward-thinking vessel operators and offshore project owners to optimize the health and safety of their staff.

Collecting comprehensive vessel health and performance data as well as crossreferencing with sea conditions, is vital to ensuring crews are empowered to operate the workboat in a way that keeps technicians and other passengers healthy, happy and ready to work efficiently.

However, collecting the data isn’t the end-all. The data won’t make relevant changes on its own, but it will direct decision-makers toward the right choices for each vessel, project and job. The measurement of weather, motion, bow slippage, sickness, impact events and comfort can all be used to ensure the highest degree of health and safety measures are implemented to optimize the wellbeing and efficiency of staff and therefore the projects themselves.

In the long-term, this data has implications for naval architecture. As we move further out to sea to produce energy, vessel design needs to shift accordingly to prioritize the health and safety of onboard staff. Collecting and learning from operational data allows this to happen. WPE

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

21

3 steps wind farm owners can take to keep turbines spinning through extreme cold

By Gareth Brown • CEO • Clir Renewables

22

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

In

February 2021, Texas faced a disastrous power failure as a result of an unexpectedly severe winter storm. Natural gas wells froze, transmission substations went offline, and the grid operator was forced to initiate rolling blackouts, leaving millions of homes and businesses without power for days. This extreme cold combined with humidity caused a number of wind turbines to visibly freeze over.

However, while 4 GW of wind energy did go offline, the majority of the state's wind turbines stayed online, helping to mitigate the disaster with consistent, if low, power production.

The immediate reaction from regulators has been to call for winterization of power assets across Texas to prevent a repeat of this disaster.

Many wind farm owners are considering whether it is worth following suit to increase winterization of their turbines to extend operational capacity and potentially take advantage of higher price production periods.

Here are the three key steps owners must consider in order to optimize their wind farms and give them the best opportunity to supply low-cost, clean energy despite extreme weather events.

MAY 2021

1. Predicting performance through cold weather Icing can impact turbine performance in a number of ways. In the first instance, ice can build up on the turbine and directly reduce aerodynamic performance. As the ice and load on the blade builds to critical levels, the turbines are shut down to prevent mechanical damage.

In the week of the Texas disaster, expected output was already below average due to the low winds forecast — this meant that any additional generation loss due to the cold was minimized. However, in order to plan ahead for future extreme weather and prevent lost output during periods of high power prices, wind farm owners need to monitor and analyze asset performance in the context of both expected resource and environmental conditions, as well as turbine health.

In order to model how turbines will perform through cold weather, the first step is to build a baseline for turbine performance in “normal” conditions.

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

23

KEEPING TURBINES SPINNING THROUGH EXTREME COLD

enables wind farm owners to detect when icing is occurring, the money it is has cost them to date, and ultimately lets them forecast future year performance and variability.

Advanced data analytics, such as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, are key to providing this full understanding of turbine performance and modeling “worst-case scenarios” based on all available data.

2. Smart control to prevent ice buildup Ice can cause long-term underperformance in cold conditions. A combination of freezing temperatures and humidity — for example, when a blade tip moves through freezing clouds — results in the formation of rime ice on the blade surface. This ice then propagates, reducing the aerodynamic performance of the turbine. The weight of ice on a blade triggers turbine shutdown — both as a safety measure and to protect the turbine from being overburdened. The turbine will stay offline until the ice melts, which can take weeks if low temperatures persist.

24

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

Preventing ice buildup at some sites can be as simple as powering down the turbine during periods of cloud coverage to prevent continued exposure of the blades to cold and humidity, as a spinning blade will accrue ice much faster than a stationary blade. Although this causes an immediate drop in power production, the turbine can then be powered up again once conditions clear and temperatures rise, while a more heavily icedover turbine would stay offline for extended periods. This strategy can be incredibly useful for sites that experience long durations of cold but low frequency of icing.

3. Retrofitting — when it makes sense Anti-icing and de-icing systems have been developed to speed up the removal of ice from a turbine. Most commonly, these take the form of heaters in the blade that prevent or remove ice buildup, enabling turbines to operate in temperatures below freezing. Water-resistant coatings can also be applied to blades, preventing the adhesion of precipitation and the formation of ice crystals.

These retrofits are commonplace in northern Europe and North America as the climate is regularly cold and humid. Owners

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

KEEPING TURBINES SPINNING THROUGH EXTREME COLD

can be sure that the additional cost of installing these systems will pay off since they expect conditions to drop below freezing every year.

However, the relative frequency of extreme cold snaps in states like Texas has to be considered before owners invest in anti-icing systems, as this technology can raise the capital expenditures of projects by 6%. If an extreme cold weather event only takes place once in 25 years, retrofitting anti-icing systems could raise the cost of development — and ultimately, the levelized cost of energy for that project — without significant return on investment.

Additionally, anti-icing systems themselves need to be maintained in order to prevent mechanical or electrical failure when they are most needed. In northern regions where these systems are often in use, it is easy to detect when an antiicing system has broken down and fix it immediately ahead of the next cold spell.

However, if these systems are rarely used, a technical fault can be missed for years, preventing the technology from coming online when it is most needed.

In order to validate investment in antiand de-icing systems, owners have to be careful to model wind farm performance through expected cold weather but also consider the likelihood that events such as the Texas winter storm will occur in the lifetime of the project.

Keeping costs low has enabled Texas to lead the world in installing wind capacity — and any approach to mitigate extreme weather events has to ensure that additional costs will ultimately pay off. WPE

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OFFSHORE WIND WITH LIDAR TECHNOLOGY

BY ELVIRA ALIVERDIEVA AND MATHIAS REGNIER • LEOSPHERE, A VAISALA COMPANY

26

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

A buoy-mounted WindCube lidar device. Jacques Vapillon,AKROCEAN

ALL

around the globe, offshore wind energy is gaining significant momentum. In 2020 alone, the world added more than 6 GW of new capacity via offshore installations. As global interest in offshore wind energy continues to grow in both near-shore environments and in deeper waters further from coastlines, the project pipeline is expected to contribute an additional 238 GW of offshore wind energy by the end of 2030.

Europe, the world's largest regional offshore wind market, is expected to maintain steady growth in the near future. China anticipates continued domination of the Asian market challenged by other regions such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Under the current administration, the United States has state its goal to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. As the offshore wind market grows and becomes increasingly mature, large financiers and some of the most well-known oil and gas companies are investing billions of dollars into the business of offshore wind.

MAY 2021

While offshore wind farms promise excellent wind availability and energy capture, do not disrupt communities and are not as vulnerable to many common performance degradations that come with complex terrain and onshore wind farm crowding, they also bring a new set of challenges.

Everything is bigger offshore With offshore wind, bigger is better. Offshore wind farms cover more expansive areas, are located at greater distances from the shore and utilize larger turbines that reach taller heights — all of which contribute to increased power generation. In fact, turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa in May announced the launch of what will be the world's largest offshore wind turbine — a behemoth with a 222-m rotor and 14-MW capacity.

However, accurately assessing wind characteristics for taller turbines and larger areas as well as obtaining precise wind data at long ranges from the shoreline is increasingly

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

27

LIDAR TECHNOLOGY

challenging. This is especially true when considering the traditional equipment for wind measurement — meteorological masts — is often either impossible or prohibitively expensive to deploy and maintain offshore. This highlights the need for a solution that easily measures up to the full height of today's turbines without mathematical extrapolation and can be moved around the site to conduct additional measurements or moved to support another campaign.

Consequently, uncertainty of the energy yield assessment is another significant issue. Since wind farms and the capacity of turbines are much bigger offshore, optimizing the evaluation

of the wind resource can result in a positive economic impact. This is why an accurate performance and production forecast is critical to the bankability of a project during the development stage, and wind monitoring and power performance testing throughout the project's operations require the most precise measurements possible to reduce uncertainty.

Enter lidar technology. Lidar is able to measure, with precision, the full wind regime. This includes characteristics of the wind flow and data such as wind speed, wind direction and turbulence up to 300+ m in height using vertical profilers, 700 m in front of turbines with nacelle-mounted lidar and 10+ km

from the shore or from a platform with scanning lidar technology — all in real time.

One size does not fit all Lidar is the most comprehensive offshore-ready measurement technology in the world. There is a lidar solution to support every phase of an offshore project, from wind resource assessment and contractual and operational power curve testing to permanent wind monitoring, research and development, turbine control and prototype testing.

Each wind farm is unique and presents its own challenges.

Accordingly, flexibility is key with developers requiring a range of

A lidar device performing a scan of an offshore wind farm. University of Oldenburg

28

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

MAY 2021

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LIDAR TECHNOLOGY

solutions to accommodate each stage of a project. Fortunately, lidar technology makes it possible to measure accurately the full wind profile of even the largest offshore turbines. It also delivers significant flexibility as it is simpler and cheaper to deploy and repurpose throughout the lifecycle of an offshore project.

While it is the make-or-break point for any wind farm project, wind resource assessment is particularly difficult in offshore development.

Fortunately, vertical profiling lidar can be deployed nearly anywhere as part of the floating lidar system (FLS) to ensure direct on-site wind resource assessment for greenfield projects while reducing uncertainty. Alternatively, vertical profilers can be mounted on

existing offshore platforms, ships or lighthouses depending on project specifications. Scanning lidars can also be placed on existing offshore platforms or onshore at the coastline to provide the spatial resolution to analyze bigger areas, thereby decreasing uncertainty and improving project bankability.

Fixed vertical-profiling lidars are also increasingly being used during craning and mounting operations because they help ensure safety and accurate weather forecasting, which is necessary for turbine placement and installation. Additionally, scanning lidar enables users in the construction or commissioning phases to conduct power performance testing of multiple turbines with just one lidar unit.

The WindCube scanning device. Vaisala

30

WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

www.windpowerengineering.com

Advanced scanning lidar technology allows for full 3D spatial mapping of the wind field over the water and at long range, and it is much easier and more cost-effective to operate and maintain from the shore. Plus, by leveraging a dual-scanning lidar solution, developers can increase the coverage, accuracy and efficiency of offshore measurement campaigns. A single-scanning lidar provides rich data from one strategically chosen vantage point. However, dual-scanning lidar provides an even more comprehensive picture of the wind resource profile by observing an offshore location from multiple positions. With dual-scanning lidar, project owners realize a richer understanding of nearshore wind resources, with reduced uncertainty and more bankable, reliable data.

Best of all, these technologies can be mixed and matched depending on the situation. For example, on a typical greenfield project, a buoy-mounted vertical profiler lidar can be placed at the center of a proposed wind farm to reduce vertical uncertainty, while one or several scanning lidar units provide 3D wind awareness from the shore or a platform.

Operators are also tasked with implementing turbine control practices to improve energy capture and increase efficiency. However, this requires extreme precision and a significant amount of data with which to work.

Nacelle-mounted lidar fulfills these requirements and is ideally positioned for lidar-assisted control (LAC), reducing loads and costs. When used for permanent wind monitoring, fixed vertical-profiling and nacelle-mounted lidars can monitor performance and losses when a turbine is stopped or the farm is off the grid.

Contractual power curve verification is one of the most important tasks

MAY 2021

LIDAR TECHNOLOGY

The FINO1 research platform in Germany. Vaisala

along the road to operation, and nacelle-mounted lidars are proven to dramatically reduce operational costs while increasing efficiency, making them widely accepted for contractual power performance testing (PPT). Used to verify performance or validate repairs and upgrades, operational PPT is crucial as well. Nacelle-mounted lidar operating on a pulsed lidar principle has the capability to maintain constant accuracy over the entire measurement range while offering the highest accuracy, data availability and sample rates regardless of weather conditions. This makes it well suited for troubleshooting and identifying underperformance.

Plus, nacelle-mounted lidar measures horizontal wind hundreds of meters in front of turbines to simplify IECcompliant PPT and ensure even the largest offshore turbines are performing at maximum capacity.

In addition, some out-of-thebox software platforms simplify and streamline the delivery of power performance data. By combining both lidar data and supervisory control

MAY 2021

and data acquisition (SCADA) turbine performance intelligence, data analytics software tools rapidly deliver quick, easy and transparent IEC-compliant PPT calculations, empowering customers with the ability to focus on the most essential performance analysis work.

The importance of operational continuity Offshore projects operate in harsh, salted environments far from maintenance resources, so ensuring operational continuity is crucial to a project's success because accessing an offshore wind farm is complex, unpredictable and costly. A significant component of operational continuity is trusting the solution has been validated and certified to reliably work.

When lidars are validated and certified by the world's leading independent certifying bodies and research institutes (including DNV, DTU Wind Energy, UL, Deutsche WindGuard, NREL and AIST), developers and operators know the equipment meets the latest and most

rigorous international verification standards (including ISO9001) and is compliant to the latest IEC standards.

Validation and certification give more certainty to the results of the campaign, and lidar solutions are therefore evolving from a nice-to-have option to being critical to ensuring operational continuity.

Whether developing or operating a wind project, lidar sensors are trusted by decision-makers to understand what the wind is actually doing at a given site. Lidar is meeting many previously unmet needs for offshore developers and operators and can also provide critical data for studying and implementing wind farm extensions.

With the right lidar tools and a modern approach, offshore wind farms are technically feasible, as well as efficient and financially sound. While wind farms might be an expensive, long-term investment, the lidar ease of use, time savings and operational efficiencies unlock a more certain energy generation system. WPE

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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

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MAY 2021

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