Category Archives: Offshore

First power from the 1,386 MW Hornsea Two, soon to be the worlds largest offshore wind farm, is expected before the end of the year, a spokesperson for rsted told offshore WIND.

139 of the wind farms 165 Siemens Gamesa 8.4 MW wind turbines have now been installed, and all of the wind farms inter-array cables are now in place, the spokesperson said.

Along with the 165 wind turbines, Hornsea Two also comprises an offshore substation, and a reactive compensation station (RCS).

The wind farms transmission system is now being finalized, with the final export cable pulled into the wind farms RCS in November, according to rsteds spokesperson.

Hornsea Two is located some 89 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, UK.

Spanning an offshore area of 462 square kilometres, the wind farm will go into full operation in 2022, producing enough electricity to power more than 1.3 million homes.

DEME Offshores Sea Challenger and Sea Installer are transporting the wind farms turbines from Siemens Gamesas facilities in the Port of Hull and installing them at the project site.

Sea Challenger installed the first turbine at the site at the end of May, and the 100th unit was installed in early October.

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World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm to Start Producing by Year-End | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

Vattenfall has chosen DEME Offshore to transport and install the monopile foundations at the Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord wind farms in the Danish North Sea.

The Vesterhav offshore wind farms are located 10 kilometres off the West coast of Jutland near Thyborn (Nord) and Sndervig (Syd) in water depths of approximately 20 metres. The wind farms have a combined capacity of 344 MW.

DEME Offshore will install 21 monopile foundations at Vesterhav Nord, and 20 foundations at Vesterhav Syd.

Bladt Industries and EEW will providethe transition piecesandmonopiles, respectively.

The foundations will support Siemens Gamesa 8.4 MW wind turbines which will be installed by Jan De Nuls Vole au vent.

The cables for the two wind farms will be manufactured and delivered byHellenic Cables. Asso.subseawill install the cables.

Vattenfall took the final investment decision on the projects earlier this week.

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DEME to Install Foundations at Vesterhav Offshore Wind Farms | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

Now is the time to invest in the energy infrastructure of the future. The revised TEN-E rules will allow clean technologies to be plugged in to our energy system including offshore wind and hydrogen. We need to update and upgrade now to achieve the Green Deals goal of climate neutrality by 2050, Executive Vice-President for the EU Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said on 15 December 2020 as revised rules of the Trans-European network for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation were introduced. Now, one year later, the EU reached a political agreement on the new rules.

On 14 December, the European Unions Council, Parliament, and Commissionagreed in principle on new EU rules for cross-border energy infrastructure and future Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) under the TEN-E framework, after the European Commission tabled a proposal for renewing the regulation last year with an aim to modernise the existing regulation and to fully align it with the Green Deal objectives.

As the Commissions proposal also includes removing the eligibility of oil and natural gas infrastructure for support, the EU has also made a step forward on this matter, agreeing to stop funding some projects but leaving room for transitioning until a full halt in 2030.

Key elements of the political agreement include a strengthened framework for the cross-border cooperation to accelerate the implementation of offshore grids as key element of the energy transition, a strengthened focus on infrastructure categories such as smart electricity grids, a widened scope to include hydrogen networks as well as a mandatory sustainability assessment for all eligible projects.

Furthermore, the revised rules bring new provisions on support for projects connecting the EU with third countries, Projects of Mutual Interest ( PMIs), that contribute to the EUs energy and climate objectives in terms of security of supply and decarbonisation.

While the political agreement accepts the general principle that the regulation should no longer provide support for fossil fuel infrastructure, as proposed by the Commission, the co-legislators agreed to allow for blending projects during a transitional period that will end in 2029, the EU Commission said.

The new rules also foresee a revised governance framework to enhance the infrastructure planning process and ensure it is aligned with the EUs climate goals and energy system integration principles, through increased stakeholder involvement throughout the process, a reinforced role of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and improved oversight by the Commission.

Furthermore, measures aim to simplify administrative procedures, accelerating project implementation, shortening permitting procedures for PCIs to avoid delays in projects that facilitate the energy transition, and strengthening transparency and participation in consultations.

The framework for long-term offshore grid planning under the revised TEN-E Regulation was announced in November 2020 when the European Commission presented the EU Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy which set a target for 300 GW of offshore wind by 2050.

The Commission last year said it would encourage cross-border cooperation between its member stateson long-term planning and deployment of offshore renewables, which would require integrating offshore renewable energy development objectives in the states National Maritime Spatial Plans.

Following the political agreement on the new TEN-E rules, the text now must be approved by the European Council and the European Parliament before it is formally adopted.

The new framework will be the first piece of new energy legislation agreed under the Von der Leyen Commission. These will therefore be the rules that apply when it comes to the Commission drawing up the 6th PCI list, due for publication in autumn 2023, the EU Commission states.

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Offshore Wind and Hydrogen Get Political Boost as EU Reaches Agreement on Revised TEN-E Rules | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

Houston-based Oceaneering International has conducted the first onshore remote piloting of a remotely-operated vehicle in the UK sector for supermajor BP.

The task was to observe drilling operations at BPs Clair Ridge facility west of Shetland in 141 metres water.

The operation was conducted from Oceaneerings Onshore Remote Operations Centre (OROC) in Stavanger, Norway, and ran from 20 July to 5 August 2021.

The Stavanger-based remote piloting team operated the ROV for over 70 hours during the campaign with 100% uptime, the company said, adding that a global support team comprised of members from the UK, Norway, India, and the US assisted in achieving the implementation.

The operation was a successful demonstration of not only new technology, but a demonstration of continued resilience and protection of the offshore workforce during Covid-19, said Martin McDonald, senior vice president, subsea robotics, at Oceaneering.

Oceaneerings OROC team can continue to operate and remain the eyes and ears of an operation from any location around the world during unforeseen disruptions and report back information to the client, he said.

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ROV remote piloting from shore can increase safety and reduce the environmental footprint of operations, potentially achieving up to 25% reduction in offshore personnel on board and provide a significant reduction in emissions associated with the work, according to Oceaneering.

The two companies worked together to establish a secure data link via subsea optical fibre to the offshore worksite.

The success of this innovative solution at Clair Ridge builds increased credibility and familiarity to remote ROV operations. By using experts located onshore in Norway instead of offshore personnel, the safety risk was reduced, said Tom Fuller, vice president of wells at BP North Sea.

Its also a great example of how remote technologies can deliver emissions reductions on our assets, aligning with BPs ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner. This project has helped BP to better understand the benefits and challenges of implementing remotely piloted ROVs learnings that we can take forward into future opportunities here and across our global operations.

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BP, Oceaneering achieve a first with onshore control of ROV offshore Shetland - Upstream Online

Highlights

U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary DebHaalandannounced in Octoberthat the BidenAdministration would be opening up the U.S. coastline tolarge-scale, offshore wind farming. Speaking at a wind industryconference in Boston, Haaland described a plan under which heragency's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) wouldpotentially sponsor up to seven offshore lease sales by 2025 in theGulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, New York Bight, as well as off thecoasts of the Mid-Atlantic states, Carolinas, California andOregon.

The announcement followed the Biden Administration'searlier pledgeto build 30 gigawatts (GW)of offshore wind energy by 2030, which is pivotal to theadministration's plan to cut the nation's fossil fuelemissions 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. In line with thisgoal, on May 11, 2021, BOEM approved Vineyard Wind, thenation's first major commercial offshore wind farm, to belocated off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Inaddition, in late November,DOI approvedthe construction andoperations of the 132-megawatt (MW) South Fork Wind Project off thecoast of Rhode Island and Long Island, New York. Earlier this year,DOI announced a proposed lease auction for offshore winddevelopment on the Outer Continental Shelf in the New York Bight,the area of water between Long Island and the New Jersey coast.BOEM has also considered wind projects elsewhere, including off thecoast of California.

Although California's offshore wind planning processes havelanguished in comparison to some East Coast states (e.g.,Massachusetts), that is quickly changing. BOEM's announcementdovetails with recent developments in California aimed atstimulating the deployment of offshore wind projects. For example,the State Legislature recently enacted a piece of milestonelegislation (AB 525) that requires state agencies to developoffshore wind megawatt (MW) targets for 2030 and 2045. At the sametime, BOEM is actively underway with the leasing process for two"Call Areas" off the California coast: 1) the HumboldtCall Area (North Coast) and 2) the Morro Bay Call Area (CentralCoast). (For additional analysis, see Holland & Knight'sprevious alert, "California Legislature Passes Landmark Legislationto Bolster Offshore Wind Energy," Sept. 14, 2021.) Indeed,on Nov. 12, 2021, BOEMannounced its designation of the Morro Bay WindEnergy Area, which triggers environmental review and relatedpublic comment under the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA).

To realize the full fruition of the state and federal strategy,agencies and stakeholders must address a number of technological,infrastructure and regulatory questions specific to California. Forexample, offshore wind development in California is largelyexpected to be comprised of floating wind turbines, given that thevast majority of the West Coast Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)reaches depths greater than 60 meters the limits of oceanfloor-mounted foundations. Floating wind projects are not yetwidely deployed in contrast to their ocean floor-mountedcounterparts. However, at least two floating projects are inoperation in Europe and are a harbinger of the technology'spotential (the 30-MW Hywind project in Scotland and the 24-MWWindFloat Atlantic project in Portugal).

Assuming that the technological challenge is surmounted, neitherthe Humboldt or Morro Bay Call Areas are in immediate proximity tomajor population centers. The Humboldt Call Area has an estimatedgeneration potential to power more than 1 million homes, yetHumboldt County as a whole has only approximately 60,000 homes.(See 2019 U.S. Census Bureau Data). Consideration must be given tothe extent to which existing transmission and distributioninfrastructure can transport electricity from these Call Areas tomore densely populated areas, which for both areas are significantdistances. The Humboldt Call Area is approximately 280 miles fromthe nearest major urban area (the San Francisco Bay Area), whileMorro Bay is approximately 150 miles from the nearest urban area(Ventura County). It is similarly unclear whether the Call Areashave sufficient port resources to accommodate the ingress andegress of project components due to their nature as small, ruralcoastal communities.

Future California offshore wind projects will need to satisfystate-level environmental review requirements under the CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act (CEQA), in addition to the federal NEPAreview required of all offshore projects. Even projects locatedsolely on the OCS are likely to have impacts in state and localjurisdictions (e.g., onshore infrastructure such as port upgrades,nautical and automatic transportation, transmission lines and powergrid upgrades). CEQA requires lead agencies, includingmunicipalities, to analyze, adopt and implement feasible mitigationmeasures to the extent practicable to avoid or reduce significantimpacts. This requirement, which is a cornerstone of Californiaenvironmental law, can add time and expense to project approval andimplementation.

Texas has long embraced wind power. In 2005 and 2008, the TexasLegislature and Public Utility Commission of Texas createdCompetitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in order to facilitatethe development of wind resources in resource-rich areas such asthe panhandle and west Texas, and then transmit that energy toareas of high energy demand such as cities in central and eastTexas. After Winter Storm Uri hit the state in February 2021,however, renewable resources including wind resources have come under scrutiny due to their intermittentoperating characteristics. Moreover, offshore wind has differentoperating characteristics than inland CREZ wind resources and wouldbe located in a warmer climate zone, thus providing potentialreliability benefits compared to CREZ wind resources.

In terms of the Gulf of Mexico more broadly, the DOI and BOEM in2020 published two studies showing that the Gulf is an attractivelocation for offshore wind development. (See Holland &Knight's previous alert, "Studies Find Gulf of Mexico Has Untapped Potentialfor Offshore Wind Development," May 21, 2020.) The studiesfound that more than 500 GW of potential offshore wind developmentmay be possible in the Gulf, with such developments becomingeconomically competitive in the market without subsidies by 2030.The studies identified several geographic areas of interest, whichwill likely inform the areas selected for leases in this mostrecent effort.

Pursuant to this, on Oct. 28, 2021,DOI announcedthat it would publish a"Call for Information and Nominations" to further assesscommercial interest in wind energy leasing in an area within theGulf of Mexico consisting of 30 million acres just west of theMississippi River to the Texas/Mexican border. The Call waspublished in theFederal Registeron Nov. 1,triggering a 45-day comment period that will end on Dec. 16, 2021.Afterward, BOEM will conduct an environmental review and solicitpublic feedback. According to the agency'spublished timeline, any lease sales arisingfrom the Call are expected to occur approximately one yearlater.

DOI's recent announcement is a promising step towardcatalyzing offshore wind development. Despite this importantaction, however, a number of substantial challenges will remain fordevelopers seeking to construct offshore wind projects on the OCS.On Nov. 19, 2021, Vineyard Wind LLC announced that it had commencedconstruction of the Vineyard Wind 1 Project off the coast ofMassachusetts). In order to reach that point, the project developerhad to successfully achieve the following milestones:

These highlights demonstrate that the scope of financing andcontracting activities needed to roll out a first-utility scaleproject for offshore wind development are extensive, but withsufficient planning and resources, they can be resolved.Successfully expanding leasing and development will require aconcerted effort be made by regulatory agencies, developers, statesand relevant stakeholders in order for projects to be developed onthe scale needed to meet ambitious and important renewable energygoals.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Biden Administration's Focus On Offshore Wind Energy: DOI's Plan And Other Recent Developments - Energy and Natural Resources - United States - Mondaq...

Flylogixs ground-breaking methane-detecting drone has successfully completed three flights to bps Clair Phase One installation in the west of Shetland as part of the energy giants commitment to better understand, and respond to, methane emissions offshore.

The pre-programmed craft, once airborne, manages itself autonomously with pilot oversight from shore. During flight, it live-streams data collected by a SeekOps sensor on its wing-tip to the onshore support crew. The sensor technology was originally designed by NASA for the Mars Curiosity Rover.

The latest flights follow successful, similar campaigns by bp and Flylogix in the west of Shetland. In 2019, bp was the first energy company in the North Sea to initiate a project with Flylogix and SeekOps to use a drone to accurately measure methane emissions.

This year, the focus of the flights was to understand how distance from methane sources influences quantification methodology and to demonstrate that readings are consistent through repeated measurements.

During the three flights successfully conducted in November, the Flylogix and SeekOps solution achieved:

Six hours of flying time

380 nautical miles covered

216,000 atmospheric methane data points recorded

10 methane concentration measurements taken every second

54,000 atmospheric methane data points collected at just 250 metres from the platform the closest a fixed-wing UAV has flown to a bp offshore platform

Flylogix project lead Chris Adams said:

Measuring the methane emissions of an offshore oil and gas installation is incredibly difficult, but by working with bp, SeekOps and other energy industry partners, Flylogix has been able to prove yet again that we can answer that challenge.

Our unmanned system combines the range to reach these remote offshore installations with an extremely high level of flight control and accuracy. This means once on station, we can safely collect methane concentration data as close as 250 metres from the installation, whereas previous measurements had been taken at a distance of 500 metres so this is highly significant from a data-gathering point of view.

This capability is game-changing in meeting the lower levels of detection required for quantifying emissions of low-emitting installations.

The Flylogix and SeekOps solution also avoids the CO2 emissions not to mention cost and personnel requirements that would be generated by traditional methods involving a helicopter flight transporting people and equipment offshore.

Peter Evans, Environmental Engineering Lead at bp added:

These Flylogix flights to Clair Phase One are a critical piece of the jigsaw in bps methane reduction plans. We are very proud to be an important partner in this work that will ultimately help move the North Sea, bp, and the world toward meeting our climate ambitions.

Three years on from our first collaboration with Flylogix and SeekOps, the technology is more accurate and robust than ever. Having a real understanding of methane emissions and the confidence that measurements are accurate, is the basis on which we can make targeted interventions to then reduce those emissions.

SeekOps CEO Iain Cooper said:

As oil and gas operators increasingly commit to frameworks such as OGMP 2.0, they will need to report not just their bottom-up methane emissions figures, but also their top-down figures. SeekOps

and Flylogix have demonstrated cost-effective, top-down emissions quantification of offshore assets with minimum interruption to day-to-day operations..

bp is working hard to reduce methane emissions across its operations and aims to install methane measurement at all of its existing major oil and gas processing sites by 2023, publish the data, and then drive a 50% reduction in methane intensity of operations.

Earlier this month, the company was recognised by the United Nations Environmental Programme for its plans around methane.

About Flylogix

Flylogix is a UK company pioneering new sustainable ways for companies to use unmanned aviation for missions and logistics without hindrance (human, weather, location) and with the least harm to the planet. Its advanced engineering combines next-generation technology with tough, small unmanned craft that can fly to the most remote locations, up to 500 km beyond the horizon, in some of the worlds harshest weather conditions. Flylogix services are in operation with leading global partners from the oil and gas industries to support them to accurately measure methane emissions and with transport companies such as The Isles of Scilly Group to deliver commercial and time-critical supplies daily.

About SeekOps

SeekOps is based in Austin, Texas and operates globally. It is trusted by top operators in both traditional and renewable energy industries for its accurate sensor technology and actionable reporting. A team of innovative engineers and FAA-certified pilots, they work closely with clients to provide tailored, cost-effective, safe, and efficient emissions monitoring solutions with industry-recognized, unparalleled field services. With customers facing unprecedented challenges in their quest for net zero its groundbreaking SeekIR drone-based solution for emissions detection, localization and quantification offers state-of-the art high accuracy, high-resolution emissions profiles and trends for its customers.

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Flylogix methane-detecting drone returns to BP's west of Shetland operations as efforts to reduce emissions offshore ramp-up - sUAS News

Spains Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has approved the Roadmap for the Development of Offshore Wind and Marine Energy.

The Roadmap contains 20 lines of action with the aim of reaching between 1 GW and 3 GW of floating offshore wind power capacity by 2030 up to 40 per cent of the EU target and up to 60 MW of other pre-commercial marine energies such as waves or tidal energy.

Spain will also spend at least EUR 200 million by 2023 on the advancement and development of offshore renewable energy technologies as the country tries to position itself as the leader in the field of research and development.

Spain is the European state with the most R&D facilities for floating wind and other marine energies, such as the Canary Islands Oceanic Platform (PLOCAN) and the Vizcaya Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) or the Punta Langosteira Experimental Marine Energy Exploitation Zone (A Corua), the second testbed in the world for wave energy, the government said.

The port infrastructure will also be evaluated under the Roadmap, and between EUR 500 million and EUR 1 billion is expected to be invested to cover the new logistics needs.

In addition to the EUR 200 million for R&D, there are numerous funding programmes, both European and national which will facilitate the implementation of the Roadmap, the government said.

Among the latter, the instruments managed by the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE) stand out, and others may be incorporated, such as the issuance of green bonds.

The Roadmap takes advantage of the Sectoral Agenda of the Wind Industry, which is part of the Industrial Policy Strategy of Spain 2030 and is included in Component 7 of the PRTR, dedicated to the deployment and integration of renewable energies.

There are currently seven floating wind projects in different stages of development offshore Spain, the government said.

Most notably, Spains energy giant Iberdrola said earlier this year that the company is planning to invest over EUR 1 billion to develop a 300 MW floating wind farm.

The project is expected to spearhead the development of up to 2,000 MW of floating offshore wind projects identified by Iberdrola off the coasts of Galicia, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands.

The Madrid-based BlueFloat Energy is developing a 1 GW floating wind farm near the Gulf of Roses in Catalonia. The wind farm could be operational as early as 2026, the developer said.

Greenalia is also planning on building up to five floating wind farms off Gran Canaria.

The Dunas, Mojo, Cardon, and Guanche wind farms are independent projects, each expected to have 50 MW of capacity, located offshore the Gran Canarian South-East coast.

The fifth project, the 50 MW Gofio, is described as the most advanced one and potentially the countrys first operating floating wind farm.

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Spain Approves Offshore Wind Roadmap | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

Offshore staff

SINGAPORE Wood Mackenzie expects exploration drilling in Southeast Asia to recover strongly in 2022.

According to Angus Rodger, research director, APAC Upstream, wells to watch include Harbor Energys Timpan-1 and Repsols Rencong-1, both targeting deepwater gas off northern Sumatra; TotalEnergies deepwater Tepat North-1 well offshore Sabah; Enis program in Vietnams Song Hong basin; and Western Gas potentially giant Sasanof-1 gas prospect offshore Western Australias North West Shelf.

But the upsurge could prove to be short-lived, he suggested, with some of these operators potentially withdrawing from high-impact exploration in Asia if their wells do not pay off.

Following two years of subdued E&P activity in the region, numerous essential offshore development and maintenance programs have been deferred, he added, with potentially negative repercussions.

One early sign was certain gas fields in the Natuna Sea and Sumatra being taken offline this summer, cutting off supply to Singapore. As a result, the state was forced to turn to the LNG spot market, with several domestic power suppliers going bankrupt.

Supply-side integrity, from LNG backfill projects to maintenance backlogs, needs to be taken care of in 2022, or more unplanned outages could follow across Asia, Rodger warned.

12/16/2021

Originally posted here:

Southeast Asia exploration set for 2022 rebound | Offshore - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Siemens Gamesa has signed a memorandum of understanding with Strohm to collaborate on the development of offshore wind-to-hydrogen infrastructure.

The partnership will focus on the advancement of hydrogen transfer solutions that will look to improve the decentralized green hydrogen concept, whereby green hydrogen is generated in each turbine generator and transported to shore by a subsea pipe.

In this concept power cables are replaced by a pipe infrastructure used for storing and transferring hydrogen.

Siemens Gamesa has a technical advisory role while Strohm will lead in its specialist design and manufacturing of thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP), which is particularly suited for transporting hydrogen offshore and subsea.

The corrosion-resistant technology of TCP does not fatigue or suffer from issues associated with using steel pipe for hydrogen, such as embrittlement, the companies said.

Strohm said that the TCP will be produced at its plant in the Netherlands and after manufacturing the pipe can be pulled directly into the wind turbine generator, quickly and cost effectively.

The company added that TCP does not require any maintenance and is suitable for over 30 years in operation which lowers the levelized cost of electricity to a minimum and enables the decentralized concept solution.

Strohm chief commercial officer Martin van Onna said: This is a truly exciting collaboration, working with Siemens Gamesa to understand how TCP can be the missing link in an offshore wind farm, generating green hydrogen.

The key attributes of TCP - flexibility, no corrosion or maintenance requirements - allow for the most cost-effective infrastructure on a given wind farm.

Our proven track record with TCP offshore is a pre-requisite to be considered a solution in future green hydrogen.

Siemens Gamesa power to X innovation manager Finn Daugaard Madsen said: At Siemens Gamesa, we believe in the potential of green hydrogen and have been working on the decentralized concept for some years.

Strohm has supported us through several case studies, identifying the solutions that can be readily used which complement our own systems.

This partnership will assist us to innovate together in an open format, accelerating the availability of green hydrogen.

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Siemens Gamesa partners on offshore wind-to-hydrogen - reNEWS

By Mikko Nikkanen, Head of Maritime, Vaisala

As wind energy continues to play an increasingly important role in future energy systems, developers are turning to offshore locations with inherently stronger, more consistent and more abundant winds to maximize the value of their projects.

Just last year, investment in offshore wind surpassed $300 billion, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, and the global wind energy industry grew by more than 53% from 2019 to 2020. With offshore wind continuing its rapid growth, turbines are growing taller and offshore sites are becoming more expansive in order to generate more energy.

However, as the wind industry expands farther from coastlines, larger turbines and deeper waters make weather intelligence even more critical for operational decision-making. The safety of staff and offshore assets is critical, and without immediate, accurate data across a range of crucial weather parameters, including wind, thunderstorms, lightning and sea conditions, operational safety is at risk and costly delays are likely.

Offshore environments are challenging to work in. From their hard-to-access, remote locations to the demanding environmental conditions at these locations, the development of offshore wind farms faces several operational challenges that can result in costly delays and safety risk.

In offshore wind farm build-up and maintenance operations, strong winds are not only a safety concern for people, but they are also a major cause of damage to vessels, equipment and turbine components that can cost millions in repairs and downtime. With taller turbines and larger project sites in deeper waters come increasing challenges surrounding the loading, transportation and installation of offshore turbines. While strong winds are vital to the success of offshore operations, they can also significantly impact the ability for wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) operations teams to efficiently, cost-effectively and safely install and maintain wind farms. Plus, meteorological and oceanic conditions are significantly less forgiving the farther from shore projects are located.

Complicating those challenges even more, the immense demand for WTIVs to support this growing market significantly limits the availability of these specialized vessels capable of carrying the on-board crane and turbine component parts necessary to build 150-m turbines from the port to the installation site. WTIVs are equipped with legs that reach down to the seafloor to steady the ship and lift it up out of the ocean so it can avoid direct wave impacts and serve as a stable platform during installation. The vessels crane then lifts the turbine component parts and installs them in the appropriate position.

Due to the numerous advantages WTIVs bring to offshore wind construction and maintenance, renting a WTIV can cost $20,000 per half-hour (and up to $300,000 per day) and building a new vessel for this application comes with an enormous $500-million price tag so minimizing downtime is vital because every second counts.

Since strong winds, destabilizing waves and other inclement meteorological conditions (lightning, precipitation, freezing cold temperatures, and rain, fog, snow or other obscurants) have the potential to endanger crew safety, seriously delay installation operations and prolong construction times, its vital to know the wind, wave and other meteorological conditions at any given moment to ensure staff and asset safety.

According to the Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organization, 2020 witnessed nearly 750 health and safety incidents at offshore wind farm sites across the world, with nearly 300 of those resulting in employee injury and almost 150 damaging assets. Determining whether its safe to have a crane lifting turbine components, crew members installing blades or a helicopter transporting maintenance crews and/or replacement components to the offshore wind farm site relies on accurate measurements of the wind, lightning, waves, visibility and other weather conditions both between the port and the wind farm and at each location.

Offshore wind installations are weather-critical, and the installation process can take several days for each individual turbine. As a result, if the install phase takes longer than initially anticipated, the extra cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars each day is often unsustainable. Again, maximizing safety and minimizing downtime is essential.

Harsh and unpredictable environmental conditions are common in offshore environments, which is why decision-makers need localized meteorological and forecast information to minimize these threats and maximize the value of an offshore project. Fortunately, precautions to minimize damage, downtime and safety risk of workers can be taken by utilizing the latest innovations in advanced weather sensing technologies.

Accurate and reliable weather awareness is key to knowing when the weather is right for safe and efficient wind farm installations. Without accurate and reliable weather information from the latest wind lidars, helideck monitoring systems (HMSs), global storm networks and weather sensors, effectively ameliorating the impacts of wind, thunderstorms, sea state and visibility effects to avoid costly delays and increase safety is incredibly difficult.

At sea, the wind can be unpredictable and a lack of local observations creates challenges. Wind lidar remote sensing technology enables the accurate detection of hazardous wind gusts that can impact offshore operations by simultaneously measuring wind speed and direction at multiple heights. Modern lidars are reliable and easy to deploy and position almost anywhere on a vessel, which makes gaining a comprehensive view into how winds are developing on top of the WTIV and at different locations around the site (up to 300 m in the atmosphere, covering the full rotor sweep of even the largest offshore turbines) easier than ever before. In addition, wind lidars are commonly used during craning and mounting operations to help ensure the proper timing for cranes to lift turbine components on offshore location or at loading port. By vertically measuring wind speed and direction to inform transportation movements and ensure employee safety, wind lidars can simplify offshore operations and maximize operational continuity while maintaining overall safety.

When wind lidars combine with the weather sensor technologies integrated into HMSs (a barometer, temperature and humidity probes, a visibility sensor, a ceilometer and a wave measurement radar), an even broader range of meteorological and oceanographic conditions can be monitored. HMSs are generally required according to CAP 437: Standards For Offshore Helicopter Landing Areas to help ensure effective flight planning and safe landings on offshore installations. These systems tend to come equipped with software that includes a real-time data display, reporting tools and critical alarms. With these advanced weather insights, any negative impacts can be quickly quantified, enabling project operators to make more informed decisions during critical weather situations aimed at optimizing operations, minimizing downtime at sea and ensuring the safety of the on-site crew.

A global lightning detection sensor network is able to detect thunderstorms in real time, track their trajectory and intensity, and support hazardous weather warnings even outside the range of weather radar to help minimize lightning-related safety concerns, especially during the transport of helicopters and operations crews to and from offshore installation sites. Helicopters are not allowed to fly through thunderstorms, thus its better to be fully aware of the direction of a thunderstorms movement and lightning forecasts beforehand to avoid safety risks. Additionally, crane lifting operations at higher altitudes attract lightning during thunderstorms, increasing the likelihood of a safety hazard, fire or explosion. Safe and efficient operations depend on accurate lightning detection, and early warnings allow decision-makers to better anticipate a lightning threat before it reaches the offshore site, helping to keep workers safe while reducing the duration of safety shutdowns.

Altogether, advanced weather insights optimize offshore wind farm construction and operations by:

For years Vaisala has supplied wind farms and other offshore wind projects with weather awareness solutions that meet ever-evolving industry needs. From the ruggedized WindCube Offshore wind lidar to Vaisalas Thunderstorm Manager, Global Lightning Detection Network GLD360 and Helideck Monitoring System (HMS), new techniques and technologies are required to uphold safety and performance while minimizing damage, downtime and liability.

Whether the conversation surrounds worker injury/death, crane and turbine damages, halted crane activity, or increased downtime-related delays, severe weather, strong winds and lightning all pose serious risks to WTIVs, helicopters and supporting ports. As the offshore wind industry continues to move into harsher environments with increasingly challenging and unpredictable extreme weather conditions, the ability to accurately monitor the meteorological conditions that impact your daily operations is critical to maximizing both staff and asset safety as well as the value of your offshore project.

Mikko Nikkanen is the head of Maritime at Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental and industrial measurements where he brings more than 20 years of global experience in leadership, business development, and solution creation in various industries and application areas.

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How offshore weather awareness enhances safety and optimizes operations - Windpower Engineering