PES Wind 1 18 magazine

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TALKING POINTInnovative fallprotection systemsIn Europe alone, tens of thousands of wind turbines produce energy for countless householdsIn Europe alone, tens of thousands of wind turbines produce Leading manufacturers of fall protectionenergy for countless households. Turbine maintenance or equipment, such as SKYLOTEC, developservicing is fundamental to ensure it stays this way. Because solutions for working at heights on windemployees regularly work at great heights they cannot manage turbines, with cleverly designed details,without fall protection systems - for example, when climbing a which enable simplified application andtower by means of a fall arrest system. PES went to find out reduce the risk of an accident. Nevertheless,about how SKYLOTEC ensure the safety of their employees and even if the equipment is intuitive to operate,the training they offer both in house and globally. regular training courses for rescuing colleagues involved in an accident are vital. In Europe, whenever maintenance or servicing work is due to be carried out on the wind turbines, fall protection for employees is mandatory. This does not just apply to once they have already reached the nacelle or the high external areas. In many cases, employees belonging to the52 PES Wind

TALKING POINTmaintenance firms or the operator can only state-of-the-art and, therefore, EN technical safety requirements a new cablereach these work areas by means of a fall 351-1:2014 certified as a guided fall arrester runner took centre stage at SKYLOTEC too.arrest system, such as a ladder that is on rigid anchor line. The introduction of this The manufacturer of fall protectioninstalled within the tower. European standard raised technical safety equipment, which develops and requirements and factors other than normal manufactures its products in Germany, isThe system can consist of a steel cable and ascent and descent were taken into constantly working on new solutions.a cable runner. This is worn on the body as consideration such as, for example, thepart of Personal Fall Protection Equipment user pulling the arrest device with one hand One of the latest results to be launched on(PFPE) and attached to the harness when or forces acting on the arrest device the market by the family company is theclimbing. When the runner is attached to laterally in the event of a fall. This can ‘Claw’ cable runner. This is ideal for verticalthe steel cable, users can climb safely up happen for instance if cable runners are access on steel cables with a diameter ofand down. It also makes it easy for them to used in wind turbine towers. 8 mm and has a major advantage: it maycarry work materials or tools with them. In also be used with existing systems fromthe event of a fall, a brake is triggered on Manufacturers have since been faced with other manufacturers under certainthe runner, preventing the user from falling. the challenge of taking into consideration circumstances. This constitutes a major EN 351-1:2014 when developing new fall advantage to companies concerning theWhen selecting an appropriate cable arrest systems. Given the changes to question if and how existing systems canrunner, solutions are required which are continue to be used or enhanced with a safer state-of-the-art runner. With the introduction of EN 351-1:2014 older runners are no longer permitted for use. Wind turbine operators can, therefore, save costs on procurement because they do not have to exchange existing fall arrest systems completely and can convert them if required. During the development of the ‘Claw’ cable runner SKYLOTEC specialists focused on one further aspect: the user. For when it comes to work safety, ease of operation of the equipment and minimising the risk of incorrect use are important elements. The cause of an accident in the workplace is often not equipment failure but much more likely incorrect use by the individuals concerned. Also when using cable runners, there have been accidents in the past, which were often the result of misuse. For example, in hectic moments users might not check whether they have safely locked their cable runner on to the rail. With some old systems, the runner may have been fitted incorrectly to the structure. This can affect the braking mechanism of the system – and have serious consequences in the event of a fall. With cable runners so far available, users often had to struggle with a restriction of movement because the cable runners slowed them down while climbing. As a result, users had to move with difficulty and working got more exhausting. While developing the ‘Claw’ cable runner, SKYLOTEC worked on that issue too – and developed a solution that is high quality and smooth running without exacerbating climbing upwards or downwards. www.peswind.com 53

TALKING POINTWith the ‘Claw’ cable runner, users can focus on just climbing - and feel far more secure as a resultSKYLOTEC’s new product is a response to A brake jaw opens with a light tug on the carabiner, while the user guides the runner up or down. Thisthis – and as a result fitted the ‘Claw’ with enables practically flawless climbing to a higher or lower work location with little effortmany clever details. For instance, therunner is secured directly in a number of provides training and consultation participants having confidence inways to prevent incorrect use in error. It worldwide. Training employees from themselves and their equipment which theycould happen that a cable runner, for suppliers or maintenance firms, from the are constantly using.’ Steve Ceunen knowsexample, is attached to the steel cable the renewable energy industry, is part of the from experience. The Belgian has workedwrong way round. An integrated locking core business for the company. The training for several years as a freelance rope accessmechanism of the ‘Claw’ helps to prevent can be carried out directly on site in a technician on offshore turbines. He is nowthis from happening and a skull symbol also company if necessary. This means it can be an instructor at SKLYLOTEC.clearly indicates the application error. tailored directly to the special requirements of the site in question and employees can During training at the VRC maintenanceIn order to prevent unintended or ill- be prepared as realistically as possible for technicians are now trying out handling theconsidered removal the cable runner may daily operation. Safety is always the main ‘Claw’ cable runner. In Steve Ceunen’sonly be removed from the cable if the user focus – and this being regardless of experience, users do not find it difficultactively releases a locking mechanism, whether novices or already properly trained because it is operated intuitively. ‘In mostloosening the runner in the process. The maintenance technicians are taking part. cases my colleagues and I only have tobrake jaw opens with a light tug on the demonstrate once how the ‘Claw’carabiner, while the user guides the runner ‘Fundamentally, it is a matter of the functions,’ says the instructor.up or down. This enables practicallyflawless climbing to a higher or lower worklocation with little effort.A good and easy to operate product is nosubstitute for training however andcompanies may not dispense with theirobligation to instruct. Anyone wanting towork in the offshore and onshore sector, as amaintenance technician on wind turbinesmust be trained in accordance with therequirements of the Global WindOrganisation (GWO). In this regard, operatorsof wind farms make no compromisesamongst their own staff or employees fromcompanies who are commissioned for themaintenance of turbines.Ultimately, for legal reasons too, no trainingis not an option either. At its VerticalRescue College (VRC), SKYLOTEC54 PES Wind

CLAW THE CABLE RUNNERFOR SAFE CLIMBING The new cable runner for permanentlyinstalled climbing systems is simple to useand impresses with a maximum of safety:an integrated locking mechanism and clearsymbols prevent incorrect use. In addition,a high-performance shock absorber reducesthe forces that occur in the event of a fall.skylotec.com

TALKING POINTIn an emergency, rescue concepts are indispensable, when it comes to work safety. In these situations, the use of the ‘Milan’ descender and rescue device isthe best solutionThe inscription clearly indicates in which direction the ‘Claw’ cable runner needs to be attached to the that a rescue of accident victims can besteel cable guaranteed by their own personnel. ‘When using the ‘Claw’ a fall from a height cannotThe expert, meanwhile, has to explain other result. Plus, an accident is all but eliminated occur. Provided the party concerned isfall protection system methods more in more thanks to the clever details of the new cable conscious, they can move independentlydepth - for example, where users have to runner. This is also true if a user slips on the along the ladder,’ clarifies Steve Ceunen.move on a ladder without a rigid anchor line. ladder or loses their footing. For in such ‘But there are also factors over which theHere, they use a lanyard with carabiner instances the carabiner on the ‘Claw’ maintenance technicians in wind turbineshooks or attachment purposes. The swings downwards very suddenly. This is have no influence.’disadvantage: in order to keep moving along how the ‘Claw’ stops the fall. A built-in fallthey have to hook in and out at regular attenuator reduces any forces that may A tool might slip out of a transport bag andintervals. ‘Not only does this increase the arise in the event of a fall to below the strike a colleague, working down below, onrisk of an accident but can be very strenuous permitted 6 kN. The forces exerted on the the helmet. This can cause head injuries. Inover comparatively short distances of ten to human body are moderated as a result. addition, medical issues can arise such as15 metres,’ explains Ceunen. vertigo or dizziness. In both cases, the When it comes to work safety, it is not just party concerned might becomeCable runners such as the ‘Claw’, therefore, simply about the right equipment. Rescue unconscious. Rescue by a colleague is thenhave clear benefits: users can focus on just concepts are indispensable in an absolutely essential.climbing - and feel far more secure as a emergency. Every company must ensure Here, the use of the ‘Milan’ descender and rescue device is the best solution. For almost two decades, this device has established itself as standard piece of rescue equipment in many areas as it offers a wide field of applications for different rescue situations. Safe and simple to use for the rescuer, it is also deployed in the wind energy industry for rescuing one or more persons who are working at height. As far as Steve Ceunen is concerned, one thing is certain: ‘Anyone using the ‘Claw’ can produce tangible benefits to safety in their company and in their wind turbines.’ This is on the basis that the installation of a fall arrest system emerged as the most appropriate fall protection measure from the risk assessment. www.skylotec.com56 PES Wind

TransmissionsecurityTurnkey solutions for theprocurement, installationand service of high-voltagecable systems.To mitigate the risks in a cable Being able to recognise potential CIS stands for Cable system, Instal-system project, an in-depth problematic encounters that might lation and Service. It is the name ofunderstanding of both cable occur during installation or operation NKT’s complete power cable systemsystem and installation already in the design and manufac- offering – including planning, design,characteristics is key. turing process, ensures compliance manufacturing, installation and with specific installation parameters. service. Having only one partner Utilizing this insight enables proper throughout the lifetime of your cable handling of the cable throughout the system helps to manage risk and project. Thus a turnkey solution with minimize life cycle cost. With more the right partner will consequently than a hundred years’ experience lower interface risk as well as total in high-voltage cable systems, NKT cost of ownership. is able to provide turnkey solutions that deliver maximum transmission security.nkt.com NKT HV Cables AB NKT GmbH & Co. KG PO Box 546, SE-371 23 Karlskrona, Düsseldorfer Strasse 400, 51061 Cologne, Sweden Germany +46 455 556 00 | [email protected] +49 221 676 0 | [email protected]

PES ESSENTIALGigantic masterpieces in theBaltic SeaThe Jan De Nul Group has installed two gravity-based The power grid part of the project isfoundations in the Danish waters of the Baltic Sea. Built in co-financed by the EU. The Kriegers FlakOstend, the foundations were designed entirely by Jan De wind farm consists of two sites, each withNul, based on their client’s basic design. PES wanted to learn its own high voltage substation. The Janmore about this ground breaking wind farm. De Nul Group, together with its consortium partner Iemants, wereBy 2021, the 600MW Kriegers Flak Offshore Flak OWF with the German Baltic 2 OWF, responsible for the foundationsWind Farm in the Danish waters of the Baltic thereby creating the first offshore power grid supporting both these substations.Sea, will generate enough electricity to in the world to combine two offshore windpower up to 600,000 homes. Transmission power installations with the possibility of The contract to design, build and install thesegrid operators, Danish Energinet and supplying electricity to either or both, two Gravity Based Substructures (GBSs) wasGerman 50 Hertz, will connect the Kriegers Denmark and Germany. awarded to the consortium during late 2016. Jan De Nul was in charge of the design, construction, installation and ballasting of the concrete GBSs while Iemants designed, fabricated and installed the steel top part where the substation is connected. Once58 PES Wind

PES ESSENTIAL ‘The Adhémar de Saint-Venant showed its multipurpose character more than once by taking care of the diverse tasks on the project.’transported and installed, Jan De Nul was structures, although each having a were completed in the basin of Oceanide inalso responsible for the foundation ballasting significant weight, can still be towed to site. order to determine motion responses, andand the installation of the scour protection towline tensions of both GBSs when afloat,during the first quarter of 2018. The largest KFBE substation will also act as and to fine-tune the gravel bed and seabed an interconnector between the Kriegers Flak scour protection designs. These basin testsThe Jan De Nul Group had already wind farm on one side, and the mainland of proved to be extremely useful and alloweddesigned, constructed and installed Denmark and Germany on the other side. Jan De Nul to provide the client and thegravity based structures before, but the On the wind farm side, the design had to marine warranty surveyor with a clear proofsize and weight of the Kriegers Flak accommodate 21 massive J-tubes running of concept.structures were unprecedented: the GBS through the shafts towards the outside of theof the KFA substation of the Western part caisson. In combination with the lifetime From start to finish, it took less than 6of the OWF, with a 200MW capacity) design requirements of the structure and the months to deliver a fully certified structuralweighs 8,000 tonnes. The GBS of the resulting impact loads, this meant that the and geotechnical masterpiece.KFBE substation of the Eastern part, with reinforcement calculations were a complexa 400MW capacity, weighs 10,000 tonnes. challenge that had to be overcome. Building on waterThe size of both structures made thisproject even more challenging. All of this resulted in a very complex design The two impressive concrete GBSs wereAdditionally, and for the first time, Jan De process, as it was necessary to consider built on a semisubmersible barge having aNul designed these hybrid gravity-based both the lifetime operation of the GBSs and length of 152m, a width of 38m, and afoundations entirely in-house. also the temporary installation position, submersible capacity to a water depth of where both positions have an impact on 12.5m of water on deck. ConstructionThe design, a technical masterpiece certain parts of the substructures. started at the beginning of June 2017 alongside the REBO quay in the port ofThe design is a technical masterpiece. The To fully observe the complexity of the Ostend in Belgium.foundations must be able to withstand the design and the importance of the behaviorforces of water and wind and, at the same of the structures in floating conditions, Building on a floating platform is quitetime, carry the weight of the substations. during both transport and installation, a challenging as the ‘fixed’ bottom of theThe design is based on a floating 1/24 scaled version of the initial GBS design barge had a different angle of inclinationinstallation concept which means that the was fabricated. A number of model tests every day, which turns something as simple as the proper installation of formwork into a difficult task. A 24/7 working regime was put into place to allow installation works to be undertaken before the winter. Unfortunately the challenging design, combined with the extremely strict quality requirements, meant the concrete works were only completed at the end of November 2017. Once the concrete works were finished, Iemants took one month to install the steel decks on top. Both foundations were completed and fitted out by the end of December 2017. Transport and installation in mid-winter After completion of the construction, the barge with both foundations was ready for www.peswind.com 59

PES ESSENTIALdeparture to Denmark. As the weather at foundation, which in winter doesn’t happen Køge and anchored in the field close to thethat time was not favourable, the departure that often. During the weekend of 17th and installation location. The barge waswas delayed to early January 2018. On the 18th February 2018 and from 21st until 23rd submerged in order to float-off the8th January 2018 the semisubmersible February 2018, Jan De Nul finally received foundations one by one.barge left Ostend towed by the 105T BP tug the go-ahead from the MWS to install firstZeus of Finland and arrived in Køge on the the 8,000 tonnes KFA substructure and The installation was carried out with the19th January. afterwards the 10,000 tonnes KFBE assistance of the heavy sheer leg Rambiz. substructure on the sea bottom. The Prior to submerging the barge, the RambizThree consecutive days of good weather semisubmersible barge left the port of approached the foundation and connectedwere needed for the installation of one its lifting hooks to the four lifting eyes integrated within the concrete caisson. Once connected, the barge started to submerge to a depth of approximately 10m of water on deck. The foundation then started to float and the Rambiz towed out the foundation. An assisting tug subsequently towed the sheer leg Rambiz together with the foundation to its final installation location. For the actual installation, the Rambiz was moored into position with the foundation still connected to its crane hooks. the ballast engineer monitored a number of valves, which were cast in the concrete, controlling the water inflow into the different inner tanks, by using a wifi connection between a dedicated ballasting computer terminal on board the Rambiz and a built-in ballast module at the bottom of the concrete caisson. Flooding the inner tanks allowed the foundation to slowly sink, and in the meantime, the Rambiz ensured horizontal control of the structure by keeping its lifting arrangement under tension. This allowed for accurate positioning of the structures onto the seabed.60 PES Wind

PES ESSENTIAL‘A challenging project both in terms of engineeringand operations flawlessly executed by Jan De Nul.’ Christopher Derycke, Project Manager High-precision job under water The foundations needed to be placed on a prepared seabed due to the soil conditions of stiff clay and till, at the Kriegers Flak site. A grab dredger first dredged to a depth of 2.6m, after which Jan De Nul’s multipurpose vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant, very accurately installed a flat gravel bed for the foundations to be placed upon. By means of a custom-made sweep beam, the gravel bed was levelled to the required tolerances. After these interventions, the GBSs were installed: the KFA weighing 8,000 tonnes was installed within an inclination of 0. 1 degree, the KFBE of 10,000 tonnes within an inclination of 0.01 degrees. A high-precision job under water! After installation, the Adhémar de Saint- Venant installed the ballast material into the substructures via its inclined fall pipe, with dedicated bend piece to allow the inner caisson tanks inside the GBS to be filled with ballast material. Then in the final stage, the Adhémar de Saint-Venant installed scour protection around the substructures, consisting of a filter layer with an armour layer combined with concrete mattresses on top. www.jandenul.com www.peswind.com 61

TALKING POINT Smart solutions in the offshore wind industry picked up by the oil and gas sector Words: Peter Robert, Director Business Development & Market Intelligence at Damen62 PES Wind

TALKING POINTAfter many years of renewables being somewhat the‘Cinderella’ of the energy industry, it is fascinating to see thatit is now offshore wind power driving innovation and its smartsolutions are being taken up by the well-established oil andgas sector.A good example was highlighted recently reality and this has been brought aboutwhen Damen’s first Service Operations over the years of improving operationsVessel (SOV), which was purpose-built for offshore and through cost reduction. Asthe offshore wind market, entered the oil well as this, the wind energy players areand gas business on a three-year contract. more prepared to commit themselves to long-term contracts, making the use ofThe SOV - with Walk-to-Work capability - is such a tailor-made vessel viable.dedicated to the transfer andaccommodation of offshore personnel but its These lessons learnt in the renewablesdesign was essentially developed from the sector are now being seen as significantrequirements of the North Sea offshore wind advantages in the oil and gas business too.market. The first vessel, Bibby WaveMaster1, owned by Bibby Marine Services Ltd, was Vessel versus helicopter transferintroduced to the market in 2017 and sheheaded straight to the offshore wind market In the Total case, a vessel solution provesin the southern North Sea. more efficient than the traditional method of transferring personnel offshore by usingHowever, less than a year later, Bibby jack-ups and helicopters when accessingWaveMaster 1 will begin a major contract offshore assets for maintenance.for Total E&P Nederland. Bibby MarineServices announced that Total E&P The Damen SOV leads to a significant costNederland will charter the vessel to access reduction. Helicopters can be a hindrancegas platforms in the North Sea from April to in that the oil and gas majors, have to beOctober this year, but this has now been able to provide temporary accommodationextended to three years. for technicians, for a certain amount of time particularly when the weather is poor. AndThree-year contract for Bibby this requires investment. The helicopterWaveMaster 1 landing platform and related safety equipment has to be maintained.Although there are many synergies betweenboth offshore industries, Bibby WaveMaster Also the time on tools is significantly1 is largely a result of the push for reducing improved when deploying a vessel forthe total cost of wind energy to enable the maintenance operations. Including the dayindustry to be less reliant on subsidies. briefings and the need to pack up the tools and prepare for the arrival of the helicopterThe vessel underwent rigorous model to pick technicians up, they may only gettesting and simulator tests at MARIN in the 5/6 hours per day out of a 12-hour shift.Netherlands. The gangway motion, vesselhull shape dynamics and the DP system Vessel transfers can have a big impact onand how these individual components the total operation and at the same time,interact with each other, were considered. safety is not being sacrificed, with reportsThis is crucial to the design and gives the from the last few years showing that vesselrequired ‘certainty of access’ to offshore transfers are safer than helicopters.structures in severe weather conditions. The comfort, logistics’ flow and ‘accessA key factor in Bibby WaveMaster 1 is the certainty’ of Bibby WaveMaster 1 areunique, multi-stop elevator. This is linked to believed to be the key influencers in Totalthe gangway, so a technician can go from E&P Nederland’s decision, in addition to thethe warehouses or deck level straight well thought out workflows whereby crewupwards on the elevator, over the gangway and equipment are always separated. Bibbyand directly onto the turbine Transition WaveMaster 1 provides accommodation forPiece, without climbing a step. up to 90 passengers including crew.The first subsidy-free wind farms are now a The decision from Total E&P also shows a www.peswind.com 63

TALKING POINTslight move away from the traditional coming years, especially in the UK and crane vessel for installing foundations and‘campaign approach’ from the oil majors, Norwegian sector and believes it will have a substations and it is looking to develop thiswhich is particularly prevalent in the significant impact on the cost per day, side of the business. As it is patent pendingNorth Sea. especially in the context of long-term not too many details can be revealed yet, contracts and throughout the O&M phase but the vessel has ro-ro capabilities and aAn operator would typically consider a walk of smaller platforms. large open deck.to work solution for a four-monthmaintenance campaign; they are not Floating crane vessel for foundations Additionally, the shipyard group is aiming tonecessarily taking a strategic decision to increase its presence in the offshore windreplace helicopters with vessels. It is Damen is also playing an active role in market in the US.usually a balanced mix. But Total has taken accommodating the increasing size ofa different view. offshore wind foundations. In light of this A role in offshore wind in the US trend, Damen is committed to developingDamen expects to see the move to choose new solutions for offshore installations. Damen has been active in the US for yearsvessels over helicopters increase in the through Damen Technical Cooperation The company has designed a new floating (DTC). This enables customers to build a Damen vessel either from acquiring just the basic design or by ordering a full shipbuilding package. Vessels can be built at a local yard with Damen as the main contractor or a Damen yard - essentially wherever the customer wants. The company has already built a substantial number of CTVs, cable layers and SOVs in the US market. When it comes to an SOV or CTV, owners can have a proven Damen design, developed from the experience gained in the offshore wind market in the North Sea, but built in a US shipyard. The company is also exploring renewables developments going on in Taiwan and Japan. Overall, Damen is very positive about the renewables sector and expects to see the industry fully mature in the next decade. And it certainly aims to play a role in its development in the US and beyond. www.damen.com64 PES Wind

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THINK TANKGrowing focus onsustainability in theoffshore industryNKT Victoria at dock in Karlskrona, Sweden. She is the most energy efficienct cable-laying vessel in the world and play an important part of the offshore offer of NKT. The global power cable provider NKT believes an even stronger focus on sustainability is emerging in the offshore industry to meet the global demand for renewable energy. The company is continuously investing in projects ensuring sustainability in all areas of its offshore operations and has already seen its energy efficient cable-laying vessel play an important part for customers and partners in the offshore industry. Andreas Berthou In a globalised and interconnected world, systems to renewable energy projects in the the need for power is constantly growing offshore industry, NKT is now experiencing66 PES Wind with a global focus on meeting the an increased interest in sustainability from demand in a sustainable and efficient way. partners operating in the industry. The transformation towards more sustainable energy production has a great ‘We have seen a growing interest for impact on the offshore energy sector, with sustainability in the entire supply chain from a growing focus on ensuring even more cable system design to production, sustainable operations. installation and service from our partners in the offshore industry,’ says Andreas As a turnkey provider of high-voltage cables Berthou, Executive Vice President and

THINK TANK NKT is a global power cable provider with extensive experience within high-voltage cable systems to both on- and offshore projects.Head of High-voltage Solutions in NKT. shore connection to the oil platform Johan differentiator in the offshore market. One Sverdrup in Norway. example is our state-of-the-art cable laying’It is only natural with an increased focus vessel, NKT Victoria, which has become anon energy efficiency and sustainability In March 2018 NKT received the CSR Gold important part of our offshore offer sinceand I believe that we, as a supplier, Rating from the independent rating she has introduced new industry standardsexperience how the industry is company EcoVadis, positioning them in the for both energy efficiency and operationalstrengthening its actions to preserve the top 1% of the suppliers in the EcoVadis technologies,’ Andreas Berthou explains.environment and meet the global demand network based on performance within thefor renewable energy. We welcome this areas of environment, people and ethics. NKT Victoria was commissioned in 2017growing focus and with our core business and is the world’s most energy efficientin renewables sustainability is an Energy efficiency as a differentiator cable-laying vessel and she plays a keyintegrated part of our business and we part in the companies ambition tocontinuously work to minimise the As a key supplier to the offshore industry, consistently minimise its environmentalenvironmental impact from both our cable NKT has been part of the transformation impact arising from offshore operations.production and operations.’ giving the industry a leading role in the Her fuel consumption is significantly lower global shift toward renewable energy. than for equivalent vessels due to a uniqueNKT is a leading power cable provider to Offshore energy now plays a crucial part in combination of technologies, includingthe offshore industry, with extensive the energy mix of the transition to electrical power-from-shore connection,experience connecting wind farms as well renewable energy and the offshore industry special Azipod propulsion units and energyas oil and gas fields to the land based continues to act responsibly with a storage for marine applications.power grids. The current high profiled continuous focus on sustainability.offshore projects include the Danish wind The electrical power-from-shorefarm Kriegers Flak and the power-from- ’We see how energy efficiency and connection can be maintained while sustainable operations are becoming a key www.peswind.com 67

THINK TANKThe cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria introduced new industry standards for both energy efficiency and operational technologies when she was commissioned in 2017.NKT manufactures high-voltage cable systems for the offshore industry in both Germany and Sweden. NKT has installed submarine cable systems on up to 420 kV AC and 450 kV DC and have also been awarded a 525 kV DC connection for the NordLink project between Norway and Germany.loading cable aboard, keeping the diesel manufacturing and installation process. We aluminium so that the environmental impactgenerators off and create a unique operate in the frontline of the energy is minimal.advantage which enables more energy transition ensuring efficient integration ofefficient offshore operations. energy produced offshore and our actions Successful energy initiatives and operations naturally needs to reflectSustainable cable manufacturing this,’ states Andreas Berthou. As in other heavy industries, the cable system production is energy consumingSince energy efficiency is an integrated To minimise the environmental impact of its which makes it important for companies topart of the NKT policies, initiatives are cables system, NKT operates with a strong keep the energy usage as low as possible.initiated on an ongoing basis to reduce the focus on recycling. The high-voltage cablesenvironmental impact of the company’s are for instance designed to enable ‘Energy efficiency in relation to both ourcable manufacturing processes and separation of layers, making recycling operations and in our cable systems isfacility operations. material possible when the cable system is essential to preserve our environment for taken out of service. NKT also operates a the generations to come and it also has’As a turnkey provider to the offshore recycling centre specialising in the reuse of direct impact on our competitiveness,industry it is natural for us to focus on material from cables such as copper and keeping the total cost of ownership as lowreducing the energy usage in our cable as possible for our partners and68 PES Wind

THINK TANKNKT Victoria in operation at the 600 MW wind farm Kriegers Flak in Denmark in The production in Karlskrona, Sweden, has manufactured cable systems for2017. The farm will be connected to shore by a 220 kV HVAC cable system. several landmark offshore projects such as the Martin Linge platorm in Norway and the wind parks DolWin 1 and HornsRev 3.customers. We have ambitious targets for The importance of wind on making the global energy productionenergy efficiency and are continuously more sustainable for the sake of futuredriving initiatives and innovations to ensure The global demand for renewable energy is generations.’ he underlines.this at our facilities and operations to constantly growing and is strengthening theminimise our environmental impact,’ focus of the offshore industry, with a strong NKT operates globally with a stronghold indeclares Andreas Berthou. project pipeline, especially where the market Europe and has extensive experience, for for offshore wind is rapidly developing. example offshore wind projects such asThe focus on energy efficiency is paying off DolWin 1, Baltic 1 and HornsRev 3 and isfor NKT. The production site in Karlskrona ‘Offshore wind is extremely important if we currently working on several offshoreis a great example. At the Swedish site are to reach the ambitious EU targets of projects such as the Hornsea Project Onestrategic initiatives and increased 27% renewables by 2030 and we see heavy wind farm in the UK, the interconnectorproduction have reduced the energy investments in offshore wind parks in NordLink between Norway and Germanyconsumption per tonnes cable produced, Europe, to support the energy transition. and connecting the oil platform Martinby 18% in 2017 compared to 2016. We are playing a central part of the Linge with the world’s longest HVAC transition with great experience from submarine cable system.These successful initiatives include offshore projects and unmatchedinvestments in new ventilation and experience with the HVDC cables often In 2017 NKT was awarded the exportdemisting systems, a new control system needed to ensure efficient transportation of cable project Borssele Beta and wasfor climate management and changing to the energy produced offshore,’ expands selected as preferred supplier to theLED lighting. The change of energy source Andreas Berthou. offshore wind farms of Triton Knoll andfor heating has also been completed for Moray East in the UK. Things are lookingthe Karlskrona facility and the heating of ‘In NKT, we are committed to both reduce good for this forward looking,the property is now solely run by our own energy consumption and to deliver environmentally conscious company.renewable energy. the most efficient products and operations in the offshore market. We all need to focus www.nkt.comNKT has a long history of innovation. Amongst other milestones is the first qualified 525 HVDC extruded NKT has pioneered the cable industrycable system launched in 2014 and is delivering the longest HVAC submarine cable ensuring sustainable for more than 125 years and is aelectrification of the Norwegian oil & gas field Martin Linge. leading power cable provider connecting the world with a wide portfolio of cables within areas such as construction, energy distribution and for the growing offshore wind industry and the development of the global power grids. The company employs more than 3400 employees, and its turnover for 2017 amounted to €1 billion in std. metal prices. In 2017 NKT acquired the high-voltage cable division of ABB and became a global player within on- and offshore high-voltage AC/DC cable systems. With the combined business NKT is strongly positioned in the growing offshore wind industry and for the development of the interconnector grid globally. www.peswind.com 69

TALKING POINTInstallation hurdles forthe US in offshore windGustoMSC SEA-3250-LT design suitable for installation of the current range of turbine sizes at minimal capital investments.Since the beginning of this year, US states together have There is an increasing interest fromcommitted to approximately 8,200 MW of offshore wind by companies looking to participate in the US2030. This is a substantial amount of work and provides a offshore wind installation market. Variousvisible pipeline of work justifying investments in dedicated and parties are investigating and preparing inefficient installation solutions. Are these the right conditions to order to be able to invest in theinvest in a new build installation jack-up? PES explores the construction of a wind turbine installationopportunities and hurdles with GustoMSC, a design and jack-up in the future. Parties areengineering company of mobile offshore units and equipment. considering designs, potential shipyards and discussing with developers and turbine manufacturers. There have been several announcements but to date no company appears to have made a solid commitment to build yet. What are the bottlenecks why are commitments not forthcoming?70 PES Wind

TALKING POINTLast year, the States of Massachusetts, Fred. Olsen’s GustoMSC NG-9000C design Brave Tern safely installing the first wind turbines in the USNew York and Rhode Island published a (picture: courtesy Fred. Olsen)report ‘U.S. Jones Act Compliant OffshoreWind Turbine Installation Vessel Study’. shipyards. A state-of-the-art wind turbine Moreover, when in the absence of suitableGustoMSC has been working on this report installation jack-up is a large and complex equipment available in the US, Europeanfor the New York State Energy Research unit to build. US yards have no recent installation vessels need to be mobilised toand Development Agency (NYSERDA). The experience in building these large self- transit across the Atlantic, considerablereport is aimed at understanding what is propelled, self-elevating vessels which have costs are added to the project. In additionrequired for a wind turbine installation very large & high reach cranes. feeder units need to be taken into thevessel on the US East Coast from both the equation. Therefore a dedicated Jones Acttechnical and financial perspectives. The number of available shipyards to build compliant new build jack-up vessel may be such a large jack-up is limited. It is expected more competitive.Technical aspects that US yards will be more expensive than yards that have previously built similar GustoMSC US compliant equipment andCurrently there is no equipment available jack-up designs in Europe, the Middle East design solutionsin the US that is capable of installing and Far-East. Yard capability to build thesepresent and future heavy foundations and larger Jones Act compliant jack-ups to the Offshore wind turbine Installation is aturbines, due to insufficient carrying and future requirements and for the right price is logistical challenge requiring thelifting capability, in terms of both capacity going to be important for the offshore wind transportation and installation of a highand height. market in the US and might trigger solid number of expensive, large, delicate and commitments to build new vessels. heavy components on very large heights, inIn very nice weather we have seen towerand blade components, for 6 MW turbines,being feedered by US liftboats. Withplanned turbine sizes of 8+ MW for theupcoming US projects this will beincreasingly difficult as the size and weightof components are larger and heavier.Furthermore, for projects with an increasingnumber of turbines, robustness margin interms of allowable installation conditions,becomes more and more important. For anefficient installation campaign, the weatherwindows cannot be too tight. Liftboats werenot designed for sailing with cargo, in heavysea conditions and have very limitedpayload capacity.But when it is decided to build new vessels,construction of a suitable jack-up will takeroughly 2.5 to 3 years from signing todelivery, depending on the type of jack-up.The earliest developments have planneddelivery dates from 2020 onwards andincreasing in volume from around 2022-2024 and onwards. This means that anew-build jack-up may not be available forthe first wave of US projects but may bebecome available at a later time whenactivity is expected to pick-up.Developers cannot wait for a dedicatedjack-up to become available and so will beforced to go for alternative installationsolutions by means of a non-Jones Actcompliant jack-up, as there is no suitableequipment in the US market available.Currently sufficient European units appear tobe available and able to install US windturbines. Whether this will still be the case inthe future will depend on global marketconditions and requirements, with respect tofoundation weights and turbine sizes. Largerturbines, or a raised activity level on theEuropean wind market, heavily affects theavailability of suitable European installationjack-ups for the US East Coast projects.Financial aspectsFurther challenges in the US arise with portand supply chain availability and suitable www.peswind.com 71

TALKING POINTGustoMSC NG-9800-US design, the most capable and efficient wind turbine installation jack-up for the jack-ups with Rack & Pinion jackingUS market. systems, for enhanced survivability at deeper water and for the most stablea hostile offshore marine environment. and installing future turbines in the North solutions. When the number of wind turbinesTherefore it is key to maximise safety, East coast. Like the other GustoMSC NG to be installed per year increases, the focusefficiency and minimise downtime by jack-ups, the NG-9800C-US is a four- shifts from low capex per jack-up towardsreducing the number of steps involved. legged, self-propelled, self-elevating unit low capex per turbine installation. ThisSuccess has been achieved in the past by that moves autonomously, without the need requires modern, state-of-the-art installationcombining transport and installation into a for tug assistance. tools, such as the newest generation of windrobust purpose built jack-up. turbine installation jack-ups. These units are This US workhorse features a continuous fully adapted to efficient and safe installationThe Brave Tern is such a success story. The hydraulic jacking system providing high in a harsh offshore environment.GustoMSC NG-9000C design, was initially redundancy and flexibility during jacking. Itdesigned at a time when 3 to 3.6 MW is characterised by a large versatile open Future outlookturbines were the standard and soon larger deck space, a leg encircling crane with aturbines of 5 to 6 MW came on to the high reach and capacity and includes an Confidence in the future of US offshore windmarket. With upgrades the four NG-9000C accommodation with state-of-the-art appears to be growing due to importantunits operating in Europe today are able to facilities. The design is fully compliant with steps that have been taken over the pastinstall the largest turbines of 8 to 9.5 MW. ABS or DNV GL Class requirements and months. Developers have to show andThis Brave Tern also installed the first with SNAME recommended practices. commit on a solid pipeline to the market. Inoffshore wind turbines in the US. Europe in 2009 we were in the same The NG-9800C-US however requires a situation. Since history seems to repeat itselfTwo years ago GustoMSC evolved the more substantial investment and in the emerging US offshore wind market,design to the NG-9800C-US. Designed to commitment than design solutions with a GustoMSC introduced a full range of designoperate in the American offshore wind lower threshold, such as the NG-3750C solutions to resolve the bottleneck for thewaters, the NG-9800C-US is the most feeder jack-up and the SEA-3250-LT US offshore wind market based on differentcapable and efficient wind turbine installation jack-up. The latter being a low operational and financial scenarios.installation jack-up for the US market. The cost alternative able to install the currentNG-9800-US can be built at several range of turbine sizes but at minimal capital The availability of suitable large installationshipyards in the US making it Jones Act investments. The smaller jack-ups will be jack-ups is decisive for the way US windcompliant and it is therefore able to operate simpler and cost less time to build. This farms are going to be developed and thefreely from US ports and shorebases. This also means that there would be more US cost and risk at which this will be done.design allows entry to the port of New yards able to build such a unit. Conversions of vessels/barges to jack-upsBedford, which houses the first facility in have proven to be unsuccessful. TypicallyAmerica designed to support the However, to cope with the expected this results in too heavy jack-ups, and thusconstruction, assembly, and deployment of increase in turbine size, weights and hub limited variable load, and poor performanceoffshore wind projects on the US East Coast. heights, and to ensure process efficiency in due to lack of robustness and rigidity. the repetitive character of wind turbineBased on the proven technology and installation, the company sees sufficient The latter may result in considerable residualunique performance of the NG-9000C potential for the larger installation jack-ups, horizontal motions of the jack-up, which inseries, this jack-up is capable of providing possibly even at deeper waters. turn leads to movements of the crane andfully loaded transits to offshore locations load in the hook. This effect can lead to This would typically necessitate truss leg safety issues, weather restrictions and so extra downtime. Especially for the repetitive character of the installation of tens of wind turbines, extra downtime, and potentially missing the favourable installation season, can have very serious consequences. Therefore, especially for the larger turbines, increased installation heights and deeper waters, GustoMSC focuses heavily on robust, well balanced solutions, with proven track records. Reliability of jacking systems, legs and hull are most important in order to have a safe and efficient operating unit for efficient installation campaigns. It is still unclear how the future will unfold, but it is clear we are at a decisive point in time for the US offshore wind market. GustoMSC plays a pioneering role in the offshore wind installation market, delivering designs and equipment for a wide range of jack-ups and other vessels responsible for close to 80% of the installations within this market. And now the company is committed to use its experience and expertise and provide the US market with safe, solid and stable solutions for the successful development of US offshore wind. www.gustomsc.com72 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

THINK TANKFloating wind powerHywindOver the past couple of years we have heard more and more about successful floating windturbine projects. It seems there is huge potential for these floating wind farms. These structuresbring with them numerous different security issues. PES brings you an update on thepartnership between Orga and Sabik Offshore. It lights up the whole perimeter of the ‘Hywind’wind farm and makes it visible to both marine vessels and aircraft alike.A unique wind project off the coast of Hywind farm – built by Statoil and Masdar - back of a napkin.Scotland is the first commercially operational, floating wind farm. It brings us a step closer to The wind farm consists of 5 SiemensOur oceans, with their vast uninhabited unlocking the enormous potential of floating turbines that have a total capacity of 30MW.surfaces, have a great potential for creating offshore wind parks across our oceans. The turbines are subjected to winds of 10wind energy. One of the challenges with meter per second and waves with anoffshore wind has been that turbines A buoy as a source of inspiration average height of 1.8 metres.always had to be built on the ocean floor, inrelatively shallow waters. This meant that The idea of floating wind turbines, came The design of the floating turbines is basedclose to 80% of the oceans wind power from a simple buoy that a Statoil engineer on a single floating cylindrical spar buoy.potential could not be used. passed on an afternoon of sailing with his The construction is chained to the sea bed colleague. The engineers recognised the with chains or cables. To make sure theIn 2017 the offshore wind farm ‘Hywind’, off value of the idea. Later that day they turbine is balanced and floats upright, it isthe coast of Scotland was opened. The started sketching in the canteen, on the ballasted with three 60 tonne weights.74 PES Wind

THINK TANK Photo Illustration Statoil. Hywind wind farmSoftware aboard each turbine monitors the Marking a wind park for air traffic, is different the latest in asset marking technology. Thewinds and waves and alters the pitch of the from marking a wind park for marine traffic. systems installed are energy efficient andblades. This dampens the motion of the The aviation obstruction lighting system is extremely durable. They also require little toturbine and maximises production. situated in the top of the tower and in some no maintenance due to smart technologies, cases, half way up the turbine. The marine built in redundancy and the use of LEDThe most challenging aspect was to make lighting system on the other hand, is situated lighting. To make the solution even morethe wind farm last for 20 years in these much lower on the turbines. user-friendly, Sabik Offshore and Orgaextreme circumstances. The stresses on integrated their systems in a way that theythe big constructions are enormous. The The specifics of both types of safety can communicate with one another. BothHywind concept was successfully tested on marking, are described in different systems can be controlled and monitoreda full scale prototype located off the coast regulations. This means that companies remotely through the same control unit.of Karmøy, Norway and was then optimised building the parks have to deal with twofor the Hywind pilot park. different regulations. Obstruction marking systems have been around for hundreds of years. The first lightMarking the project safely for passing ICAO and IALA regulations houses warned ships with fires and later withair and marine traffic incandescent lights. We have come a long The International Civil Aviation Organisation way since then. During the last twenty yearsTo keep people, assets and the (ICAO) has written worldwide guidelines for obstruction safety marking systems haveenvironment safe, a floating offshore wind the safe marking of structures for air traffic. become increasingly important because offarm has to be marked effectively. The International Association of marine aids intensified air- and marine traffic.Specialised lighting systems, ensure that to navigation and Lighthouse Authoritiesthe asset is visible to passing air and (IALA) on the other hand, has written The evolution of Aviation Obstructionmarine traffic. international guidelines for the safe marking Lighting systems of offshore structures in order to protect marine traffic. Over the last decades, Dutch company Orga has supplied aviation obstruction Both regulatory bodies provide a frame of lighting systems to mark and protect their reference for safety regulations. Countries customers’ worldwide. These marked can choose to adopt them, or make their assets have varied throughout the years own variations on regulations. This means from prestigious city skyscrapers and that the actual regulations that need to be bridges, to chimneys on large plants, to followed vary per country. Luckily, wind farms in remote areas. companies like Orga and Sabik Offshore, make it their business to help others comply The wind farms have been Orga’s most with the different regulations worldwide. important Aviation Obstruction Lighting market, and they have seen the movement Orga and Sabik offshore formed a from onshore wind farms to offshore partnership for the Hywind project, to wind farms. mark the entire park safely and efficiently. Sabik Offshore took care of the marking Matthieu Scheffers Strategic Business system that warns marine traffic. Orga Development Manager at Orga Aviation provided the Aviation Obstruction Lighting says: ‘Luckily, Orga is no stranger to the system, which makes the wind farm visible offshore industry. For decades we have for passing air traffic. supplied explosion proof Aids to Navigation lighting to offshore platforms (and assets in The combined solution presented by the hazardous areas). Now we can combine our Sabik Offshore & Orga partnership shows offshore know-how with our Aviation www.peswind.com 75

THINK TANK ‘Luckily, Orga is no stranger to the offshore industry. For decades we have supplied explosion proof Aids to Navigation lighting to offshore platforms (and assets in hazardous areas). Now we can combine our offshore know-how with our Aviation obstruction lighting technologies. It all comes together beautifully in this highly innovative offshore wind farm.’Photo Roar Lindefjeld Woldcam Statoil. Hywind Scotland - preparations for first sail awayobstruction lighting technologies. It all Photo Espen Rõnnevik Woldcam Statoil. Aasta Hansteen topside vessel transfer December 2017comes together beautifully in this highlyinnovative offshore wind farm.’ Turbines have grown larger and larger over Orga and Sabik Offshore solutions to the years. Maintenance crews are often the offshore wind marketObstruction lighting has made many deployed to the turbines on ships. In sometechnological advancements over the last cases, where time is of the essence, crews The Hywind pilot park shows that we mightdecades, making the solutions to mark are flown in by helicopters. The helicopter be able to make floating wind a competitiveassets more economical, more durable and then drops off crew members on the energy supplier. Following regulations tomore environmentally friendly. helipad installed on the nacelle. To make mark wind farms in a safe way will be easier sure the helicopter drop off happens safely, as well. When the time is right, partnersMarking an asset used to be done by the helicopter has to know when the turbine Sabik Offshore and Orga will be ready toplacing a light behind a strong lens on a blades have stopped moving entirely. The supply fully integrated aids to navigationtower, chimney or platform. Years of Helihoist light becomes green when the and obstructing lighting system that willresearch and development have brought blades have stopped moving and signals keep the wind farm, passing traffic and thethe systems to where we are today. Now that it is safe for the pilot to perform the environment safe.obstruction lights are part of smart drop off.modular systems. www.orga.nlThe system can be controlled remotely andis fitted with multiple sensors. A visibilitymeter measures the amount of availablelight and adjusts the light intensity of thesystem accordingly.Optical engineers have modelled the lensesin such a way that the light beam is directedin an angle that causes minimal lightpollution. When one of the lights in thesystems fails, the system can activate a builtin back-up light to maintain a safe situation.With new technologies such as GPS,Aviation- and Marine-Obstruction lightingsystems throughout the park can evencommunicate and synchronise their signals.Connection to the internet gives users theluxury of remotely controlling and monitoringthe lighting systems, which saves a lot oftime and money. LED lighting provides thelatest available technology when it comes toextended lifetime of the product.Another novelty in the Aviation ObstructionLighting systems is the Helihoist system.76 PES Wind

Scientifically proven* 02/10/17 18:32 to not contribute to WEC White etching cracks (WEC) are a common reason for wind turbine gearbox failures. Mobil SHC™ Gear 320 WT advanced synthetic oil is scientifically proven to not contribute to WEC. Find out what more Mobil SHC™ Gear 320 WT can offer to your business at mobil.com/wind * Demonstrated in modified FE8 industrial test in collaboration with a major bearing manufacturer. © 2017 ExxonMobil. All trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.EXA1700053 - EU.PR.17.04_WEC_Wind_SHC_Gear_320WT_A5H.indd 1

ASK THE EXPERTSSafety: top priorityRick van der Lelij, Operations Manager at Height Specialists, potentially a great chance to expand in.dropped in to PES to talk about the importance of safety andtraining beyond the legal requirements. It makes for PES: Are you experiencing more growthinteresting reading and it’s reassuring to know companies in the market, both on and offshore?are more and more determined to keep their employees safeby doing more than the necessary minimum. RL: In general we are experiencing a growing market in rope access both onshorePES: Welcome back to PES Wind staff of over 40 people employed full time, and offshore as the use of rope accessmagazine. Thanks for talking with us. Height Specialists is a leading company in techniques become more and more familiar.For the benefit of our new readers would the use of rope access techniques,you like to begin by explaining a little combined with industrial services. Also in the wind industry, with a lot ofabout the background of Height inspection and maintenance work comingSpecialists and the importance of the We are also a fully certified IRATA training up we are receiving a higher number ofwind industry to you? company. We work throughout the Benelux queries about rope access and its region, both onshore and offshore. During possibilities than before.Rick van der Lelij: Height Specialists was the last couple of years Height Specialistsfounded 24 years ago and since then has has started to shift its focus a bit more from PES: We have been hearing about yourgrown to be one of the biggest IRATA oil and gas towards the wind industry. As a wind farm inspections, please can youcompanies in the Benelux region. With a growing market the wind industry is tell us what types of inspections you offer to the customer? RL: We offer a broad variety of inspections to our customers, which, all of course depend on the costumer’s needs and wishes.78 PES Wind

ASK THE EXPERTSWe have set up several partnerships and provide top class inspections. why is this important to your customers inthroughout the industry, combining our terms of downtime, efficiency and costs?experience and knowledge of rope access PES: Height Specialists also offerswith their experience and knowledge in maintenance both on and offshore. RL: Of course, some of the work we do isfields such as: There must be significant differences pre-planned maintenance, which is between the two; please could you repeated over a certain period of time;Blade inspections expand on this? this ensures that there are no sudden defects, which can lead to downtime andBlade repairs RL: At the end of the day rope access is of thus high costs. course only a method of reaching our workPaint inspections - both Nace and Frosio places. It is therefore of vital importance to A second benefit is that pre-planned get the right technicians to the right maintenance can give you a clear view ofNDT inspections workplace, there is no use sending a what to expect in terms of replacement costs coating specialist to an NDT-inspection. of the various parts, giving the customer aVisual inspections with the use of drone chance to create a budget for this.technology. Within our staff we have people trained in different disciplines; combining our PES: We know you place safety at thePES: Have your inspections changed knowledge with the knowledge of our top of your priority list, how do yourecently, if so why and what is the strategically chosen business partners, we ensure this at height and offshore?benefit to the customer? are able to select the correct team for each job, where ever that happens to be. RL: It is not only on the top of our priorityRL: Surprisingly our inspections haven’t list, it is also a set restriction. If somethingreally changed dramatically. By using the PES: Are the maintenance interventions can’t be done safely, our technicians willright partners we are able to come up with a at specific pre-planned intervals, if so simply not do it.full and complete package for the customer www.peswind.com 79

ASK THE EXPERTSRick van der Lelij - Operations Manager Height SpecialistsWe ensure all our personnel is trained, and I for the worksite, there they conduct a that all our personnel, including the cookdon’t mean just their obligatory offshore or toolbox talk and do a LMRA before they on a platform, is trained in sea survivalGWO papers and the necessary IRATA start working. This happens before each and such. But if you look at thecertificates. They also regularly undergo and every project, no matter how big or requirements for personnel, who areextra training days in our facilities, making small the job is. actually working full time at height andsure their knowledge is fully up to date. Up with ropes, I don’t feel there are enoughto and sometimes over 5% of the total hours PES: How important is training to you as regulations at the moment.our technicians work, are spent on training. a company in view of the stringent health and safety regulations? If we look at the Dutch legislation it onlyAs well as up to date training it is important states that you need to be competent andto properly plan and manage all projects, RL: Training is of vital importance, ensuring trained for it. But it does not tell us whatfor this we have a team of 4 highly safety within our company. If anything, I that means exactly. What we should beexperienced Rope Access Managers, who think the health and safety regulations are competent to do, how long we should bemake a method statement and risk not strict enough yet. Especially when it trained in doing this or how we should beassessment for each and every job. comes to working at height and working in assessed on this. rope access.The team is briefed fully before they leave PES: Where do you operate and where In the industry we are all used to the fact80 PES Wind

ASK THE EXPERTSare the key markets for Height RL: The biggest challenge I think there is, is PES: Looking ahead into 2018 andSpecialists and are there any areas, not really based on our company. But beyond, what trends and/or changes aregeographically speaking, that you would morally I think we are obligated to convince you anticipating in the market and why?like to break in to? all customers to choose safety and quality above all other things. RL: We believe that drone technology willRL: Height Specialists has its main focus be more and more combined with ropeon the Benelux market, which is still This means for instance you should access. Drones will give customers thegrowing steadily enough. Of course being investigate the company you hire for high chance to visually inspect the blades,active in this market, as a leading company, risk based work such as rope access. A maybe even in shorter intervals, makingit is not rare to get offers for projects in good point to focus on is whether or not sure that rope access teams for furtherGermany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the company is a fully certified IRATA inspections or repairs can be dispatchedSpain, Portugal, France, or the UK. company, rather than only work with IRATA for specific planned jobs. This way it will be certified personnel, which does not give possible to improve the quality andPES: What is the single biggest you the same guarantees in terms of efficiency in inspections and maintenance.challenge facing the market today? quality and safety. www.heightspecialists.com www.peswind.com 81

TALKING POINTA positive political messageto renewables’ developersWords: John Woodruff, Head of Projects at Natural Power Pant y Maen is a recently consented seven turbine wind farm site in Denbighshire, North Wales. To say the site had a history in relation to wind farm planning would be an understatement. In 2005 the Welsh Assembly Government issued spatial planning policy for large scale onshore wind in Wales (TAN8) which identified seven strategic search areas (SSA), deemed suitable for such developments and with the optimistic target that 800MW would be consented and built within five years. This site lies within the northernmost SSA and is a commercial conifer plantation. John Woodruff In 2007 another developer submitted a appealed by the developer with a slightly planning application for a wind farm called amended layout and the appeal dismissed82 PES Wind Gorsedd Brân, consisting of 13 turbines up in November 2009. to 125m tip height. The application was refused by Denbighshire County Council The initial refusal by DCC was on the basis (DCC) in February 2008. The decision was of landscape and visual effects, noise,

TALKING POINTflooding and ecology. Flooding and a development on the site but that there We ensured that the view to Snowdon fromecology issues were resolved with DCC would need to be changes to the design of the key distant AONB viewpoint did notprior to appeal. any proposal to reduce the visual and noise have turbines either side of the summit and impacts which thwarted the previous did not break the skyline as the previousThe appeal was dismissed on the grounds application, as well as working cumulatively one did, and the new turbines appearedof ‘visual effects of the proposal both within with the other projects which had been contiguous with other wind farmsthe locality and from more distant views, consented in the area in the meantime. consented in the SSA.such as from the Clwydian Range Area ofOutstanding Beauty (AONB); and the To overcome the reasons for refusal of the Similarly, the reduction in tip height and aeffects of noise on the amenity of residents Gorsedd Brân scheme we looked at fewer, move away from the ridge meant thatwithin the locality’. The inspector’s decision smaller turbines located further from most visibility from the settlements in and aroundwas then overturned by a challenge in High of the dwellings identified as being Nantglyn was almost eliminated.Court but subsequently upheld by the unacceptably impacted before. Overbearing impacts on residential amenityCourt of Appeal. were also eliminated with only one property, Initially we felt a layout of up to eight owned by one of the scheme landowners,The issue in relation to noise was not that turbines could be accommodated in the left with significant impact.the wind farm would have been too loud, land at the south-western end of the site,but that, in combination with other projects avoiding the highest points of the ridge at The noise issue was more interesting as itin the area, the prevailing wind would the north-eastern end of the site where was effectively the geographic spread ofintroduce additional noise to dwellings turbine prominence had caused visual and noise from wind farms rather than thewhen they might currently expect not to amenity issues for outlying dwellings in the actual level of imissions from the previoushear the existing turbines. The inspector Nantglyn community. proposal that caused the problem.held that this ‘would significantly increasethe general noise nuisance experienced by The environmental impact assessment and Moving turbines away from relevanta significant number of local residents’. So, planning application process were properties reduced the level of imissionsthe issue was overall expected periods of standard and fairly uneventful for a wind further below an acceptable decibel level,exposure to wind farm noise rather than the farm of this size on a forested upland site. but a reduction in the overall footprint of thevolume of noise. The layout avoided any sensitive habitats wind farm layout that meant that those or features on the site. It was expected properties would lie in the ‘noise cone’ fromVisual issues related to overbearing impact that landscape and visual, residential the project for significantly less time thanon several local dwellings and distant views amenity and noise issues would be the they would under the original project. Pantof the wind farm, from a key viewpoint from clear focus of consultee responses and y Maen planning application for an eightthe AONB, looking across to Snowdon. community concerns. turbine scheme was submitted to DCC in March 2015.Natural Power Consultants Ltd (Natural By taking the design approach outlinedPower) was approached by a new above we and our specialist noise and DCC clearly recognised that landscapedeveloper to review the site and advise on landscape sub consultants were happy that and visual and noise issues would beany potential for an alternative approach to we had addressed the killer issues from the critical and they employed independentdevelopment of a wind farm. We concluded previous project. consultants to advise them on thesethat policy at a national level still supported topics. In both instances the council’s www.peswind.com 83

TALKING POINTconsultants advised that we had overcome grounds of unacceptable impact on the owned by a landowner associated with thethe issues that scuppered Gorsedd Brân. view to Snowdon from the AONB viewpoint, scheme and accepted by the inspector notSo far, so good. overbearing visual effects on local to be made uninhabitable. The Minister, properties and impact on the settings of whilst accepting the Inspector hadThe scheme boundary lies right against the scheduled ancient monuments. Gorsedd considered the relevant issues, determinedcounty boundary with Conwy, and an Brân, however, had been recommended for that the benefits of the scheme outweighedobjection was received from this approval despite having greater impacts in any negative impacts.neighbouring planning authority specifically all three respects.in relation to impact on an historic This decision sends a hugely positivelandscape from turbine number six. More The developer appealed the decision and message to renewable energy developerssurprisingly, an objection was received from all parties agreed this should be by written in Wales, especially for onshore wind.Cadw in relation to indirect impact on representations. The appeal was recovered Scotland has long been seen as thescheduled ancient monuments (SAMS) and by Welsh Ministers in May 2017. The sweet-spot where good wind resource mettheir settings. In particular, there was Developments of National Significance with favourable policies and politicalconcern over inter-visibility between SAMs. (Wales) Regulations 2016 meant wind farms support. This decision sets down a strong in Wales of 10 megawatts or over became marker that Wales is open for business too.Cadw’s objection was less expected for the gift of Welsh Government rather thanseveral reasons. The Pant y Maen scheme local planning authorities. Even though the About Natural Powerclearly had less impact on heritage assets appeal process related to the TCPAthan the Gorsedd Brân proposal, and no application, it was recovered on the basis Natural Power is a leading independentobjection on heritage grounds had been that as its size is one which is equivalent to renewable energy and infrastructureraised to that scheme. Inter-visibility between a Development of National Significance. consultancy that employs 350 staffSAMS currently obscured by commercial globally. The company offers proactiveforestry, and likely to remain so in the The recovery of the appeal by Welsh and integrated consultancy,absence of the development, had been Ministers was seen as a good omen for the management and due diligenceconsidered in 2014, when consent for the project. Welsh Government had been services, backed by an innovativenearby 32 turbine Clocaenog wind farm, also making positive noises about renewables product range, across the onshorein commercial forestry, had been given. The and support for the sector since wind, offshore wind, wave, tidal,Inspector’s recommendation to The Westminster announced removal of renewable heat, solar PV and hydroSecretary of State agreeing that heritage subsidies for all new wind farms shortly sectors, whilst maintaining a strongassets in the forestry had no, or little, visibility after the general election. This optimism outlook on other new and emergingand need not be assessed in this regard. was further boosted by Welsh Government renewable energy sectors. announcing an ambitious target to achieveCoincidentally, the turbine that caused the the equivalent of 70% of Welsh electricity www.naturalpower.comgreatest concern in relation to SAM consumption from renewables by 2013, aninter-visibility was also turbine six, so in effective doubling of existing capacity. https://twitter.com/Natural_PowerDecember 2015 this particular turbine wasdropped, and the application revised to a The Planning Inspector’s report was https://www.linkedin.com/company/seven turbine scheme. The revised submitted to Welsh Ministers in July 2017 natural-powerscheme garnered written support from but it was not until the Minister issued herover 600 members of the public and fewer decision to uphold the appeal in January Contact details:than 100 objections. 2018 that we learned the Inspector, whilst accepting we had dealt with noise issues, The Greenhouse, Forrest Estate Dalry,Conwy’s objection was withdrawn but we felt that the appeal should be dismissed on Castle Douglas, DG7 3XS, Scotland,were unable to persuade Cadw to change balance based on impacts on the settings UKtheir position. The project went to DCC of some SAMs, the view from the AONB toPlanning Committee in September 2016 Snowdon and ‘overbearing’ visual impact T: +44 (0) 1644 430 008and was refused in line with the planning on one residential property. This was E: [email protected]’s recommendation for refusal on the https://www.naturalpower.com/say-hello/84 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]

TALKING POINTManaging field lifeOffshore wind farmThe renewable energy market is undoubtedly on the rise, particularly in Europe, where windpower is now the second largest source of electricity behind gas-fired power plants. Accordingto a recent report from Wind Europe, the number of onshore and offshore wind turbinesadded a record 15.6GW of new energy capacity last year and the industry group also reportedthat 2017 was a record year for investment in future wind farms with agreements to buildanother 11.5GW of new capacity, worth around £19.8bn.Mikkel Lund While the number of renewable energy market for a company, which could projects continues to grow, countries early support wind farm installation, but also to the renewable revolution such as maintain integrity to extend the overall field Germany have older, aging fields that now life past what is currently achievable. The require integrated inspection and repair combination of Sparrows equipment and programmes to maximise productivity. integrity management and Alpha Offshore’s specialism in inspection There is now a greater need for specialists personnel for the renewable market in this field to provide the skills and allowed the two to fill this gap. experience to not only support installation of high quality wind farms, but also to Denmark-based Alpha Offshore has more maintain them throughout the full lifecycle. than a decade of experience in the renewable market. As a focused supplier Enhanced lifecycle management of engineering personnel and inspection services the company works with wind Sparrows Group is a global provider of farm operators and turbine original expert equipment and integrated equipment manufacturers (OEMs) engineering services to the energy and throughout the installation and industrial industries. Last year the company commissioning, and operations and acquired Alpha Offshore Service A/S in a maintenance stages of developments. deal that significantly strengthened the group’s operations and maintenance This offering combined with Sparrows capabilities in the wind energy sector. experience in lifting and mechanical handling means the group now supplies a There was a demand in the renewable86 PES Wind

TALKING POINTcomplete support package for installation, Rope access when installed offshore, so reliability is evenmaintenance and repair services to both on more important when compared to onshoreand offshore wind developments. Mikkel as recently as 2015. farms. Strong maintenance and repairLund, chief executive officer at Alpha strategies are vital to ensure integrity andOffshore explains the importance of this Turbine blade inspection and repair is one many operators even choose to haveservice across offshore wind turbines to of the most common projects conducted permanent service teams on site in offshoreensure a safe and reliable project lifecycle. on offshore wind farms as blades often accommodation units to guarantee this. develop structural damage due to lightning,Turbine integrity shipping installation damage and erosion Mr Lund continued: ‘As a specialist in blade caused by the environment. inspection and repairs, Alpha Offshore has‘The integrity of wind turbines is oftendependent on the quality of installation and Turbine structures are much less accessiblethis is something most crucial when relatedto bolting.‘Bolts, or studs, are used to anchor andassemble the turbine tower and the nacellehousing for the generator components, andif not effectively monitored, can createcostly issues for an operator in thelong-term. There are a number of elementsto consider during bolt installation, from thetype of lubricant used as part of the torquemechanism, to the pattern in which the boltis actually tightened down. While theseaspects may seem small on the surface,they can create huge reliability issues in thefuture and have drastic results for operatorsif they are not conducted correctly.’In the worst cases, turbines have completelycollapsed due to incorrect handling duringinstallation or they are highly eroded fromlack of integrity management. This is not ahistoric issue with incidents of it happening www.peswind.com 87

TALKING POINTOnshore turbine address them. Undoubtedly, the reliability of future wind farms will continue to advance with effective maintenance and integrity strategies playing a huge role in ensuring the lifetime of fields can be extended beyond what is currently possible. www.sparrowsgroup.comRope access Meet Mikkel: Alpha Offshore Service CEO, Alpha Offshorecarried out more than 1000 blade repair direct result of the quality of performanceprojects to date. Our experienced with Vestas in Europe and the USA.’ Born in Struer, Denmark, Mikkel Lundpersonnel are fully trained in rope access graduated from Copenhagen Universityand use this method to safely and efficiently Lifecycle management College of Engineering with a Bachelorreach the blade and inspect for any of Technology Management and Marinedamage using a variety of techniques While wind energy is set to continue Engineering in 1994. He started hisincluding CVI (close visual inspection), tap development in existing locations such as career as a junior engineer with ferrytests, cameras and PAUT (phased array the US and Europe, there is huge growth operator DFDS, where he used toinspection). Depending on the size of the expected in regions including Asia Pacific admire the turbines of the Horns Revwind farm, work scopes can range from an and Australia. Now more than ever, wind farm from Esbjerg, Denmark.individual blade repair to full inspection and operators need a full ‘turn-key’ serviceupgrade campaigns of multiple turbines.’ provider that will not just support the He soon progressed to the company’s installation of turbines, but manage the full technical department and after seeing‘Currently Alpha has over 20 technicians lifetime of new fields to ensure productivity the trend in renewable energy, in 2007,mobilised on our maiden project for Vestas and reliability from start to finish. Mikkel established Alpha Offshore. TheAustralia delivering power upgrades on the company offered technical services andCapital and Woodlawn wind farms in New Alpha Offshore’s breadth of experience has maintenance to offshore wind turbinesSouth Wales which has come about as a allowed the company to witness existing and secured its first contract with MHI issues and understand how to effectively Vestas Offshore Wind that same year. By 2013, Alpha Offshore had amassed more than 50 technicians so Mikkel took the decision to step-back from the field and concentrate on managing and developing the company. Today, the company has grown to be a globally recognised specialist in the wind sector, completing projects across the United States, Canada, UK, Belgium, Norway and Denmark.88 PES Wind



THINK TANKCredit: LuxcaraChange ahead in the windenergy market – PPAs areon the riseWith increasing competitiveness of renewable energy We are leaving the FiT times behind.compared to traditional forms of power production, Power European countries are substantially reducingPurchase Agreements are becoming attractive for both off- subsidisation. Leaving aside auctions endingtakers as well as power producers. However, PPAs bring along at a price of zero, Spain is in the process ofa new risk dimension requiring profound expertise in the wind abolishing all kinds of subsidies of renewableenergy business. Theresia Langosz-Römbell, Organisation energy. We are entering the age of PowerDevelopment, CSR & Communications Manager at Luxcara, Purchase Agreements (PPA), and here, theprovides PES with a glimpse into the new, wind energy world. story is different.It is no new story that wind conditions are Since the FiT was guaranteed by national There are basically two different typeseven more difficult to predict than sun- governments, the additional power was of PPA:shine. So far, under the feed-in tariff (FiT) or taken off with the same conditions as thesimilar subsidised schemes, no target average amount. And even short-term 1 F ixed-volume PPA’s specify an amount ofamount of produced energy was agreed. underperformance was no real cause for energy, which is delivered to the off-takerStrong wind leading to a peak in production worry, as nobody relied on this specificdid not cause any substantial problems in amount of renewable energy. That is 2 In as-produced PPA’s, the whole amountterms of remuneration. until now. of generated power is taken off These two types make up the majority of PPA’s closed. If the power is actually produced on-site within a so-called physical PPA, the power delivery happens without use of the public grid. This is, however, a rare case.90 PES Wind

THINK TANKCredit: LuxcaraA typical off-taker in a PPA is a large limited by nature. the power producer takes the wind risk,corporation, for example Google or the which results in a higher electricity price foraluminium company Alcoa Norway. With a This can of course not only lead to the off-taker. This might become interestingfixed-volume PPA, the off-taker relies on underperformance with regards to the for power producers in the near future, asthe agreed amount of energy to be agreed amount in a fixed-volume PPA but, efficient storage solutions are currentlydelivered. The PPA holds the power on the other hand, to overperformance, developing fast and it might soon be possibleproducer accountable to the delivery which produces a surplus of energy. This to level out variations in wind intensity.obligations within a short timeframe. surplus would normally be sold at the spot market for the current market price, which Norway is one of the leading nationsIn blunt terms: If you do not deliver the can be unfortunate for the power producer. regarding storage solutions, especiallyagreed amount of energy, you’ll pay twice. The market price might be lower than what pump storages. Therefore, Norway isNot only do you miss your revenues, but the power producer would have gotten for especially attractive for wind energy assetsyou have to buy the corresponding amount it, if his predictions and therefore the PPA whereas in Germany prices at the spotof energy, which you were not able to had included this amount. market have already fallen below zero.produce yourself, at the spot market forthe current market price in order to fulfil Luxcara, however, closes PPAs ‘as The rise of renewable energy correspondsyour delivery obligations. As this can cost produced’, which means that no specific with an increase of variations in powerdearly, it is of utmost importance to make power amount is defined in the PPA, but the production. If the sun is shining brightly andreliable predictions within a fixed-volume whole energy produced is taken off and the wind is blowing hard at the same time,PPA. First of all on wind conditions, but paid for. The risk of unfavourable wind there is superfluous energy in the systemalso on other factors which affect the conditions lies with the off-taker, whereas by renewable energy assets. Nuclear andpower generation, like turbine performance Luxcara is held accountable for so-called coal-fired power stations are not keen onand instabilities in the grid. ‘non-production events’, for example due to switching their machines on and off turbine issues. repeatedly and therefore prefer to actuallyHowever, this requires profound technical pay for feeding in their power into the grid.expertise and is still only foreseeable up to One thing, the two forms of PPA’s have in With a to-be-developed efficient batterya certain extent. To make matters more common is the duty of notification to the solution, for example, the additionalcomplicated, there are to date no reliable grid operator about predicted performance renewable energy produced, could belong-term prediction tools for wind and planned downtimes. If the power stored and used at a later time.conditions. Luxcara receives daily as well producer fails to do this, penalty fees oras weekly predictions for the performance even shutdowns await him. Another difference between these PPAof the wind parks, taking into account both forms is the predictability of cash flows.technical issues as well as weather The main difference between these PPA This is fundamental for the financing, asconditions. Still, PPAs are closed with a forms lies basically in who takes on the wind for example banks appreciate as-much longer time horizon, so experience is risk. This, of course, influences the produced PPAs far more than those with a conditions of the PPA. In a fixed-volume PPA, fixed volume. www.peswind.com 91

THINK TANK ‘Social and environmental Credit: Luxcara responsibility will of course play a role Credit: Luxcara in deciding for renewable energy.’92 PES Wind So far, Luxcara has succeeded making wind energy an economically interesting option for large companies in comparison to traditional energy sources by closing as-produced PPA’s. Social and environmental responsibility will of course play a role in deciding for renewable energy. Companies can thereby make a contribution to reaching their sustainability targets, be they self-imposed or external. In addition, the active engagement against climate change is always positively received in society and contributes to the reputation of the company. But at the end of the day, the most convincing argument is still the one of the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE). By reaching grid parity, renewable energy has proven to be competitive to traditional energy sources in all aspects, and will now finally receive the appreciation it deserves. www.luxcara.com About Luxcara Luxcara is an independent asset manager that creates investment opportunities in renewable energy and infrastructure for institutional investors. The owner-managed company was founded in 2009 by the sole shareholders, Dr. Alexandra von Bernstorff and Kathrin Oechtering. Luxcara acquires, structures, finances and operates renewable energy portfolios with emphasis on selling energy based on long-term power purchase agreements. Luxcara’s portfolio comprises solar and wind power plants in Europe with a total capacity of almost one gigawatt and an investment volume of nearly 2.3 billion euros. With this extensive track record, Luxcara is one of the most experienced asset managers in the renewable energy sector.

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THINK TANKManage corrosionor fight it?Is there anything that can be done to prevent or protect againstcorrosion? This is a question which preoccupies many in ourindustry. There are many types of corrosion, which in fact is anatural process, so it seems it’s like trying to hold back the tide.Is there anything that we mere humans can do to stop it? Jovan Montfort, director and coating specialist at Bjond, givesPES his expertise and thoughts on ‘atmospheric corrosion’.What is corrosion? waterline and in the splash-zone is so called salts and/or gases in the atmosphere ‘atmospheric corrosion’. Under the water line chlorides, sulphates, NOx, CO2, etc. ThisAs all material in the universe strives to other types of corrosion occur, such as e.g. principle is used for example to protect thereturn to its lowest energy state, pure microbiological induced corrosion. inner side of hollow bridge sections. The air,metals, such as steel also strive to revert to in the internal parts of hollow bridgetheir lowest energy state, which they were Atmospheric corrosion of unalloyed steel is structures, is dried using dehumidificationas sulphides or oxides. All man-made a generally defined as a uniform and local equipment until there is no possibility ofstructures disintegrate until the lowest form of thickness loss that depends on the condensation, resulting in extremely lowenergy content is reached. A well-known presence of water and oxygen at/on the corrosion rates.example of this is corroding or rusting of steel surface. However, water films are notsteel, in which the energy that is supplied to always visible, especially if an amount of Under humid conditions, outside andmake the steel out of ore is released again rust has already been formed. Atmospheric offshore, the corrosion rate is highlyand the material disintegrates into rust. corrosion can also occur locally depending dependent on the following environmental on what is going on at the steel surface; conditions:Unprotected, unalloyed steel or carbon contaminations, failing paint layers etc.steel exposed to a marine environment • Time of wetness; no wetness, nogets back to where it came from unless we The corrosion product of steel: ‘rust’ is corrosion.add energy to it. This can be done e.g. by porous and voluminous, 7-9 times theapplying a protective coating for the parts volume of steel, and therefore well • Temperature changes; higherabove the water line. These parts are permeable to water and oxygen. This temperatures, higher corrosion rates.mainly exposed to what is defined as means that when we observe a corrosion‘atmospheric corrosion’. layer of about 1 cm thick, approximately 1.4 • S urface texture; e.g. condensation from – 1.1 mm of underlying steel is lost. capillary voids in the steel or rust layers.What is ‘atmospheric corrosion’? If the relative humidity is lower than 40%, • G eometry and orientation construction;Carbon steel corrosion is mainly determined the corrosion rate is negligibly low because certain parts of the structure that remainby the environment to which the steel is there will be virtually no condensation. wet longer are more affected by corrosion.exposed. In the case of offshore structures, Above 60%, the steel will corrode due tothe dominant type of corrosion above the condensation and the possible presence of • S alt and gas contaminations in the air; for example (chlorides, sulphates, NOx, CO2,94 PES Wind

THINK TANK etc.) can higher corrosion rates of up to 1-2 mm/year.• Deposits of corrosion products or contaminants can lead to local (pit formation) attack rates of 1-3 mm/year.Doing nothing?Understanding the definition of‘atmospheric corrosion’ correctly meansthat in a marine environment, in mostcases, the use of a corrosion protection isjustified. Corrosion rates are that high thatwithin a few years structural integrity andthe safety of unprotected carbon steelstructures will be compromised. On top ofthat, local attack rates can make it evenworse. Therefore assuming the design lifeof the structure is at least 25 years, meansthat doing nothing is not an option.ComplexitySteel structures are designed bystructural engineers from a perspective ofbearing loads. In most cases a certainamount of extra steel is prescribed withthe intention of extending the service life, www.peswind.com 95

THINK TANKby scarifying this extra amount of steel, We corrosion engineers are not always systems, e.g. use a four-coat epoxy coatingthe so-called corrosion allowance. For consulted about these matters during the comprising of:this it is assumed that steel corrodes and design process. We experience a certainloses thickness uniformly. unawareness of incompetence in this field. • 1st layer; Epoxy Primer DFT 80 μm Bjond strongly advocates working togetherHowever, from the definition of atmospheric from the early design stage of the process. • 2nd layer Epoxy coating DFT 160 μmcorrosion we learned that in real life this This will result in the best of both worlds:assumption is not always correct. Small practically the most perfect structural design, • 3rd layer Epoxy coating DFT 160 μmdeposits, structural details such as fulfilling all structural requirements and whichreinforcement plates, bolts/nuts, etc. are can be protected long term by a coating • 4th layer Polyurethane coating DFT 80 μmresponsible for the occurrence of local system. Initial and maintenance costs can beattack and refuting the assumption of greatly reduced and better managed. In our opinion this part of the standard isuniform corrosion. too general and does not result in the best How to select a fit for purpose coating fitting solution. We hope everyone agreesThe design of structural details sometimes system? that no prediction of performance can bereaches such a level of complexity that generated from a general description of aachieving long-term protection against The most common way of (atmospheric) coating system. This might be the reasoncorrosion is not only challenging but corrosion protection is done by using an why in many offshore paint specs, thealmost impossible. organic coating system also called ‘paint’. coating system needs to comply with the The question is then which coating system? Norsok standard M501.In those cases, a war has to be fought How many layers? What dry film thicknessagainst two enemies: (DFT) and which type of binder, This means that a coating system, applied pigmentation etc.? under laboratory conditions on a flat panel,1. Nature that wants bring back everything needs to pass a cyclic corrosion test in the to its lowest energy content ISO 12944-5 the standard for paints and laboratory. Coating systems fulfilling these varnishes - Corrosion protection of steel requirements are considered suitable.2. S tructural complexity not taking into structures by protective paint systems - account that a corrosion protection, provides a general description of coating However, from our experience we almost (coating) has to be applied (paintable). never face coating failures on flat parts of structures. On the contrary cracks resulting96 PES Wind

THINK TANKin unwanted and early, often localised new and actually the same systematics are of structures increases. This of course alsocorrosion, are mainly found on edges, used by structural engineers during a applies to the protection of the steelwelds, rims etc. But these effects are design process. substrate with a coating system. Based onexcluded from the tests. our experiences, we conclude that fighting Issues which should be considered during atmospheric corrosion under offshoreThe standard tests also exclude issues the selection process of a coating system conditions is almost impossible.such as tolerance for less ideal conditions, and a coating spec are:for example low temperature or high relative Coating systems will continue to failhumidity during application. It should be • The more layers the more chances of because nature will always win in the end.clear that complying with these tests and mistakes But there is still hope. Using all availablestandards gives only a limited assurance know-how and experience, in this veryfor a long-term performance. • Relevant track records are always better interesting field of technology and joining than tests forces with all parties involved, will lead toBjond Approach better ‘war’ management against corrosion. • U se test results but always in the rightWe at Bjond select a coating system which perspective By understanding the impact of test resultsis fit for purpose, by conducting a thorough and using proven selection strategies,analysis of the functional requirements and • M aking a paint specification is not a corrosion can be managed more effectively.expected circumstances during application copy-paste action but customisation This will not only reduce maintenance costsand during service. but also improve the image of the protective • A good paint spec is more performance coating world.This results in a complex pyramid of based than descriptiverequirements, starting with 1) user Recognising the need for looking outsiderequirements which are translated into 2) • Use independent know how and the box, beyond the existing rules andfunctional requirements which are turned experience to manage corrosion standards is the beginning of the progressinto 3) performance requirements and at needed to manage corrosion protection.the very end into specifications (descriptive Some good advicerequirements). This way of thinking is not www.bjond.be As we explained, fighting corrosion becomes more complex as the complexity www.peswind.com 97

THINK TANKSubsoil load monitoring onmonopiles of offshore windturbines using opticalstrain gauges.24SEA has been involved in various projects over the last years all focussing on foundationmonitoring. Typically, up to 10% of the foundations within offshore wind farms are equipped witha Foundation Structural Health Monitoring (FSHM) system, consisting mainly of installingaccelerometers and strain gauges in the transition piece. In the recent projects, for both theBelgian wind farm Nobelwind and the UK wind farm Galloper, 24SEA teamed up with TUBSand Com&Sens, to equip monopiles with optical strain gauges over the entire length of themonopile. With this innovative set-up, the projects aim to better understand the subsoildynamics and to validate new design methodologies for the soil structure interaction.In addition, the subsoil sensors can be the dynamic interaction between the the original design codes for O&Gused to access the lifetime directly near the periodic wave-loading, the rotor harmonic [Cox,1974]. This limitation in design has ledcritical welds and validate the concept of loads (e.g. unbalances or blades passing) to an industry-wide mismatch betweenvirtual sensing below the mudline, where and the first structural resonance design expectations and the completedstrains over the entire substructure are frequency. The entire structure is designed OWT. In a large study [Kallehave, 2015] onpredicted using accelerometers only. In this ‘soft-stiff’ in which the 1st resonance 400 offshore wind turbines a 10%piece, we will discuss the first results frequency is positioned between the 1P underestimation of the first resonanceobtained from the optical strain gauges (unbalance) and 3P (blade passing) rotor frequency was common. This observationinstalled on the monopile. harmonics. With the growing size of wind was also confirmed by many short-term turbines this frequency has dropped design verification measurementMotivation significantly in the past years. As a result campaigns performed by 24SEA within the OWT first resonance frequency is several offshore wind farms.Offshore wind turbines (OWTs) are some of closer to the wave period, increasing thethe most dynamic civil structures. The resonant behavior and the subsequent Currently, so-called p-y curves are used tosubstructures of OWTs are loaded by both fatigue loading. determine the initial stiffness of the soil inwind and waves, and agitated by the the Winkler model. These p-y curves daterotations of the wind turbine on top. The For an optimised design, it is thus back to the 1970’s and are generated for oilmost common substructure design in necessary to accurately predict the first & gas. It is the general consensus of bothoffshore wind is the so-called monopile resonance frequency based on the academia and industry that these p-yfoundation, which represents over 80% of geotechnical data available at the site. curves are incorrect for assessing theall offshore wind turbines. A monopile However, industry often still relies on stiffness of small displacements, for shortfoundation is a single cylindrical pile with engineering codes developed for the and large diameter piles (i.e. monopiles), indiametres ranging from 4 to 8 metres and offshore oil & gas (O&G) industry in the particular for clayey soils. Researchlengths up to 70 metres. 1970’s [Cox, 1974; Doherty, 2011]. However, projects such as PISA and DISSTINCT have both the non-slender geometry of the targeted the soil structure interaction ofThe design of an offshore wind turbine on monopiles and the cyclic loads fall outside offshore wind turbines for this reason.monopile foundation is strongly driven by98 PES Wind

THINK TANK L. Arany et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 83 (2016) 18–32d wave spWeithctthreag,rorwointgastiizoe n(i.ea.lrastepdepeowder)(o1fPm)odaenrndwinbdltaudrbeineps tahissshians gput(t3hePt)urbfrineesqculoesnerctoywbavaenlodadsingfo. Arn sacicxurcatoemestmimaeterocfitahle rteusornbaninceefrseqaunendcy mis easured natu more important than ever during design. 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Furthettrhhiesdtpuerrobtcianeeis.lssTtohoeassnsuubrtsehotihleesesenessnostroisrmswseaurertviivoend s oedfxepcterehcateesde.lboTehhaeadvrieossuurltwshaelsreootrhfefevsebahelnotdhreineg wind turbines ranging from 2 MW (nwu3essn]e.mcdyes)aoissfmaHsdcuteloro–aloinrvvtwnhessienieforrttgeedovrriedesresfirnhfm,wfnqagotiiohdtlauesehne.edteoepDmtup-dsrnuuaoiulrirpejticrogena.sinrcygnilhgttyiiavn,ftivehosrnteeftesahfahpilqtbleeaiflhureetueintotsedicennarstgiinvsuorgiaornngcvanmagiidevlp.eeestadtsrbEaaionenidgftweanTmtehwhoeefemrsinseodeeinqlte.1-tuuiPspaeriresandrsnuacimcdyyeildarfotor greaatnerydmeptohsrein)to turbines to commercially not yet ava theboirnigienasl.seIttupmay be observed from Fig. 1 that for mo 1P and 3P excitation cover wide frequency band ranges, the designer of the support structure hveral diRffeesurletsnt wind farms across Europe (see from the point of view of the stiffness of thomenclaTtiumreeseroiens the wind turbine structure for foundation [32]:ed natuTrhae lopftricealqsturaeinngcauygeissbeslohwothwe n and Table 5 for (1) Soft–soft structures: whereby the natural fref the tupmrrbuodgilnrienseeswsioengreiniivnthseteanmlleodinntoopFvileeir.gifUy.sti1hneg).fsatTtaigtheueoef figure clearlythat the target natural frequencies of heavier the 1P frequency range. This design is typicaed closer to the excitation frequencies of the shore platforms, but awrewwp.preascwtiincda.clolym im9p9ossib

THINK TANKpiece are used to extrapolate the dynamic common situation in offshore wind energy. frequency and the calculations of thebehaviour, to any location on the bending moments over the entire length ofsubstructure/foundation, by combining the Conclusion the monopile for fatigue assessment. Thesensor data with a reduced structural FEM measurements also allow validating themodel in the loop and the available SCADA We can conclude that the first results concept of virtual sensing to predict straindata. A virtual sensing strategy is show the success of optical strain sensors histories over the entire structure by usinginteresting when no measurements on the on the monopile for offshore wind turbines. classic reliable sensors.monopile are available, which is the most The measurements allow recording the strain history at a sufficiently high www.24sea.eu Credit image: Sif Netherlands b.v100 PES Wind