PES Wind Issue 2, 2017

Offshore WindHydraulic SolutionsTP-levelling & fixation | Seafastening | Jacket fixation | Lifting, levelling & weighing solutions | Cutting tools | SkiddingChallenge us!Allow us to inspire you and challenge us to come up with a solution for your specific problem. Contact ouroffice, visit us at Offshore Wind Energy in London, booth S-M60 or at Offshore Energy in Amsterdam,booth 1.055. We look forward to hearing from you!Holmatro | Industrial Solutionswww.holmatro.com

TALKING POINTA global view of thewind industryComing off a record year in 2015, where a ‘perfect storm’ of Cumulative capacity grew by 12.6% tocircumstances pushed the Chinese market to 30 GW and reach a total of 486.8 GW. Wind powerthe global market past 60 GW, 2016 was a solid if mostly penetration levels continue to increase, ledunspectacular year for the wind power industry. More than by Denmark pushing 40%, followed by54 GW of clean renewable power was installed across the Uruguay, Portugal and Ireland with well overglobal market, which now comprises more than 90 20%, Spain and Cyprus around 20%,countries, including 9 with more than 10,000 MW installed, Germany at 16%; and the big markets ofand 29 which have now passed the 1,000 MW mark. China, the US and Canada get 4, 5.5, and 6% of their power from wind, respectively. Much of the reduction from the 2015 market was because China ‘only’ installed 23 GW instead of 2015’s phenomenal 30 GW. The 2015 numbers were driven by an impending cut in the feed-in-tariff which came into effect in January 2016. We face the same situation again in 2017, with an impending tariff reduction on January 2018. While we52 PES Wind

TALKING POINTdon’t think the numbers will go back up to installations of 8,203 MW were about the Chile had a record year with installations of30 GW there will likely be a modest same as 2015’s. Despite the political 543 MW, and Uruguay installed 365 MW,increase in 2017. goings-on, the US seems to be on track for pushing both countries over the 1 GW mark a strong 2017, with 18+ GW either under in terms of cumulative installations. But theIndia set a new national record with 3,612 construction or in advanced stages of big news in Latin America this year wasMW of new installations, pushing it into development. Argentina, which started the year with afourth place in terms of annual capacity new government and good intentions, butgrowth, and cementing it’s fourth place Europe’s numbers were surprisingly strong, ended the year with a solid 1.4 GW pipelineposition in cumulative terms, behind China, actually surpassing 2015 for Europe as a and more to come.the US and Germany with total installations whole on the strength of Turkey’s 1,387 MW,of 28,700 MW. We’ve just received the news the first time that country has broken the 1 Africa was quiet last year, even Souththat installations in India’s 2016/17 fiscal GW barrier in a single year. The EU 28 was Africa, due to the ongoing dispute withyear (April to March) were just over 5.5 GW, down by just a few percent, led by Germany, ESKOM which has delayed signing PPAspushing the cumulative total well over 30 France (1,561 MW) and the Netherlands (887 from the recent tender rounds for nearlyGW, which bodes well for India’s very MW – most of which was offshore). two years now. The Pacific was also quiet,ambitious 2022 target of 60 GW. with only a subdued Australia putting up Brazil once again led markets in Latin any new numbers.Germany passed the 50 GW mark in 2016 America, installing 2,014 MW, despite thewith installations of 5,443 MW, and US country’s political and economic woes. Looking ahead to the 2017 market and our www.peswind.com 53

TALKING POINTrolling five year forecast, we’re looking for continue to grow slowly, but we’re looking years, with much greater growth after 2020just under 60 GW to be installed globally in at increasing strength in the market in given 2016’s dramatic price reductions. A2017, a more or less flat 2018 and then Pakistan, an impending surge in the number of countries have announced theygrowth again out through the end of the Philippines, a new offshore market in are considering accelerating their offshoredecade to bring total installations up to just Taiwan, and the ‘next big thing’ in Vietnam, programmes in light of the price pointsover 800 GW by the end of 2021, with the pending critical regulatory changes which which have been reached in the past year.annual market rising to 75 GW in that year. are expected during the course of 2017. Overall, we expect the Asian market to add Overall, we expect Europe to proceed inGlobal growth will continue to be driven by 154 GW in the next five years, for a total of line with its 2020 targets, and the evaluationAsian markets. While falling back from its 357 GW by the end of 2021. of the Commission’s proposals for the postrecord breaking 30GW market in 2015, China 2020 renewables regime, along with aposted strong installations of 23.4 GW, just Overall, the European market was up very strengthening Euro-zone economy, give riseahead of 2014’s market. While we expect the slightly in 2016, despite a lull in offshore to cautious optimism. We expect Europe tomarket to increase a bit in 2017 due to the installations, and the EU-28 market was install about 73 GW of new wind power inimminent feed-in-tariff reduction (and a spurt down only very slightly. Germany had the period out to 2021.in offshore), it is unlikely to repeat its 2015 another strong year, passing the 50,000 MWachievement in the medium term. mark in cumulative installations, and 2017 is After the deal struck at the end of 2015 for also expected to be strong, before the new the extension and phase out of theIndia set a new record in 2016, and 2017 is auction system kicks in. France, Turkey and Production Tax Credit in the period out tolikely to be another strong year, but after the Netherlands, all had strong years in 2020, the US wind industry entered itsthat things will probably slow a bit as the 2016, and are expected to repeat in 2017. longest ever period of policy stability and theindustry and markets adapt to the new 2016 market numbers bear this out. Thetendering system, and then pick up again. Offshore installations are expected to be up results of the 2016 elections initially cast thisElsewhere in Asia, Japan and Korea will again in 2017, as well as in subsequent expectation of policy stability into doubt, but continued support at the state level, wind power’s increasingly competitive pricing and the more than 100,000 jobs (and growing) in the sector all bode well for a strong US market for the next several years. While the Canadian market is off its peak installation period of 1-1.5 GW/year from 2011-2015, we expect stable markets of .7-1 GW going forward. Mexico should have its first year installing more than 1,000 MW in 2017, in line with the new energy reform and government targets. Overall, we expect 61.5 GW to be installed in the North American region over the next five years. The cancellation of all renewable energy auctions in Brazil in 2016 as a result of Brazil’s political and economic woes is the dark spot in an otherwise bright picture for Latin America as a whole. Brazil’s market was down to just over 2 GW and although installations are expected to remain at least at that level through 2017, unless there are new auctions then the newly established supply chain in the country will be in trouble. Elsewhere, we have a vibrant new market in Argentina, a dramatically strengthened Chilean market, the end of the big build-out in Uruguay and continued growth in Peru. The small markets in Central America will continue to make a contribution, and new climate and energy targets in the CARICOM countries mean that there will be significant activity there, although small in absolute terms. Overall, we expect just under 25 GW of new installations in the region in the period out to 2021. After a relatively quiet 2016, we expect the Africa and Middle East region to start growing again in earnest this year. In South Africa, we hope the standoff with ESKOM will break, unleashing an enormous backlog of projects, with more to come in the next bidding rounds. South Africa’s new Integrated Resource Plan, if it becomes policy, will facilitate this key African54 PES Wind



TALKING POINTmarket’s reaching its potential. installations were 140 MW in Australia, we These are our expectations for the next five expect that an increase in policy stability in years, as we see it at as of mid-April 2017.Elsewhere in the region, Kenya’s 310 MW that major market will lead to an increase in No doubt we will have both positive andLake Turkana project is now ready for the Pacific for the next several years. With negative surprises (there always are), butcommissioning in the next few months, and the clarification of Australia’s MRET we have a lot of confidence in the windwe expect the initial buildout from last year’s (Mandatory Renewable Energy Target) in power market going forward, as theauction in Morocco to begin this year, and 2016, increased investment has led to a technology continues to improve, pricescarry on through 2020. There is also a pipeline of more than 1,500 MW of new wind continue to go down and the call for clean,pipeline of projects in Ethiopia; and we hope projects either under construction or with renewable power to reduce emissions,that the bottlenecks will be removed in Egypt construction expected to begin this year. clean our air and create new jobs and newso that country can begin to fulfil its potential industries only gets stronger with eachas well as government targets. Overall, we We don’t see much activity in the rest of the passing year.expect just over 12 GW to be installed in the region in the near future, and Australia willAfrica and Middle East region over the be the main market driver leading to the See more details in our freshly releasedcoming five years out to 2021. installations of about 4.7 GW in the Pacific Global Wind Report. region in the period out to 2021.After a very quiet 2016 where the only www.gwec.net/publications/global-wind-report-2/56 PES Wind

“DELIVERING INDUSTRY-LEADING SURVEYPERFORMANCE AND DATA RESOLUTIONTO OUR CLIENTS” MEET US AT: OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY 2017 JUNE 6-8, LONDON OFFSHORE ENERGY 2017 OCTOBER 10-11, AMSTERDAM HUSUM WIND 2017 SEPTEMBER 12-15, HUSUM MMT.SE

TALKING POINTA day in the life ofoffshore crewPES introduces the C-bed Floating Hotels, a worldwide C-bed believes that you deserve to bepioneer within offshore accommodation and project services, treated well when you work hard offshoreproviding home from home comforts to offshore crew. and are away from your family. So, they have designed their ships to be almost better than home. Take a tour around C-bed’s specialised offshore vessel, Wind Innovation.58 PES Wind

TALKING POINTTop/middle: Arriving at the floating hotelThe fit for purpose permanent boat landing,with cranage facility, makes it easy andsafe to get on board the vessel. Both forpersonnel and equipment.Bottom right: Or you can arrive by air… www.peswind.com 59

TALKING POINT Top left: Welcome on board - here’s your room key Safely on board, you arrive at the reception, where the staff is ready to give you a warm welcome and keep track of everybody on board. They provide personal service 24 hours a day. Top right: A good night’s rest All 80 single cabins with en-suite bathroom, Wi-Fi internet, TV, desk and wardrobe ensures the guests are fully recharged before another day’s work. Middle: Walk-to-work By applying her DP2 capacity, Wind Innovation allows the offshore technicians direct access to their offshore workplace. The Uptime motion compensated gangway ensures swift transfers between ship and turbine foundation of personnel and allows for tool bag transport of up to 800 kg. Bottom: Purpose built for offshore wind logistics Wind Innovation is purpose built for completing offshore wind projects as efficiently as possible - even in harsh weather. All on board logistics must be fully operational from day one – including easy transport of the essential tool bags to and from work.60 PES Wind

TALKING POINTTop left: The work day beginsA 20 second walk takes the workers safelyto the offshore wind foundation.Top right: Picking up spare parts?Sheltered storage and workshop facilities forall equipment and tools.Middle: Work routines made easierInnovative drying facilities, linked directlyto the locker rooms, allows work clothesand important equipment to dry overnight,making everyone ready for another day ofoffshore challenges.Bottom: Time for conference callThe ship offers Wi-Fi access in all areasfor a secure online connection to onshoreheadquarters. www.peswind.com 61

TALKING POINT62 PES Wind

TALKING POINT Facts about C-bed Floating Hotels • Founded in 2008 • Employs 250 maritime specialists • Fleet of three ships: M/V Wind Ambition, M/V Wind Solution and M/V Wind Innovation • Strong track record with 20 individual offshore projects in Northern Europe since 2008 • More than 52,000 overnight stays in 2016 • N early 80,000 safely completed Crew Transfer Vessel transfers with zero incidents recorded Facts about Wind Innovation Registration Builder Mjellem & Karlsen Verft AS Year built 1999 (converted 2016) Classifications DNV-GL, Comfort Class 3 SPS IMO 9189512 Registry LondonOpposite top: Five tonnes offshore crane after work. Dimensions 93.4mGenerators are safely loaded onto the Length (LOA) 22.0mtransition piece from Wind Innovation by the Top: Kick back and relax Breadth MId. 6.2moffshore crane. After a hard day of work, it is time to enjoy Summer Draught 8,395 a selection of leisure time facilities. Round Gross Tonnage Opposite middle left: Offshore refuelling off the day with an evening in the cinema,option lounge or gaming room. Vessel detailsEnabling continual operation of the Crew - Or maybe the technicians would like to useTransfer Vessels, the ship offers an offshore the Wi-Fi connection to get in touch with Walk-to-work Uptime 23.4m heaverefuelling option. family and catch up on what they are doing at home? compensatedOpposite middle right and bottom: What’stoday’s special? Above: Stay in shape! Offshore crane Norcrane 5mt @ 23mThe chef and kitchen staff make sure all In the evening, the Wind Innovation gym is aguests are pampered during the day. Enjoy very popular option for the hotel guests. Helideck D= 22.2m L= 12.8ta well-deserved dinner in the restaurant www.c-bed.nl Accomodation 140 Total POB 105 Total PAX www.peswind.com 63

TALKING POINTWind energy in motionWords: Antti Turunen, Head of Global Service, ZF Wind PowerThe wind energy industry has grown up. Sophisticated becoming even better than the originaltechnologies and a tough market call for more than just a serial product.professional repair of faulty equipment. The market is changing now and seekingUp to the medium power range it has gaining momentum and demanding solutions. significantly greater flexibility. This flexibilitybecome a commodity market where quality originates from the drive towards lowesthas become a given and where typical Historically the service business has been cost of energy. Segmentation is takingcommodity linked drivers like timing and closely linked to the new gearbox business place in the market and within everycost push the turbine manufacturers into of the large OEMs. For years the business segment the customer has a different viewcontinuous optimisation of the value chain. required only one solution for servicing a about how he wants the gearbox to be gearbox and that was to bring it back in the repaired. Customers are asking for differentIn recent years, in the gearbox service best possible state. In practice, due to the repair levels. Depending on a number ofmarket, we have seen a similar trend. learning curve and related upgrade, this parameters, including age, the required means that a repaired gearbox is now repair scope varies.The general drive for lowest energy cost is At the one end this could mean that a gearbox has to be refurbished almost to the64 PES Wind

TALKING POINToriginal new condition, or even upgraded to different repair standards originate from signs on critical, cyclic loaded componentsthe latest enhanced status of the gearbox. players trying to address the different under which castings, gears, shaft andAt the other end, lowest possible repair market requirements. bearings will be assessed according tocost is envisaged leading to the lowest guidelines that correspond to the related,possible repair scope. Most companies are only capable of generic repair level. offering one single repair standard basedUltimately the required, remaining lifetime will on the characteristics of their setup. The The concept of donor parts will enabledrive the choice for the gearbox repair. This challenge is to combine the market further cost reduction as it allows re-usableflexibility in repair levels however requires a requirement in a structured way, leading to parts from a scrap unit, to see further life incomplete different approach to servicing a consistent set of generic repair levels, a different repairable gear unit.gear units. ZF Wind Power has a holistic without compromising the quality and leadapproach to address these new requirements time benchmark. From the process perspective too, many repair level tailored measures are foreseen.ZF has created a dedicated service Engineering know-how of the installed Gearbox restoration is a labour intensiveorganisation base and gearboxes is required for process and serial business standards correct component assessment and under which painting, load testing, but alsoTraditionally serial business strongly rework technologies in order to reach full disassembly are considered.focuses on streamlining its repetitive lowest possible repair cost for eachnature, doing the same thing according to generic repair level. Repair specific technologies on astate of the art quality and efficiency component level such as regrind, thermalstandards. Product offering, within a ZF Wind Power is co-operating with the welding, super-finishing are considered inservice environment, intrinsically customer to leverage all this know-how and their applicability to a certain repair level torepresents much more variety, but now define customer specific set up for tailored further reduce cost.also different repair standards further repair needs.increase complexity. Basically, three different repair levels can Repair levels be distinguished. Nevertheless customerSpecific structure and processes have demands can always be translated intobeen created and tailored to manage the From a design perspective, generic repair variants of the latter.diversity linked to the different repair levels are derived from the historicallystandards. Processes have been set up in grown, previous repair standard. In the The premium repair level is the highest levelsuch a way that the increased complexity old standard basic principles of within the repair standard. It has the mostwill not negatively impact on cost and lead replacement, rework or re-use were extensive repair scope and incorporates alltime. The dedicated structure will also allow based on a lowest possible risk and available upgrades. Bearings are perstrong focus on the complete value chain maximum remaining lifetime. definition replaced and components areand results in best in class cost and lead only reworked/re-used if they can near newtime efficiency. Vast engineering know-how is required to state tolerances and integrity. balance that risk in alignment with aVariety in repair offerings required remaining lifetime. This is done by Process steps like testing and painting are rethinking all parameters that determine the performed according to the serial businessThe industry is already seeing multiple rebuild condition of the gearbox and the standard. The labour intensive disassemblyrepair standards, but this was rather linked resulting performance and life expectation. step is done fully to achieve new gearboxto the characteristics of the players cleanliness level.concerned (OEM/ISP/Gearbox These parameters are linked to themanufacturers). OEMs have traditionally condition of the gear unit components and Taking into account the robustnessmaintained a very high standard. The include allowed tolerances, damage, wear increasing upgrades, the premium repair www.peswind.com 65

TALKING POINTlevel offers a gearbox that has at least the last still for many years against an ZF Wind Powerlifetime expectancy of a new gearbox. acceptable risk increase. ZF’s advanced technology solutionsThe standard repair level has a higher cost New evolution in gearbox service contribute to the transformation of thefocus and differentiates from the premium global energy system, in which reliable,repair as it does not target the lifetime of a As a further evolution in service ZF Wind robust and efficient products andnew gearbox. Having also the most Power sees an important role for connected systems conserve precious resources.important upgrades, the gearbox will be devices to actively control gearboxbrought up to a standard where it will easily performance and health status during With combined expertise insurpass the required remaining lifetime. operation, as well as new methods to automotive and industrial technology, reduce service bills. ZF is determined to support itsIt mainly differentiates from the premium customers in making wind power therepair in the assessment of the individual Gearbox performance measurements will leading renewable energy source forcomponents. Acceptance criteria for the open new possibilities relating to gearbox the future. Sustainability lies at thecomponents are lower and balanced functioning and enable remote based heart of our endeavours.against minimal risk increase. More engineering advice and uptowercomponents will be re-used or re-worked interventions preventing gearbox exchange. With state of the art manufacturingresulting in a lowered cost. plants and worldwide service locations, Intelligent Performance Management ZF is dedicated to delivering custom-The basic repair level focuses on the right systems will increase the proactive role of built solutions and services on a globalbalance between cost, remaining life new service models in optimising wind scale, meeting the individual needs ofexpectancy and risk. Hereby all cost drivers turbine energy yield and allow power the global wind energy market.are challenged on their value contribution at upgrades through active control therebythis repair level. The main goal of a repair safeguarding gearbox lifetime and fine- Optimised service strategies -here is to restore functionality at the lowest tuning preventive maintenance intervals. avoiding unnecessary downtime - arepossible cost. the key to reduce operational costs. Smart systems will further reduce risk on As a continuous innovator, ZFThe gear unit is only disassembled to the the gearbox and will optimise wind turbine anticipates the trend towardslevel needed to repair the failed portion. performance with the main goal of reducing intelligent systems by enablingCritical components, including bearings, the cost of energy for wind power. performance optimisation of theare only replaced if failed or at risk of overall wind turbine. We are nowdamage. Painting and testing is limited to For more information, please contact moving forward with ‘Intelligentthe minimum, ensuring proper functioning. Antti Turunen, [email protected]. Mechanical Systems’.A basic repair delivers a gearbox that can www.zf.com/windpower66 PES Wind

ZF TECHNOLOGY IN WIND TURBINESPOWERING A WORLD IN MOTIONAs a leading worldwide automotive supplier for driveline and chassis technology, ZF can look back over100 years of experience in developing and building transmissions. Add to this more than 70 years of jointexperience in wind energy (along with the former Hansen and Bosch Rexroth) and ZF Wind Power is acompetent partner, supplying major manufacturers of gear-driven wind turbines with gearboxes rangingfrom 0.8 to 8 MW power capacity and serving all key wind power segments. ZF is determined to be theleading supplier in geared solutions for wind turbines and is committed to succeed in making wind powerthe most attractive energy source in the future – to power a world in motion. www.zf.com/windpower

THINK TANKFoundation optimisationfor offshore wind parksWords: Severin Spill, Dr. Aligi Foglia, Dariya Heinrich, Dr.-Ing. Maik WeferAbstract: Larger wind turbines and increasing water depths A sensible alternative is provided byare presenting industry with new challenges for the large-scale geotechnical tests (scale 1:15realisation of economical foundation systems. The issues to 1:5). Large-scale experiments allow theconfronting industry here are manifold and include not only scale effects to be minimised andthe optimisation and validation of structures or soil-structure facilitate a realistic simulation of complexinteraction models, but also the development of economical soil-soil and soil-structure interactions.installation methods with mitigated noise levels. Moreover, large-scale experiments can be drawn on to provide more reliable1. Experimental validation of prediction system. Real-scale experiments are very information about specific geotechnical models cost-intensive and often not fully issues in the design process. controllable, however, and are thereforeOptimised calculation methods are often unable to provide an adequate The Test Center for Support Structuresrequired for the economical design of statistical basis. (Testzentrum Tragstrukturen Hannover,support or foundation structures. The TTH) was inaugurated in 2014 as aengineer has a broad range of prediction cooperation project between themodels with different levels of complexity Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy andavailable for this purpose. During the Energy System Technology IWES and thedesign process, these models complement Leibniz Universität Hannover. Theeach other and can be categorised assemi-empirical models, analytical models,or numerical models.The decision as to which of these modelsrepresents the engineering problem withsufficient accuracy is usually based onexperience. All models have one thing incommon though: Regardless of whetherthey are simple or complex, they have to bevalidated with the aid of physicalexperiments before they can be utilised.A distinction is made here between Figure 1: Infrastructure of the Test Center for Support Structures in Hanoversmall-scale, large-scale, and real-scaleexperimental tests. Since the load-bearingand deformation behaviour of the soildepends on the stress level, small-scaletests (scale 1:100 to 1:30) are often notsufficiently accurate to provide a realisticrepresentation of the stiffness andload-bearing capacity of a foundation68 PES Wind

THINK TANKinfrastructure available here, such as the piles with pile diameter < 1m. It is not of the North Sea.geotechnical testing pit and the span field possible simply to transfer this method to(cf. Figure 1.1), affords the possibility of larger diameters without a proper Three model piles at different scale, pilevalidating empirical, analytical, and validation – this would result in large diameter from 0.61m to 1.22m, were thennumerical models of support structure, uncertainties for the design process. defined on this basis and tested insub-structure and foundation elements, These would then have to be compensated experimental investigations. The deflectiondeveloping new approaches, and by a conservative design, which would curve of the reference pile (pile diameter =transferring them into design models for mean more resources would be needed for 8m, penetration length = 32m) was selectedoffshore foundation structures. the manufacturing, logistics, and as the primary model design parameter. installation of the monopile foundation. The model piles were installed in the2. Large-scale physical tests geotechnical testing pit by impact driving, To obviate the need for this, large-scale and static lateral load tests wereAppropriate methods for large diameter tests under conditions similar to those performed. Figure 2.2 shows the final testmonopiles needed found offshore are conducted on the model setup at the pile with a diameter of 1.22m scale of 1:13 to 1:7. This was done by by way of example.Offshore monopiles are single pile designing a monopile foundation for afoundations which, by means of deflection, 7.5 MW wind turbine in the German sector The rotations, displacements, and strains oftransfer the significant loads imposed by the pile were recorded continuously duringwind and waves into the soil. This type offoundation is usually designed using thewell-established p-y method in the designprocess. This is a design model whichdescribes the pile-soil interaction with theaid of nonlinear springs. A schematic viewof the p-y method principle is given inFigure 2.1. The monopile foundation iscurrently the most common type offoundation for offshore wind turbines.Wind turbines of the future with ratedpowers above 7.5 MW and site-relatedincreasing water depths (> 30m) require amodification of the geometric design,however, so that pile diameters of morethan eight meters become necessary.The p-y method, which is currently used,cannot be adopted for these dimensions,because it was developed for long, thinFigure 2.1: Schematic view of the p-y curves method Figure 2.2: Static test of a large-scale monopile: pile diameter 1.22 m, pile length 7.5 m www.peswind.com 69

THINK TANKthe test. This was accomplished by means of displacement sensors Figure 2.3: Installation of a large-scale pile foundation for jacket structuresat the pile head, strain gauges installed along the pile shaft, and aninclinometer chain inside the pile. Figure 2.4: Validation of load transfer curves for axially loaded piles against experimental dataThe aim in analysing and comparing pile deflection curves and loaddisplacement curves is to provide the basis for the evaluation of thep-y method and for its potential further development to describethe structural behaviour of large-diameter monopiles.Jacket structures – the importance of pile tensile load capacityJacket structures are usually used for offshore platforms, but theyare also used nowadays for offshore wind turbines in water depthsin excess of 30m. They are lattice support structures whereby windand wave loads are transferred into the seabed by compressionand tension piles with predominantly axial loading.Since the dead weight of offshore wind turbines is relatively smallcompared to the loads resulting from wind and waves, the tensileload capacity of the pile may become the crucial design parameterfor these structures.To this end, investigations were conducted with different pile lengthto pile diameter ratios at the Test Center for Support Structures.The homogeneity of the model sand used here facilitated acomparison of the load-bearing capacities of six impact-drivenpiles. In Figure 2.3 the installation phase of the last pile is shown.The measurements obtained could then be used to validate thesemi-empirical CPT methods usually employed for estimating theaxial pile load capacity. Furthermore, a range of load transfercurves were validated against the experimental results (see anexample of load transfer t-z curves in Figure 2.4).Investigation of the pile group effectThe large dead weight of offshore platforms means their pilefoundations have to be designed as predominantly axially loadedcompression piles which can also be arranged as a pile group,depending on the soil conditions. One example here is converterplatforms, which are sometimes also constructed with two-pilegroups. Unlike the situation with single piles, overlapping betweenthe zones of influence of the piles in question and a reciprocalinfluence of the pile compressive load capacity cannot be excluded.As part of an experimental campaign on the scale of 1:10 for aconverter platform, the Fraunhofer IWES investigated whether andhow a pile group effect makes itself felt. Both single piles and pilegroups were installed in the geotechnical testing pit by impactramming and their axial compressive load capacity was investigated.Subsequently, the pile group effect was estimated by means ofthree commonly used approaches involving settlement criteria,initial and final stiffness, and creep behaviour. Figure 2.5 shows thetwo-pile group arrangement under compression and the qualitativeexperimental curves.Testing of installation methods with mitigated noise levelsThe geotechnical testing pit also offers the possibility to investigateboth novel and existing installation methods. This is particularlyadvantageous for offshore pile foundations, since in addition to thepure material costs, factors such as time involved and installationeffects also play a crucial role in the pile bearing capacity.The wind turbine industry is looking for alternatives to pile impactdriving, the most widely used system, since the noise emissionsproduced in this process do not comply with the BSH (GermanFederal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) specifications and incuradditional costs because noise mitigation measures are necessary.70 PES Wind

THINK TANKFigure 2.5: Large-scale two-pile group statically tested with qualitative load- Vibratory-driven piles are a possible cost-effective alternative,displacement curves of single piles and pile groups because the time expenditure and the noise emissions here are lower than for impact pile driving. However, the effect of theFigure 2.6: Advanced numerical model of a pile installation in sand installation on the load-bearing capacity has not yet been clarified for piles with lateral or vertical loading. In order to include the effect of the installation on the load-bearing capacity of the pile accurately, a more detailed description of the soil at the particular location is required. This requires comprehensive investigations of the soil parameters through triaxial and direct shear tests, cone penetration test campaigns and pore water and soil pressure measurements to derive the local effects of the installation method under consideration. Axial and lateral load tests conducted afterwards allow a statement to be made about the effect of the installation method on the global load-bearing capacity of the pile. With pile installation, the key is the representation of the installation process and the correct representation of the pile-soil interaction. By simulating the stress state which exists after the pile has been installed with the aid of numerical models, the load-bearing behaviour of the pile foundations can be analysed in more detail. The simulation of the actual installation process is not trivial, however. A particular challenge here is the optimal description of the physical behaviour of the soil. This determines which material model is suitable. Furthermore, the large deformations and the associated large distortions of the finite element mesh mean the simulation of the installation process comes up against the limits of the classical finite element method. To avoid large element distortions, the Coupled Euler-Lagrange method (CEL) is used to simulate the installation of pile foundations. This method combines the advantages of the conventional Lagrangian formulation and those of the Eulerian formulation, which is the one usually used in fluid dynamics and allows a free motion of the continuum through the Eulerian mesh, which is fixed in space. Combining the two viewpoints in this way allows a material flow in the soil continuum without causing mesh distortions. Figure 2.6 shows the result of a numerical simulation of a pile installation by way of example. A comprehensive optimisation and validation of the numerical model is conducted with the aid of further large-scale tests in order to then be able to simulate the offshore installation process realistically. These results not only enter directly into the design process, but can also serve to derive, optimise, and validate design models with lower complexity level. 3. Summary and outlook Which model approach can be used when and where in the design process depends on the project parameters and on the experience and the judgment of the engineer responsible. A semi-empirical approach may already be sufficient for an initial design, for example. If the foundation system has to have an economical design, however, a more complex approach may be needed. Large-scale geotechnical tests are essential to examine different design approaches, validate models at different levels of complexity and obtain key information for a cost-effective design of offshore wind foundations. This is also of great interest for the issues of the future, in particular, with respect to novel developments such as anchors for floating offshore wind turbines, bucket foundations, and offshore helical piles. www.windenergie.iwes.fraunhofer.de www.peswind.com 71

ASK THE EXPERTS Be empowered PES caught up with Andreas Jagtøyen, Senior Vice President, Energy Division, Kongsberg Digital AS, who gave us a full account of their EmPower software suite. A way for wind farm asset managers to make informed choices to maximise production and reduce costs. Andreas Jagtøyen72 PES Wind

ASK THE EXPERTSPES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. In 2012, we had a large strategy project people on board the turbines.Thanks for talking with us. Would you which pointed out the importance oflike to begin by explaining a little about renewables, and in combination with our Today, you normally buy a SCADA systemthe background of Kongsberg and the activities within offshore wind, this led to the with the wind turbine, and you buy a KPIimportance of the offshore wind establishment of Kongsberg’s wind farm system on top of this. We are working onindustry to you? management department the same year. combining both systems in an OEM independent farm management system,Andreas Jagtøyen: Kongsberg finds the Kongsberg Renewables Technology was utilising all data available from the farms tooffshore wind industry highly interesting, established in January, 2015, and lead to maximise production and reduceespecially seen in the light of increased our current work in the wind sector. Today, operational cost.need for renewable energy. One of the main Kongsberg Renewables Technology hasreasons for our interest is that the offshore become the Renewables and Utilities Also, technologies developed from otherwind market shares many interesting business unit in Kongsberg Digital. parts of Kongsberg will be integrated intocommonalities with what we’re doing in EmPower. There are several products fromboth the maritime area and in the oil and PES: Please can you tell us about our Maritime business segments that can begas area. EmPower, how is it used and the implemented like AIS-systems, seabed 4 modules? monitoring, ship communications andIn addition, the offshore wind market is walk-to-work solutions amongst others.experiencing exceptional growth, and, AJ: EmPower is a complete software suitealthough it is little known, Kongsberg has for all kinds of data management and PES: Is it important to have all 4 moduleslong experience with the offshore wind decision support on wind farms, both or is it a case of select which moduleindustry, having supplied sensor systems land- and offshore-based. EmPower most suits the customer?and services to the wind sector for more collects all operational data from thethan 20 years. turbines and from the supporting systems AJ: The modules serve different purposes around the turbines and integrates them for different operators and owners who do into one unified system, creating value out not operate their turbines themselves may of the operational data with our advanced not be able to utilise all the modules. analytic algorithms. However, for companies that handle all One of the four modules optimises farm operations by themselves it is a great performance. This is done by regulating the advantage to have all four modules turbines as a farm as opposed to individual because each module serves a different turbines and provides a greater combined purpose, and the data from the different power output from the farm. Today, turbines modules can be combined to provide more are more or less regulated autonomously, advanced analyses enabling the company leading to a lower total outcome for the farm. to have optimal asset management on their turbines. Another module provides production forecasting and identifies the best weather As an example, a wind farm operator may windows and time frames for maintenance. need to estimate the production at least 24 Obviously, wind is an important factor for hours before supplying the power. A good any wind farm, and accurate predictions of weather forecast is an important input to the the weather and the production of the farm prediction of power produced in the future. are of paramount importance to save But if this is combined with the condition imbalance costs. These are a huge cost monitoring module, the owner will also know driver for wind farm owners. beforehand which turbines will be down for maintenance in the next period, and which A third module provides condition turbines they need to run on reduced load in monitoring and predicts the future condition order to avoid trouble with certain of important components in the turbine. components. Combining all the modules This facilitates maintenance planning reduces the imbalance cost significantly. through calculating Remaining Useful Life (RuL) of the components and hence PES: This seems to be a new approach reduces the risk of seizure, an important what are the benefits to the customer? issue on any type of rotating machinery. AJ: There are numerous benefits. All data The fourth module offers KPI functionalities, are available in one interface, in one system allowing the owner to track all kinds of farm plus it’s easy to use, you can build your and turbine parameters and providing an own dashboards with the KPIs you are excellent overview, all in one system. interested in watching. This is something that varies a lot from operator to operator. Operation planning is a huge cost driver for offshore wind farms, and we are now The multi-turbine and multi-farm integration working on integrating maritime operation allows for better weather predictions planning with turbine maintenance. This because you can track the weather coming integration will enable route planning for a in on the coast and through your own farms. vessel, taking elements such as sea state Having more turbines in the same system and winds into consideration. enables you to benchmark your turbines compared to each other and to use historical On large offshore windfarms, the weather data from one turbine to make estimates for conditions in the different parts of a farm another based on advanced analytics. vary. Knowing the need for maintenance in all your turbines enables you to make an For instance, if one of your turbines has had optimal routing of the vessels that take a seizure in a bearing, you will be able to www.peswind.com 73

ASK THE EXPERTSrecognise the pattern in any other turbines your model to recognise these differences but rely on their system vendor to help thembefore the seizure actually happens. The is crucial for the prediction capability of the and system vendors often charge heavilymore turbines you have, the easier it will be system. Over time, EmPower trains the for their help without imparting theirfor you to spot upcoming seizures and do digital twin of each turbine to be an exact fit knowledge about an issue. This forces thepreventive maintenance work. This is a for the normal state of that turbine based customer to contact their vendor when thehuge cost saving potential. on historical data. same issue arises again and again.EmPower has highly advanced analytics EmPower can trigger events in the ERP We want to provide our customers with thethat helps predict future damages to system, for instance automatic requests for full value of our system and to ensure theymachinery, especially when supported by spare parts to ensure that they are available minimise their maintenance costs we helpdata from advanced Kongsberg sensors. for maintenance on a specific day. To do them make the operational changes thatWith a normal alarm system, you will get a this, you must integrate EmPower with the will transform their business. This includesreactive alarm when some kind of damage maintenance and the work order system of providing them with the second line supportoccurs, but our predictive maintenance the turbines. We have drawn on our long they need when they face challenges.analytics may show indications of experience within oil and gas to do this, asupcoming issues up to eight months in the vast amount of interfacing that is In the future, Kongsberg will be taking stilladvance, enabling you to do maintenance needed to trigger events is exactly the more responsibility for keepingwork to prevent the damages. same for oil and gas. assets running.Predictive analytics improves maintenance PES: In terms of cost is it affordable or PES: What has becoming part ofplanning, because advance knowledge of does the gain in uptime and efficiency Kongsberg Digital (KDI) meant toexpected damages in a turbine enables you offset the costs? Kongsberg Renewables Technology?to optimise operations and reducedegradation of components and prolonging AJ: EmPower is available through software AJ: It’s a huge benefit, mainly because wethe time to next maintenance call. This as a service or as an on-site solution. Many have gained a much larger softwareminimises the number of extra trips to of our customers prefer the business model development environment. KDI’s open where we are paid by megawatt-hours ecosystem digital platform, Kognifai, is indamaged turbines. In this way, you can stick produced as this ensures that our target is itself a huge benefit for EmPower,to your maintenance schedule and keep the the same as theirs: to produce more because it allows us to focus oncosts of maritime operations down. megawatt hours. When a customer prefers developing the applications. to have fixed costs, we charge per turbine.EmPower provides you with in-depth Previously, our developers had to spend aknowledge of each machine by enabling The simplest version of EmPower costs the lot of time on the infrastructure. We are nowyou to set up your own data tags and market price for similar KPI systems from able to focus on giving our customersanalytics in real-time data streams. In this other vendors. There is a vast potential in additional value when they use EmPower,way, you can obtain the specific data you using our system though: If a customer buys for instance by adding advanced algorithmsneed to fine-tune the turbines. EmPower all the modules then predictive maintenance, and analytics from the oil and gas area toalso provides a digital twin or a process predictions of future challenges for the EmPower and vice versa.simulator to match the exact behaviour of machinery, and reduced imbalance costeach turbine. could influence the Cost of Energy by up to We can share project resources, and we 8 per cent and even more in some cases. have established a business transformationFrom the outset, the digital twin of a turbine team in the energy division, which servesis a generic model consisting of, for Our system can support a lot of decisions, the oil and gas area as well as the wind,instance, a simple turbine model with a but turbines are complex machines, and the renewables and utility area.generator, a gearbox, a rotor and some owner needs some basic technicalsupporting systems. However, up to ten per know-how to understand their turbines and Generally speaking, we have a lot ofcent of a turbine’s normal behaviour differs make the smartest decisions. potential and a lot of common challenges infrom that of other turbines – and training the energy sector. Many of our customers Many owners do not have this know-how,74 PES Wind

ASK THE EXPERTSare present in both the renewables sector rotating machinery in a turbine, we have a decisions on it, and use it to reduce theirand the oil and gas sector, and we are now separate training program that certifies field maintenance costs.able to develop functionality that will work service engineers to climb turbines.in both areas. This is where the real cost benefit is 30 per Secondly, we have simulators which our cent plus of all costs of a windfarm areThis means our customers will recognise customers can use to train their own related to maintenance and with predictivethe KPIs and the system, and receive the people for operation before they enter a maintenance you can reduce these costssame visual overview of their asset whether turbine. In the future, we expect that by up to 30 per cent.they select an oil platform or a wind turbine maintenance personnel will need to enterwhen they log on. the turbines for maintenance once a year PES: Where do you operate and where or every second year and in these cases, are the key markets for Kongsberg andPES: Do the bigger turbines pose training is highly beneficial. are there are any areas, geographicallyspecific challenges to your systems? speaking, that you would like to break They can use the simulators to see the in to?AJ: I would rather say that the bigger location of any failures they need to look at,turbines represent great opportunities for they will know exactly what spare parts and AJ: Today, we operate mostly in the Nordicusing new technology. They are growing tools are needed and they will have the countries and northern Europe. But we areever more complex and some of their knowledge they need to fix the issue. on our way into the US and China.components have great value, which makes Among features to come, will also be a timeit beneficial for their owner to do more estimate for maintenance work making any PES: As we move towards mid 2017 howinstrumentation and invest more in maintenance planning even more exact. is the year looking for Kongsberg?predictive maintenance. PES: What singles you out from the AJ: We are still in a development phaseThe bigger the turbine, the bigger the competition? based on the offshore functionality and 2017benefits you get from a system like is a year of further development and marketEmPower. It is perfect for reducing AJ: We have integrated all functionality in expansion. Considering our market potential,operational costs. one suite of software with highly advanced I believe it will prove to be a good year. analytics. We have the most advancedPES: How important is training to you as predictive maintenance system for turbines The interest in the market is there, we justa company in view of the stringent like this, likely the most advanced system in need to find the owners that are willing tohealth and safety regulations? the world. start investing, change their organisations and train some people to handle a new toolAJ: Training is very important, but there are We will also let our customers own their like ours.two sides to this: own data and do with it what they want. This centralises the data and disrupts the The technology is already there, but ourFirstly, the strict safety regulations demand old chain of command by going between customers need an organisation and a setupthat field service engineers receive the same the customer and the vendor, providing the to utilise it. We are happy to help them withtraining as service technicians who enter vendor with only the data they need to their business transformation, and aretransformer stations onshore. As they enter make their next turbine better. ourselves in a transformation phase.the turbines from a ship, we have a first-class training regime where they receive Today, customers of other systems receive For us, 2017 is all about market expansiontraining in both the maritime operation and in a report with historical data weeks after the and business transformation and a lotthe safety issues in the turbines. data has been collected. Our customers will of development. own their own data, they can base theirDue to the height, the high voltage, and the www.kongsberg.com/kdi www.peswind.com 75

CORPORATE FOCUSPowering windenergy maintenanceWords: Peter Hearn, Operations Manager, ActSafeIn this, the second of four What is an ActSafe Portable the lifting distances. The Working Loadarticles, we see how ActSafe Powered Winch? Limit is 200 and 250kg so these winchesPowered Ascenders can be are a flexible tool that makes it possible toused for material lifting in the A Portable Powered Winch is a Li-ion lift a wide variety of cargo and facilitatewind energy industry. battery or petrol powered lifting apparatus positioning operations. that is certified for lifting both loads, personnel and for lowering operations. The Nacelle winches use readily available, 11mm kernmantle ropes so only rope length limits In wind energy maintenance time is money, particularly when offshore, where weather76 PES Wind

CORPORATE FOCUS Photo: ASAKENwindows are short. What happens when another 8 minutes to lift the load. So the invert the device, connect the winch to theyour crew arrive onsite, with a restricted time onsite time, before the tools and material anchor point and it is set up foropportunity to get the turbine back online are in place, is a minimum of 26 minutes. subsequent loads to be lifted. Forand they are unable to get tools and material extended lifting operations, the batteryinto the turbine because the installed lifting However, using a Portable Powered winch, can be removed and the winch connectedequipment is not fit for purpose? the first crew member climbs to the nacelle to an AC power supply. with only a bag of rope, in seconds the ropeAn Actsafe portable battery powered is fixed in position and the rope is lowered The portability of the ActSafe poweredwinch, with a lifting capacity of 200Kg will to ground. The second team member winches gives much more flexibility than aensure your maintenance teams can connects the Portable ascender to the rope fixed lifting system. An example might becomplete the task. This will reduce the risk at ground level, with the rope bag attached, the need to replace heavy service items inof prolonged downtime. It also means it’s to install the ascender later to the anchor. the hub, such as pitch motors. For hubsnot necessary to have a permanent chain The first team member can then lift the that are accessed from inside the nacelle,hoist fitted to the turbine, eliminating an ascender by Bluetooth remote control, the winch can be rigged in the nacelle andadditional piece of machinery, which also whilst his colleague climbs to the nacelle. the rope deviated through pulleys so that itbecomes a maintenance item. The line This small saving, in time and efficiency can lift and transfer the pitch motormaintenance of a portable winch can be multiplied over many turbines and multiple without the need for manual handling.carried out back in the maintenance depot. maintenance crews, can quickly add up to Incidentally, because the winch is also significant savings for your wind turbine certified for personnel lifting, with it riggedPortable Powered Winches can also save maintenance business. in this way, you end up with a pre-riggedtime. The average wind technician takes hub rescue system.approximately 10mins to reach the nacelle Once the first team member receives theand the average chain hoist takes about load, including the ActSafe portable For hubs where access is from the exterior8mins for the chain to reach ground and powered winch and the cargo, he can then of the nacelle, it becomes possible to lift www.peswind.com 77

CORPORATE FOCUS COMPLETE DAVIT CRANE SETUP Davit crane Remote control Rope bag Ascender Cargo PlatformPhoto: hoehenwerkstattmaterial directly from ground or transfer or construction. allows a maintenance technician to haulvessel when rigged through a removable from the yaw deck and lift tools anddavit system. This removes the need to By mounting the Portable Winch off a components on the inside of the turbine.double handle the load and manual ground anchor and deviating it via a pulley,handling of awkward of heavy loads. mounted to the davit arm, cargo can be This eliminates the need for a tag line, as transferred quickly and efficiently to the loads are no longer exposed to windThe portability of the Powered Winches is transition piece deck. Being a battery conditions. This also gives a wider weatheralso ideal for those areas of the turbine powered unit the turbine doesn’t need to window for certain maintenance tasks,where lifting apparatus is rarely fitted, such have power, which is ideal during the reducing opportunity risk.as the transformer space on a tower construction phase or when there is noplatform or the inside of the monopile. power to the turbine. ConclusionWhere space is restricted the winch cansimply be either rigged overhead off an As for work from the nacelle for extended The flexibility of having a powerful yetanchor point or mounted to a structure or lifting operations, either a suitable number portable winch allows maintenance tasks toground anchor and the rope deviated of spare batteries can be carried or if power be completed more quickly and efficiently,through a pulley. is present on the turbine an AC power which in turn reduces cost. Investment in supply can be installed. portable powered winches is amortisedTransition Piece quickly because of their capacity to do more, Tower with less people in less time. Making ActSafeAs with load lifting to the nacelle, ActSafe Portable Powered Ascenders an integral partPortable Winches are ideal for lifting cargo With the ActSafe Portable Powered of your wind energy line maintenance toolsfrom the transfer vessel to the deck of the Winches it is no longer necessary to winch and equipment will help to achieve this.transition piece. This is very useful when tools and loads on the exterior of thepreparing for offshore turbine maintenance turbine, leaving them exposed to wind and www.actsafe.se weather. The flexibility of a powered winch78 PES Wind

ActSafe Power Ascenders are an ingeniouscombination of a high-capacity rope winch in acompact, lightweight and user-friendly design.It simply redefines the possibilities for workingin vertical work environments.Get in touch with us today to findyour nearest ActSafe distributorActSafe Systems AB T: +46 31 65 56 60Sagbäcksvägen 13 E: [email protected] Lindome, Sweden W: www.actsafe.se

ASK THE EXPERTS Equipment rental PES caught up with Michael – a better option Halberg Sørensen, CEO of HeliPPE, to find out how80 PES Wind the company started. He talks about the benefits, in terms of cost savings and safety, of hiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for helicopter transport.

ASK THE EXPERTS ‘We strive to provide our customers with the best PPE options, to suit each and every need’PES: Welcome to PES Wind magazine. transport, which is how I started to rent out customers is that they just have to use theThanks for talking with us. Would you PPE for transfer by helicopter and started equipment. We take care of the rest; everylike to begin by explaining a little HeliPPE. Now HeliPPE provides a service piece of PPE is checked and ready to go.about the background of your which frees up capital whilst ensuring that When a customer needs PPE we can deliver!organisation and how you currently all PPE is in tip top condition. Every certificate and document is availableserve the wind industry? and accessible from our online database. PES: Is offshore wind a growingMichael Halberg Sørensen: I have more business area for you? How are you PES: How easy is it for you to keep yourthan 10 years’ experience in the wind capitalising on this growth? equipment up to date and how often doindustry. I started out at a local helicopter you renew your equipment?company in Esbjerg, as a ground MHS: Yes it is a growing business for us.operations manager, handling the Now we operate in Holland, Germany, MHS: It is easy to keep our equipment upcustomers’ PPE for helicopter transport. Denmark and the UK. We always try to look to date because we focus on keeping itWe carried out the first hoist and crew ahead and are looking at what’s new and serviced and ready to go. If the equipmenttransfers for offshore windfarms. what is needed in the PPE market. is out for a longer period of time, on a long term contract, we plan a change of PPESo that was how it started and as the wind PES: Can you tell us about the during this time. Our strong point is that weindustry grew, I saw an opportunity. I was advantages of renting equipment? handle the equipment ourselves, so weapproached by a company that needed obtain all information on each PPE requiredsome help with PPE for helicopter MHS: The advantage of renting for our and supply accordingly. www.peswind.com 81

ASK THE EXPERTSPES: Why is the one stop shop so PES: Which aspect of the industry HeliPPE is based in Denmarkimportant to you? provides the most satisfaction for you right now? Helicopter PPE Rental - one stop shopMHS: The one stop shop makes it so much – short or long term rentaleasier for our customers. Our main aim is to MHS: It’s a very exciting time for us. At thismake every transaction as smooth and time when the overall cost of projects has Advantages of renting:stress free as possible. Their technician is to be kept to a minimum, more and moregoing out to a job offshore, we can provide clients are realising they can make Savings during the planning of new offall the needs for transfer to an offshore significant savings by hiring from us. The shore wind farmswind turbine or offshore platform: the wind industry is still growing and we areImmersion suit, life jacket, harness set life very happy to be part of it. Savings on overall cost and better usejacket for CTV or for the helicopter and we of PPE over a longer periodknow what is necessary for each site. This PES: What are your thoughts aboutalso means the customer can relax in the prospects for the rest of 2016, moving No initial purchase outlayknowledge that everything required will be in to 2017, with regard to yourin the package. organisation and the offshore wind No maintenance or repairs industry in general?PES: Geographically speaking, where PPE serviced an updated duirngare the key wind markets for HeliPPE? MHS: We strive to provide our customers contracts with the best PPE options, to suit each andMHS: As I mentioned before our main every need. Helicopters are being used Up to date certificatiommarkets are in Germany, Netherlands, more and more in the transportation ofDenmark and the UK. All these are markets technicians and equipment, so we feel we No logisticswhich have a long way to go to reach their are in the right place at the right time. Wefull potential but we are not limiting provide an optimum and dependableourselves to these areas and are more than service and we will are confident we willcapable of taking on projects from all over expand with the industry.the world. We enjoy the different challengeswhich each market presents us with. www.helippe.com82 PES Wind

www.helippe.com Helicopter PPE Rental RENTAL OF PPE EQUIPMENT FOR: HELICOPTER HOIST HELICOPTER TRANSFER CTV TRANSFER We provied short or long term rental of high quality PPE for Helicopter and CTV transport to o shore wind farm and o shore sub stations. Why rent equipment?? 1 Savings in the project face of the installation of new o shore windfarms. 2 Better usages of the equipment over longer period, cheaper overall cost. 3 No cost on maintenance and repairs. 4 No cost for purchase of new equipment. 5 Certi cate always up to date. 6 Full control over the equipments service date. 7 No logistics In short, we take care of everything and ensure that all PPE is serviced and updated during the period in which it is desired.John Tranumsvej 60 - 6705 Esbjerg Ø - Denmark - Phone: +45 6171 4680 - E-mail: [email protected]

THINK TANKEU inspection innovationPES brings you Winspector, an advanced and innovative specially designed platforms that canapproach for on-site inspection of wind turbine blades. A reach the blade and implement fasterresearch and innovation project which is part of the inspections on site. However, currentEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. systems are not very agile or cannot reach close enough to the blade in order to use aA consortium, composed of five reparations can be costly in downtime and high quality non-destructive technique.members, TWI, WRS, Innora, Gamesa and expensive, and at the same time this fact Hence, they are mostly used to carry outLondon South Bank University has come reduces turbine’s operational efficiency. For mere visual inspections. There is not antogether to find a solution for wind turbine these reasons, preventive planning through integrated solution that offers goodblades inspections, by means of the more frequent inspections is a necessity. inspection quality, human safety and andevelopment of a laser shearography efficient way of inspection.system placed on a robotic platform, To achieve a thorough investigation forunder the project Winspector. defect presence on a wind turbine blade, To deal with the aforementioned challenge, close inspection is required. Current our team has come together to proposeOverview inspections carried out on wind turbine Winspector, an innovative system blades, like visual examination or Non - consisting of an agile robotic platform ableNowadays, Wind Turbines (WT) are one of Destructive Testing (NDT) inspections such to climb up the wind turbine tower andthe most efficient ways to produce green as thermography, acoustic emission or deploy an advanced Digital Shearographyand sustainable energy, contributing in a ultrasound, require skilled personnel or (SD) kit that carries out the inspection of ahigh percentage to all renewable “workshop environment”. blade at a depth of up to 50mm.electricity. However, due to the stresssuffered by the blades and caused by wind This implies either trained staff tied with Basic principles of shearographygusts, there is a continuous need for ropes on the blade or dismantling andinspection and maintenance. transferring the blade in a workshop Laser shearography was first proposed by environment. While blade dismantling is Leendertz and Butters in 1973. It wasAccording to CWIF an average of 3,800 scarcely used because it requires very long further developed by Hung in the 1980s. Itblade failure incidents annually are downtime, human inspection also involves is an interferometric technique for surfaceattributed to poor maintenance, with a cost a relatively high delay. deformation measurement (displacementvarying between 90,000€ and 900,000€ and displacement derivatives). Unlikeeach, involving many accidents resulting Approach to the market traditional measurement techniques,human injury and fatalities. Blades shearography does not require the A solution to this problem is to utilise laborious task of mounting a large number of strain gages or transducers. It is a non-contacting method that yields full-field information about surface displacement or84 PES Wind

THINK TANKdisplacement derivatives. In particular, shearography is routinely • B uilding diagnosis e.g. inspection of employed for inspecting delaminations in delamination in wall tilesShearography was developed to address aircraft structures e.g. compositesseveral limitations of holography. Its structures. Another successful application • Flow visualisationsignificant advantages include (1) No need of shearography is the evaluation of tyrefor a reference light-beam and (2) direct quality e.g. aircraft tyres, which was Winspector Project Conceptmeasurement of surface strains. These endorsed by the US Federal Aviationdistinct advantages make shearography a Administration (FAA). Other fields of study Winspector consists of a roboticpractical measurement tool that can be for shearography include: deployment platform and an advanced NDTemployed in industrial settings, it has inspection system, as mentioned;already gained wide industrial acceptance • N on-destructive testing for quality shearography. The robotic platform climbsfor non-destructive testing. inspection up vertically along the wind tower and carries the inspection system in a smallFor instance, the rubber industry routinely • Aircraft and vehicle tyres movable platform. Its arm is capable ofuses shearography for evaluating tyres, and placing the NDT equipment at the desiredthe aerospace industry has adopted it for • Composite panels position, providing the required stability fornon-destructive testing of aircraft the NDT inspection.structures, in particular, composite • Pressure vessels and pipelinesstructures. Other applications of Specification of the Winspector opticalshearography include: measurement of • M icroelectronic packaging (Hermetics seal) inspection unitstrains, material properties, residualstresses, 3-D shapes, vibrations, as well as • M easurement of surface stress, strain The Winspector shearography unit willleakage detection. and displacement capture a sequence of coherent speckle pattern images from a non-rotating WTBThe application of shearography • Residual stresses using a digital camera. In the ideal inspection scenario, the shearographicShearography has been developed as a • 3D shapes fringe patterns will be formed and displayedpractical measurement tool and has already in real-time.gained wide industrial acceptance for NDT. • Noise and vibration study • Leakage detectionInnovation project‘Winspector’: anadvanced solutionfor blade inspection• Fast and accurate on-site inspection of wind turbine blades• Advanced NDT (shearography)• Robotic deployment platformwww.winspector.eu

THINK TANKHowever when this is not possible, due to out an on-site inspection. • A chieve an inspection speed of 1m2 perthe time consuming computations minute at a working distance of 2m.associated with rigid body motion Definition of inspection areacompensation, the strategy will be to record • Minimise time spent by personnelthe image sequences and perform the The area of inspection for each scan of the working at height.necessary calculations off-line. In this case, Winspector shearography system will be atcompensation for rigid body motion of up around 1m2 when the system is working at • Comply with the safety, security andto 0.5mm will be achieved via post- an ideal distance of 2m from the WTB plant integrity requirements of both theprocessing the acquired images, following surface. When that distance is reduced to wind turbine owner and operator.scanning of the whole blade. This approach 1m, the inspection area will be reduced towill ensure that the image acquisition time around 0.25m2, or 0.5m in diameter. • C apture digital images of the specimen inis minimised, along with the cost of carrying normal daylight conditions, but direct Basic functions of the Winspector sunshine should be avoided.Project partners: shearography system • Acquire a sequence of speckle images/ Innora Proigmena Technologika The Winspector shearography system will: videos. Systimata kai Ypiresies Anonumi Eteria • Be deployable for on-site inspections by • Generate and interpret fringe patterns technicians in a cost-effective way with identifying potential defects. Founded in 2008 and located in the respect to existing methods. outskirts of Athens, Innora is an award Defect detection capabilities winning new product development • B e capable of detecting the full range of consultancy, employing its expertise in critical flaws (detailed in Section 4.5) The types of defect to be detected by the service robotics, machine learning, Winspector shearography system will cover and data intelligence to offer tailor WRS Marine lnspections & Services most of the critical flaws found in made solutions across industry BV / WRS Rope Access BV composite WTBs, namely cracks, voids, functions and markets. disbonds, delaminations, and impact WRS Marine lnspections & Services damage. Such flaws can occur within the Linking this type of experimental BV, founded in the Netherlands in 1994, composite laminates (GFRP) and in all of development work with the market has offers tailor-made solutions for its the bonding areas. been an added challenge taken by clients in the shipping industry Innora. Cross-functional teams – worldwide. The company is specialised We look forward to updating you about our connecting engineering with in a wide range of areas throughout its R&D progress. commercialisation - consult and if need four core departments, providing be, develop the roadmap for successful expertise in steel inspections, visual www.winspector.eu product-to-market launches. Recent inspections, class renewal, NDT examples of commercialising and services, ultrasonic surveys including TWI Ltd launching new products in the market rope access and cathodic protection. include: Power Line Cable Inspection TWI is one of Europe’s foremost System, Robotic Nuclear Nozzle www.wrsmarine.com independent research and technology Inspection, Automated NDT System for organisations, employing 740 Composites Assessment in Transport London South Bank University scientists, technologists, Industry and Robotised NDT on Wind (Innovation Centre) administrative and support staff Turbine Blades. world-wide. TWI works across all The London South Bank Innovation industry sectors with expertise in key www.innora.eu Centre (LSBIC) has been established aspects of materials, materials by London South Bank University joining, structural integrity, static and Gamesa Innovation and Technology (LSBU) to research and develop dynamic testing and Non Destructive S.L automation for non-destructive testing. Testing (NDT) and Non Destructive The aim is to take award winning robot Evaluation (NDE). Gamesa is a world leader in the prototypes developed by the university development, construction and sale of towards commercialisation by locating TWI has a large fee paying industrial wind farms, having installed 6,400 MW the centre in an industrial environment. membership of around 3000 members worldwide. The annual equivalent of its from 65 countries centred mainly in 31,200 MW installed amounts to more The university’s Centre for Automated energy related business sectors such than 6.6 million tons of petroleum (TEP) and Robotic NDT has developed 16 as oil & gas, petrochemical, process per year and prevents the emission into robots for industrial inspection tasks by plant, power generation and their the atmosphere of more than 45 million participating in collaborative research support industries (e.g. pressure vessel tonnes of CO2 per year. with UK and European R&D and and component manufacture and end-user partners. It has won eleven fabrication) as well as in the With 21 years’ experience and more awards for best papers and industrial transportation industry sector of than 31,200 MW installed in more than innovation in the field of robotics. These aerospace/air-transport, marine/ 50 countries, Gamesa is a global wall-climbing, swimming and mobile shipping, rail and automotive. The technological leader in the wind robots have addressed the problems of majority of TWI’s activities (65%) are industry. Its comprehensive response performing inspection in different contract research, funded by industry includes also the wind turbine’s sectors such as oil and petrochemical, and built around the development of operation and maintenance services nuclear, aerospace/air-transport, marine/ advanced technologies. TWI is also an that manages for more than 20,700 MW. shipping, power generation and building. active participant in collaborative research programmes in Europe and www.gamesacorp.com www1.lsbu.ac.uk/esbe/mrndt the UK. www.twi-global.com86 PES Wind

WE SEE NO LIMITSTO YOUR AMBITION.MAKE IT HAPPEN.Outstanding deep sea accessibility. A world renowned maritime cluster. Excellent facilities, services andinfrastructure. These are the key reasons why so many offshore projects have found a home in the port ofRotterdam. And Rotterdam continues to lead the way in innovation and offers ample room for new initiatives.Wind, oil & gas or decommissioning. Rotterdam can accommodate ambitions of any scale and any kind.We see no limits. We see a world of opportunities. Interested? Visit www.portofrotterdam/offshoreor meet us at Offshore Wind Energy 2017 Exhibition, booth S-H10.portofrotterdam.com/offshore

THINK TANKCTVs in the Balticand North SeaImage: Northern Offshore ServicesWhat makes a good Crew With more and more offshore wind projects waters of the North Sea and Baltic Sea.Transfer Vessel (CTV)? evolving in the Baltic Sea, SeaRenergy was Analysis in addition to the geographicalSeaRenergy carried out an recently asked for advice on suitable crew circumstances led us to the conclusion thatextensive study and shares transfer vessels for these waters. The wave length is the most important factorthe results with PES, underlying question was about how to when looking at CTV designs.highlighting ideas and achieve the highest possible utilisation insuggestions based on design terms of workability and crew welfare. The North Sea has deeper waters with anand offshore site challenges. average depth of around 95m, direct In order to properly evaluate all possible connection to the Atlantic Ocean and crew transfer vessel designs and sizes, therefore strong currents due to water weather data from two different locations streams and tides. A combination of these were collected and analysed. Sufficient aspects enables a development of long data through wave rider buoys and and high wind waves as well as long and meteorological stations were gathered from high swells. two locations, situated in the German88 PES Wind

THINK TANKThe Baltic Sea, with its average water depth prevailing waves on the Baltic Sea the monohull.of 55m does not have any significant measurement location were relativelyconnection to greater oceans and is modest and short. These facts do have a Ideal and already in operation in the Atlanticgeographically sheltered, which results in direct impact on crew transfer vessels. Ocean are surfer boats, where waves inshort and small wind waves as well as sheltered areas average a length of 70m andminimal up to no tidal effects. During operation we face two main issues, in open areas of around 120m. These long which are crew welfare during transit times waves lift and lower the vessel without directFocus was given on wave characteristics and the workability limits. In regard to sea impact on the rolling motions. In addition tosuch as maximum and significant wave characteristics a multihull vessel has the vessel’s motion the limited deck spaceheights, direction and wave periods as well different and more beneficial motions and cargo capacity could be a challengeas wave length. Results drew a clear picture compared to a monohull vessel. Due to the depending on the client’s project demands.and underlined the opposing sea wider beam and a second hull, the designcharacteristics; three-quarters of prevailing ensures a higher stability and less rolling. With mostly two smaller hulls supporting thewaves on the North Sea are relatively high main hull a trimaran has similar motions to aand long, whereas three-quarters of The current supplier market provides four monohull. Instead of high and quick rolling different CTV designs all with different the additional hulls slow the motion and add advantages and disadvantages. Most more deck space and cargo capacity to the commonly catamarans, with a length of vessel. A huge benefit of a trimaran design is 18-27m and beam of 8-11m perform jobs in the low displacement of the bow section. A either the North or Baltic Sea. tapered bow may have an increased yaw motion which can be barely compensated Catamarans are known for their relatively for by the stern part. This design is only long endurance and good cargo capacity rarely found on the market. which is constantly increasing due to offshore wind farms being built in further A fourth design which needs to be taken distances from the shore. Fuel capacities of into consideration is the SWATH. The small up to 60 tons and additionally about 40 tons water plane area twin hull, with a minimum of deck cargo are available currently and profile at the sea’s surface, reduces vessel could soon become market standard. motion significantly. To reduce the direct impact of the waves´ energy the SWATH Rules and regulations limiting the maximum design has its displacement below the permitted number of passengers on the water surface and therefore below the vessels have changed and increased waves´ impact force. capacities to more than 24 passengers. As stated by DNVGL ‘a passenger craft is a This beneficial characteristic of stable and craft which carries more than twelve smooth sea going motions not only comes passengers.’ New class societies were with a higher price, but also with a limited found allowing owners to carry a higher cargo capacity. The centre of buoyancy and amount of passengers with the ability to the center of gravity are further away than work with the vessel at the same time. on a catamaran or a monohull. This directly impacts the vessel´s stability and freeboard In comparison to a catamaran the monohull below the hulls. A well balanced vessel is is known to have a higher probability of crucial to ensure a smooth “glide”. rolling. The shorter wave period in the Baltic Sea has an increased impact on the vessels A direct connection can be made between roll, pitch and yaw motion. This means the operational capacity and crew welfare. High catamaran outperforms the monohull in efficiency is not only defined by high crew transfer. The North Sea characteristics utilisation of vessels. The psychological with longer waves are more beneficial for aspect of the offshore personnel is not to www.peswind.com 89

THINK TANKbe underestimated. Arriving on site with Apart from the great impact of vessel dew freezing on cold offshore structures.seasick technicians reduces the motion on the workability, meteorologicalproductivity significantly or even leads to conditions like tides and ice should be Welfare on the CTV is a crucial variable intechnicians who are not able to work at all. considered as well. The North Sea has a regard to efficiency. Small extras like tidal difference from 0m up to 8m, which comfortable adjustable seats, permanentTherefore designs which reduce motion encourages marine growth on offshore Wi-Fi access, or offering warm tea, coffeesickness will increase the efficiency of the structures close to water level, such as or soup during cold days have an enormousteam. Even though a CTV may work within its boat landings. impact on the passengers´ wellbeing.operational capacities, unfavourable vesselmovements can lead to incapacitated This poses additional risks during step over At SeaRenergy, we have made the linkoffshore passengers while transiting. Zero from the vessel to the boat landing. Not between the performance of the CTV andtolerance to accidents or incidents prohibits only does sea growth add risks to the boat the crew. An unprofessional crew with athese passengers from moving on to offshore landings’ ladder, it also acts as a lubricant good CTV will be outperformed by astructures and/or assets, as they mostly on the CTVs bow fender. During CTV push professional crew with a bad CTV. Knowingstruggle with dizziness, fatigue and nausea. on situations to offshore structures, during how to properly navigate while transiting low tides, this lower friction leads to and how to efficiently land on boat landingsDuring the past years SeaRenergy has additional risks. is crucial.chartered several CTV´s, with differentdesigns, in order to support our offshore The Baltic Sea is not affected by the Gulf Depending on the different scopes of theprojects. Feedback from our offshore Stream in contrast to the North Sea and projects twin hull designs are thepersonnel ranged from no workability due therefore water temperatures are driven by preferred vessels for operations in theto seasickness up to smooth travel. the seasons. During winter and spring North and Baltic Sea. The satisfactory size season ice can build up and delay crew for the Baltic Sea is around 20m, whereasThe operational capacity of a CTV is limited transfer operations. Drifting ice is not the around 25m should be considered for theby sea states, wind, as well as current and only weather down-time risk in the Baltic North Sea.reflects directly the value of such an asset. Sea, also icy boat landings during theWind farm owners are generally keen on winter period can cause delay or hold For any questions, discussions orchartering CTV designs, with the ability technicians back from accessing the wind suggestions SeaRenergy is happy toto operate up to the predefined weather turbine in a safe manner. The welcome you, give advice and sharelimits of the wind farm. Loosing working meteorological explanations for these experience. Visit our website, send an emaildays solely based on a CTV with relatively ‘winter season issues’ are the potential or give us a call. We look forward to hearinglow operational capacity is always costly lower temperatures, less salty water and from you!and unfavourable. www.searenergy.com90 PES Wind

Seaway Heavy Lifting is a global offshore SHL has been involved in the followingcontractor in the Renewables and Oil & Gas Wind projects recently:industry. We have over 25 years experiencein the Oil & Gas industry. In recent years we Dudgeonbecame increasingly active in the Renewables Wikingerindustry. We have installed over 600 WTG Burbo Bankfoundations, substations and HVDC platforms. Sandbank Our values: Recently we have started with the major Safe EPCI contract for the Beatrice OWF, Efficient consisting of: Fair Passionate EPCI 84 jacket foundations EPCI 91 inter array cables T&I 2 substationswww.seawayheavylifting.com Seaway Heavy Lifting A SUBSEA 7 COMPANY

THINK TANKCold climate testingPES went to Belgium to investigate the latest development in conditions, such as sealing problemsextreme climate testing. The OWI-lab is using field experience caused by differential thermal expansion,to provide a purpose built testing facility in the heart of Europe. cracks due to change in brittleness, or problems with lubrication, or hydraulics dueAlternative energy sources are a key part in greater installation costs and OM to changed viscosity. Therefore it is vital toachieving the goals set at the Paris climate challenges no longer outweigh the benefits, validate the new (sub-) system in these harshconference in December 2015. Non- which come from this work. environmental conditions. Doing so willpolluting energy sources are seen as a vital reduce the risk of problems later on in thepart in reaching the targets. Alternative One of the challenges, in this expanding project which could result in higher costs.energy sources have been implemented business, is to cope with developments inworldwide, sometimes in less than remote locations, with extreme OWI-lab opened one of Europe’s largestconvenient places. environmental conditions. OEMs and climatic test facilities in the Port of Antwerp, components suppliers are looking to adapt for such research and validation tests. TheField experience through completed their products to these demanding Large Climate Chamber has beenprojects has grown exponentially. This environments, by optimising design or operational since 2012 and has beenmeans more challenging projects have adding specialised features. steadily building up knowledge on extremebecome viable options. It is now possible to climate testing.embark on the projects, knowing the The adapted systems are prone to failures, which are related to these extreme The test cell has a useable length, width and height of respectively 10.5, 7 and 8 meters which allows for test objects over 550m³. This together with the floor capacity92 PES Wind

THINK TANKof up to 150 tonnes and the needed lifting profitability of the wind farm project. Also, climate sites, the industry has been madecapacity for such weights, on site, makes icing can pose health & safety issues such aware that this special environment needsthe chamber ideal for testing larger (sub-) as ice throw and ice-fall risk, which is special measures. Most wind turbine OEM’ssystems, as an alternative to the usual dangerous for the O&M crews maintaining and their component and technologycomponent tests in small climate cabinets. the wind turbines. Special maintenance suppliers are developing cold climateThe possible simulated temperatures range strategies and tools are required and in adaptions, or so called cold climatefrom +60 °C to -60 °C, with the possibility some locations, vehicles to reach the wind packages tailored for the demands in coldof controlling the humidity or simulating turbines, in harsh winter conditions, need to climate installations.solar heat. be planned for. Validating a new specialised coldCold climate wind turbines Also risk mitigation measures for passers- climate gearbox oil by and in some cases, even for protectedLatest market studies indicate that by the animals, living or walking near a wind farm, In the summer of 2016 the OWI-Lab validatedend of 2015, approximately 127GW of need to be anticipated in the project. Icing a new oil developed by Shell. This windwind power capacity had been installed in on the rotor blade can also increase the turbine gearbox oil was specially designed toso called ‘cold climate’ regions. Over the sound levels, which can cause problems give excellent performance in coldnext few years, up to 2020, it is estimated with local environmental permits. All these conditions. The oil will have an impact on thethat nearly 60GW of new installations will potentially negative effects need to be time to grid from a cold start up but this hadbe added. evaluated early in the planning phase and to be tested. The OWI-Lab, with its own R&D mitigated by special measures or tools in 2MW gearbox and experience in validatingBased on market forecasts from the Global the operations and maintenance (O&M) cold start procedures for gearboxes, madeWind Energy Council, this would mean that phase of the wind farm. the ideal partner for such a test.by 2020, approximately one in four of theinstalled wind turbines worldwide will be Low temperatures can also harm the wind We tested both the original oil and theoperating in a location where there is either turbine’s lifetime if not taken properly into newly developed oil at different lowicing or low temperatures.These locations consideration. Different materials, lubrication temperatures. The in house designed, noin cold climates are particularly interesting fluids, grease and lubrication strategies are load test bench allowed us to simulate thebecause of the excellent wind conditions. used for cold climate wind turbines. start-up procedure completely until nominalMost of these regions are less populated RPM in no load. This while measuringwhich also makes projects easier in terms During operation enough heat is torque needed for start-up and total powerof planning permission. generated to overcome low temperatures, fed to the gearbox. These real life validation but mainly during cold start-up, tests inside a gearbox were the essentialHowever developments have other location components like gearboxes, generators, last steps in the development of the oil.specific problems. In ambient temperatures pitch & yaw systems, transformers, in factranging ±0°C to -10°C icing may occur. This all components which have lubrication, Electrical component testingcan significantly impact the annual energy grease, or di-electric fluids, can be at riskproduction (AEP) of the wind turbine, for due to the high viscosity. Also long Earlier last year a 15MVA transformer wasexample ice accretion on rotor blades survival periods and stand-still in cold tested by Siemens. The 15 tonnes samplereduces the energy yield. conditions might harm mechanical parts was equipped with more than 85 sensors and machinery. and tested continuously in cold conditionsOn the one hand, it can also shorten the for over 4 weeks. The transformer was filledmechanical lifetime of certain wind turbine Due to the past experiences with normal, with an environmentally friendly, but highlycomponents. Both can have a significant standard designed wind turbines in cold viscous synthetic ester fluid. Its highimpact on the reliability, efficiency and viscosity at low temperatures impedes www.peswind.com 93

THINK TANK natural fluid flow and thus leads to a change of thermal performance. This is especially relevant for cooling by external radiators and pumps, which is standard for power transformers. Fluid flow in the small radiator ducts is completely different from flow at the tank wall, even more so in case of high viscosity. The viscous fluid is extremely demanding for the pump so extra care needs to be taken with the cold climate version. The test results were vital for updating the design models to further improve these high power cold climate transformers. Research and development In 2015 the Lab participated in research by the Technical University of Delft. The research focused on a new de-icing method for wind turbine blades. Using a nanosecond pulse they were able to create plasma on the outside of the blade. This plasma is several 100K and would melt ice immediately without much residual heat loss on the blade material. DBD plasma actuators have been previously investigated in aerodynamic research for their unique features and flow control properties. In wind turbines changing the aerodynamics of the blades can be useful to help stop the system in emergency situations. This, together with the de-icing possibilities, would allow for an exceptional system with a double function. However the technology is still in the research stage and tests done in lab were conducted on smaller blade coupons with only little amounts of ice on them. www.owi-lab.be/content/climate- chamber-testing94 PES Wind

SUPPORTING THE WIND & ENERGY SEcTOR SPLIETHOFF GROUP Radarweg 36 | 1042 AA Amsterdam | The Netherlands phone: +31 20 4488 400 | fax: +31 20 4488 500 | www.spliethoffgroup.com

ASK THE EXPERTSCollaboration,innovation andexpansionThe Port of Rotterdam is bustling with business and energy.PES went to find out just what is happening there from TwanRomeijn, Business Analyst and Joost Eenhuizen, BusinessManager Maritime & Offshore Industry, for the offshore teamat the Port of Rotterdam. It’s an exciting time, withcollaboration at the heart of expansion. Joost Eenhuizen Twan Romeijn PES: Welcome back to PES. Would you like to introduce the organisation and96 PES Wind explain how you currently serve the wind industry? Joost Eenhuizen and Twan Romeijn: Absolutely. The Port of Rotterdam is proud to be the largest port in Europe. In fact, working in both the offshore and maritime sectors, we co-operate with partners across the entire chain from production to R & D and from innovation to construction. Naturally, offshore remains a strategic pillar of ours – whether that be traditional oil & gas, decommissioning, and/or offshore wind projects. Indeed, at the moment we have a real focus on offshore wind, given the current positive market situation and developments. PES: The port of Rotterdam continues to be an integral hub for our industry. What kind of specific features does it offer to wind clients?

ASK THE EXPERTSJE: This is a good question. The first and PES: How much of your business is TR: We would love to. Our aim from themost obvious benefit for our clients is our devoted to wind? Is this a growing area very beginning of this coalition was tofantastic geographical location, which is for you? stimulate market growth, as we justperfect for current and future offshore wind touched on. We aimed to do this throughparks, such as Borselle, Hollandse Kust TR: Yes it is. Very much so. From an overall close, open and mutually beneficialNoord & Zuid. This positions us as a natural offshore perspective, currently the biggest collaboration between many companies,choice for both of these wind parks. developments are happening in the big and small. offshore wind industry, with many newThe Port of Rotterdam is proud to boast projects being constructed and This aim is based on the total belief thatthat we have all the physical requirements commissioned. Companies are targeting we can serve the market better throughand needs for the offshore wind client. the offshore wind industry because it is an combined forces. The coalition, which isThese are readily available to respond to expanding business. so important in the offshore windmarket driven needs and customer industry, should serve as facilitatorspecifications. We can offer an almost In our view, this tremendous market growth between the companies in question. Thisendless choice of solutions to the wide will continue, and thus, the total share for will help us to attain our larger goal, whichranging spectrum of demands and needs. offshore wind within the port will increase is to achieve cost reductions and an as well. In fact, we are actually helping to improvement in efficiency.An excellent example of this, would be the Sif stimulate this expansion and this was a keyGroup bringing the assembly and logistics of reason for starting the Rotterdam Offshore In addition, we are endeavouring to involvemonopiles, together under one roof. Wind Coalition. the whole city. We are proud to say that we are committed to continue this and toThe first cargo of monopiles built here PES: Can you tell us a little about your increase the number of local employees,was shipped out last January and this has involvement with the Rotterdam providing them with good quality living andbeen a tremendously successful and fruitful Offshore Wind Coalition? working conditions.co-operation moving into 2017. www.peswind.com 97

ASK THE EXPERTSPES: We note that the port will be joined working together will lead to cost active in the production of cables andby 14 other companies as part of this reductions, more innovation and efficiency. turbines, as well as maintenance andcoalition – that really is quite some Each member of the coalition will bring its operation opportunities. As we have alreadyundertaking and must be exciting? own know-how and as a result we will see said our focus is on collaboration. This more creativity, synergy and collaboration means sharing know-how and tacklingJE&TR: Yes it’s very exciting. The analyses problems and initiatives together.prove that the Port of Rotterdam houses a Our companies are in close proximity whichlarge share of key players within offshore makes working together easier because PES: Not long ago, you told us of yourwind, such as Boskalis, Van Oord, SIF, there is hardly any distance to travel. They plans to continue developing theAmpelmann, Huisman, Mammoet etc. We can share ideas and theories, which in turn, Maasvlakte II Offshore Centre. How isknow this gives us the most unique will mean that the market demands of cost this progressing?opportunity. All the companies are eager to reduction and efficiency can be met morejoin together in this venture and make us quickly. This is a win-win for all. JE: Yes that’s true we did. Development isthe greatest offshore port in Europe. It feels still in progress and is looking very positive.like we have gold in our hands, so let’s PES: What are you currently working on We are pleased to report that multiplemake it a success through collaboration. within the ROWC? companies have signalled their interest.PES: What benefits are you expecting to JE&TR: Within the Rotterdam Offshore PES: Where does the majority of yourbe able to offer customers as a result of Wind Coalition we are working on multiple wind business come from right now?the ROWC? initiatives. These are very varied, from And what does the future look like for creating a centre dedicated to training, the coming years?JE&TR: As we have already said, there are education and meeting the new ways ofmany benefits, the most obvious being the installing offshore turbines and insurances. TR: Well for the moment we arecollaboration between the companies. This concentrating on North Sea projects. Additionally we are looking at companies98 PES Wind

ASK THE EXPERTSEspecially Borselle, Hollandse Kust - North fruitful developments are sure to happen. with the greatest satisfaction right now?and South - and future offshore wind parks. The Port of Rotterdam offshore team is full TR: We are feeling pretty good at theThis entails monopile logistics and the of energy. It is dynamic, enthusiastic and has moment. We are working with a positivemobilisation of support vessels. We really the will to make the offshore industry flourish and enthusiastic drive. We want to combinewant to provide a one-stop port so that within the port area. Here we have a group the advantageous market developments,our customers can find everything in of companies fully dedicated to put together with the opportunities and potential, for theclose proximity. the offshore centre on Maasvlakte II. Port of Rotterdam.We are seeing continuous innovation Our Rotterdam Offshore Wind coalition We are ready and willing to cooperate withhappening in the industry. We keep an eye provides know-how and know-how sharing existing and new companies alike. We knowon these and thing are looking good. and as we have said many times, for a fact, from our work with SIF, just what collaboration is at the heart of this group. benefits there are from these marketAdditionally, in the future, the Port of developments and we want to share thisRotterdam will be focusing on the PES: How do you go about attracting with as many companies as possible – theinstallation of offshore wind parks. We are your wind clients? Is it a case of getting reward will be mutual.currently looking at the possibility of your message ‘out there’ or is it a moremaintenance and operations, as more and targeted, personal approach? PES: Finally, are you looking forward tomore consolidation is taking place within the coming year with a sense ofthis segment. This is part of our quest for JE: It’s both really. We need to make the trepidation or anticipation?cost reductions and efficiency. larger public familiar with offshore wind and make sure they are aware of the fantastic JE: Absolutely and with no question, we arePES: Can you tell us a little about the possibilities the Port of Rotterdam has to looking forward to the coming years withstrengths of the team that you have in offer. We also personally target companies. enthusiasm and optimism. The market isplace to handle wind projects? There are many attractive opportunities out full of energy and so are we in the Port of there and we want them all, including the Rotterdam. We are confident that our offerJE: Taking everything together the one off projects. is too good to be refused.strengths are: dedication, know-how andvigour. By combining these strengths PES: Which part of your work provides you www.portofrotterdam.com www.peswind.com 99

ASK THE EXPERTSTransfer services with a plus PES went to meet up with David Kristensson, Group CEO, PES: Can you explain the thinking and Rasmus Johansson, CEO and Fredrik Hallqvist, CCO at the background to the Northern Group? Northern Offshore Services, to hear about the way the Northern Group are establishing themselves as an all- David Kristensson: The idea we had when round solution provider and problem solving company. we created the Northern Group was that we wanted a group of companies in the marine100 PES Wind industry our customers and partners would see as an experienced and long term partner in areas such as, offshore wind, renewable energy, ship supply and lubricants. We want to be seen as a solution provider and problem solver. As a company that is easy to do business with. One that our customers can turn to with their