Research & Foundations

Session A8 | Day 2, Weds 30 June, 13.45-15.00pm

Session Summary
Session exploring the various options going forward and the potential costs and benefits of each.

• Colin McNaught, Knowledge Leader, AEA Group
• Phil de Villiers, Offshore Wind Accelerator Manager, The Carbon Trust
• Tim van Erkel, Area Manager Sales, IHC Hydrohammer
• Lewis Lack, Managing Director, Xanthus Energy
• Gordon Jackson, Director, Arup

	Chair: Colin McNaught, Knowledge Leader, AEA Group --
	Speaker: Phil de Villiers, Offshore Wind Accelerator Manager, The Carbon Trust Improving the economics of offshore wind: foundations, electrical systems, wake effects and access, transportation and logistics In October 2008, the Carbon Trust launched the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA), a consortium of five major offshore wind developers (DONG Energy, RWE Innogy, Scottish Power Renewables, SSE Renewables and Statoil) with the objective of reducing the cost of offshore wind by 10% through targeted R&D to address key engineering challenges. This ground breaking collaborative R&D project covers four technical areas: foundations, electrical systems, wake effects, and access, transportation and logistics. Stage I of OWA, focusing on novel concepts with the potential to reduce costs or to improve yields, completed in April 2010. The presentation will summarise findings from OWA Stage I and outline the plans for Stage II; Foundations – An international competition was launched in 2009 to identify concepts with the potential to reduce costs by at least 20% in depths of 30-60m. Seven concepts have been short-listed, and further design work has been undertaken to validate the concepts and the likely overall cost savings; Electrical systems – A range of configurations of AC and DC systems have been evaluated to determine whether moving away from 33kV AC could improve the economics of collection and transmission; Wake effects – New and existing yield prediction software models have been tested against real data from OWA developer wind farms to determine whether the energy output can be forecast with greater certainty, which could reduce financing costs; Access, transportation and logistics – An operations and maintenance model has been developed to evaluate the potential benefits of changing operating strategies for larger wind farms further from shore. The model forecasts the impact on turbine availability of access systems that allow transfers in heavier seas. Biography Phil de Villiers joined the Carbon Trust in 2008, where he was initially responsible for identifying and prioritising new low carbon technology R&D projects for the Carbon Trust to lead. In 2009, Phil was given the responsibility for running the OWA. Prior to joining the Carbon Trust, Phil worked as a strategy consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, where he advised oil and gas companies on alternative energy strategies, and as a technology consultant for Accenture. Phil has a degree in Economics from the University of St Andrews, and an MBA from INSEAD.
	Speaker: Tim van Erkel, Area Manager Sales, IHC Hydrohammer Offshore Wind supporting structures: Driving van Handling ultra large pile diameters Offshore windturbines are getting bigger in their measurements and MW’s. Next to that they are planned further offshore at deeper water depths. What are the current and future limitations on pile driving and handling equipment in relation to the increasing pile diameter and size of monopiles. Are their any limitations? - Introduction: pile driving of large diameter piles in general; - The development of pile sizes over the last decades; - What are the current limitations on pile driving and handling equipment in relation to pile diameters/pile weights? - Future concepts on pile driving equipment in relation to Offshore windturbines Company profile IHC Hydrohammer B.V. IHC Hydrohammer B.V. designs, builds and supplies hydraulic piling hammers, for on- and offshore use and is known throughout the world for its innovative approach. This innovative approach is not simply confined to the hammers, but also extends to entirely new piling techniques, foundation equipment and hammer accessories, with a view to making pile driving more efficient, more controllable, less noisy and more widely usable. IHC Hydrohammer B.V. is a Business Unit of IHC Merwede and a member of IHC Offshore Wind. IHC Merwede is focused on the continuous development of its design and construction activities for the specialized shipbuilding sector, in particular the dredging and offshore industries. IHC Merwede is world market leader in the construction of specialist dredging equipment. IHC Merwede is also recognized as an outstanding builder of complex, custom-built vessels for offshore construction. The clients of IHC Merwede include major dredging companies, oil and gas exploration groups, offshore contractors and government authorities. IHC Merwede has a staff of approximately 2,800 at its locations in the Netherlands. There are also branches in China, India, the Middle East, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In order to provide the most appropriate solution for the challenges of the emerging wind energy market, IHC Offshore Wind combines the strengths of various members of the IHC Merwede group. Driven by market demand, the unit brings together knowledge and people to develop concepts and transform them into reality. Our goal? Realizing added value for our clients through our vast available expertise by promoting and linking the specialist competencies within IHC Merwede. Biography Tim van Erkel is Area Manager Sales-Renewables with IHC Hydrohammer BV in the Netherlands. Joined IHC Hydrohammer in December 2008 and has main focus on Offshore Wind Farm projects. Had a leading role in the projects currently under construction; Ormonde, Walney 1, Sheringham Shoal, Baltic 1 as well as in the recently awarded project London Array.
	Speaker: Dr. Lewis Lack, Managing Director, Xanthus Energy Foundations for building the Offshore Wind Industry and its Supply Chain Looking at the methods and technology employed to install offshore wind farms to date, it is now being recognised that there are a number of very real problems with the approaches used, not least their high build cost, high level of risk, slow installation rate and a limited availability of suitable installation vessels. If the UK wants to install 33 GW of offshore wind in the next 10 years, then now is the time for a step change in the way we build offshore wind farms. Some funding has already been allocated to innovation in this area including the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelarator and the Northern Wind Innovation Programme. New approaches are also vital for the wider European offshore wind community which will draw on the pan European skills and equipment pool as well. A few simple calculations suggest that the supply rates require installation of at least 3 WTGs per week for each UK Round 3 offshore wind farm zone for 5 years from 2015 onwards. This rate of installation requires a very different technique and tools. Many ideas are now being proposed but some of these still miss the main issues of high costs associated with installation vessels and slow installation rates. Recent issues with the transition piece grouting in some offshore wind farms highlights the need to re-think methods. Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs are also a key issue for offshore wind where costs need to be controlled within tight margins. High and exceptional maintenance costs cannot be tolerated in this industry where the cost to produce a kWH is critical. How can we achieve this? Where do we need to focus? Can we learn from other industries? The solution is not obvious as there are many aspects that need to be considered. Methods of production that meet the supply rate, installation methods, water depth, supply chain logistics, land space availability for factories in suitable locations, and the cost of setting them up are just some of the factors that need to be balanced. Based on our deep understanding of offshore structures and a background of thinking outside-the-box, Xanthus Energy have developed two self installing foundations for offshore WTGs, Sea Breeze™ and Ocean Breeze™. In the same way that McDonalds turn every customer into their own waiter, the foundations provide the basis for the novel method of installation that does not rely on specialist installation vessels but instead the foundation carries the fully assembled and commissioned WTG and tower to location. In this paper, Dr Lack presents the background to finding the Sea Breeze solution, some observations on other ideas and an update on the work being done in the FASTWIND project funded by the Northern Wind Innovation Programme with Able UK and Ekspan Ltd on planning for an offshore wind supply chain. Biography Dr Lewis Lack was one of the people researching wind energy in the early 1980’s where he presented papers at early BWEA meetings. His research at Reading University which focused on vertical axis WTGs prepared him for an engineering career in fatigue and dynamics that has taken him around the world working for a wide range of industries. His skills were developed and broadened in SME businesses including HBM-nCode, Romax Technology and Ocean Resource. As a key supporter of British technology and innovation, he has been involved in new technology at every stage of his working life. Twenty five years on he has come back to the wind energy business and his company, Xanthus Energy, has joined the offshore wind supply chain with low cost self installing foundation systems, Sea Breeze™ and Ocean Breeze™. Dr Lack will also be presenting at the Northern Wind Innovation Programme side event at this conference and at XXI World Energy Congress (WEC 2010) in Montreal in September.
	Speaker: Gordon Jackson, Director, Arup Concrete Gravity Foundations for Round 3 Deployment Meeting the challenge of delivering hundreds of foundation units for deeper water offshore windfarms will require a new approach to foundation construction. Constructing in concrete offers the potential to realise efficiency gains through the introduction of production engineering methods, compared to the one-off construction approach adopted hitherto for both steel and concrete foundations. This paper describes possible gravity foundation solutions, the logistics considerations in selecting a shore-line construction location and the facilities required to deliver over 100 foundation units per year. Future offshore windfarm sites are further from shore and in deeper water than existing windfarms. UK R3 sites range from 20-80m water depth with some of the most prospective areas being around 30-50m deep. Larger turbines of 6-10MW capacity are expected to be become the norm for these sites compared to the 3-5MW turbines most frequently installed today. Without technology improvements, the conventional steel monopile solution will not be feasible in these deep water locations with the currently available turbines. The adoption of larger, heavier turbines will make natural frequency targets even harder to meet. These circumstances will create opportunities for new fixed and floating solutions to be realised. It is expected that concrete foundations will be strong candidates for adoption in R3 since they do not have natural frequency limitations, have excellent fatigue performance and can have operational lives that will be far superior to steel. However, concrete solutions must also be economic to secure a share of the market. The cost of factory-produced concrete is around a third of the same item built on a construction site. By introducing a greater proportion of production and automation, coupled with investment in heavy lifting and transportation equipment at a construction site, lower costs can start to be realised in large-scale structural assemblies. The individual construction techniques are not, in themselves, innovative but concrete foundation solutions that combine established technology in a novel way to achieve a better end product are. The scale of construction facility to build, store and deploy over one hundred foundation units per year is considerable. For such a facility to be realised, a definite, sustained demand will be required from the offshore wind market for the proposed product. Support from regional development and national government agencies will also be vital in ensuring that land in existing ports or waterways can be made available for this industrial development. The research and development work being undertaken by Arup, Costain and Hochtief to both develop the right foundation solutions for the market and to deliver them in a cost effective manner will be described in this paper. The findings will benefit UK R3 developers, and developers of other deep water windfarms, who will be able to confidently incorporate gravity foundation solutions in their development plans in the knowledge that the market will be able to deliver economic foundation solutions once the farms have secured their permits and approvals. Biography Gordon Jackson is a chartered engineer with over 25 years’ experience. Having trained as a Civil Engineer and Naval Architect, he is now Arup’s chief offshore designer. Gordon has extensive experience in the feasibility, conceptual development and delivery stages of offshore projects. The emphasis throughout has been on the application of value engineering to problems and on the development of innovative construction and installation methods with the aim of reducing capital cost, or schedule. Costain, Hochtief and Arup have formed a partnership known as Gravity Base Fabricators to deliver concrete gravity foundations for offshore wind farms. The partnership has appointed Gordon as its technical director responsible for the development of economic, technically assured foundation solutions.