4.2.2 Infrastructure for Cabling and Cable Repair
Up to now, there are neither standardized practices nor procedures to procure cables
or share cabling equipment, ships, and all other elements necessary for a safe and
speedy repair. If developers were more willing to collaborate with each other, to
share facilities, vessels, and their particular knowledge, this could lead to far more
efficient procedures through economies of knowledge. So far, the desire to keep
cable choices and technologies confidential prevailed over the opportunity to
develop a more efficient infrastructure for joint installation and maintenance or
repair of cables. But these facilities will be necessary as bases for long-range
offshore vessels and to service the offshore wind farms closer to the shore.
Especially with future far and large offshore wind farms (FLOW), it could be a
unique asset to have manufacture and dedicated repair and storage facilities for
spare parts closer to the FLOW sites. Despite the benefits to be expected, it is far
from certain whether developers and offshore operators are willing to pay for
collective facilities that they may not need to use.
4.2.3 Trained Staff
To keep up with developments, companies will need to permanently invest in
capacity building and training to ensure that sufficiently skilled O&M personnel are
available. This holds even more for FLOW farms. A rough calculation suggests that
one O&M job will be created for every two turbines installed. With 200 turbines of
5 MW each, this equates to a need of about 100 FTE of trained staff. Even if this
calculation is conservative, and the number of staff can be reduced through greater
efficiency, there will still be a huge need for skilled personnel. To meet that
demand, operators and developers will have to set up offshore training centers and
training programs. It would not be wise, if they do this just for their own purposes.
As with the cabling sector, it is obvious that collaboration and joint financing have
great advantages.
4.2.4 Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Services (DOWES)
There are three lines of intervention in a wind farm: first, scanner control with
remote management; second, helicopter intervention; and third, heavy lift operations. Reactive maintenance, e.g. arranging a site visit if a turbine stops working, is
always expensive and can sometimes be impossible; for instance, in bad weather
conditions or if boats and crew are unavailable. This dependence on weather, crew,
and boat availability increases the risk of an expensive wind generation asset being
unable to produce electricity for weeks or even months. Predictive maintenance,
4 Operation and Maintenance Costs of Offshore Wind Farms …
101
Up to now, there are neither standardized practices nor procedures to procure cables
or share cabling equipment, ships, and all other elements necessary for a safe and
speedy repair. If developers were more willing to collaborate with each other, to
share facilities, vessels, and their particular knowledge, this could lead to far more
efficient procedures through economies of knowledge. So far, the desire to keep
cable choices and technologies confidential prevailed over the opportunity to
develop a more efficient infrastructure for joint installation and maintenance or
repair of cables. But these facilities will be necessary as bases for long-range
offshore vessels and to service the offshore wind farms closer to the shore.
Especially with future far and large offshore wind farms (FLOW), it could be a
unique asset to have manufacture and dedicated repair and storage facilities for
spare parts closer to the FLOW sites. Despite the benefits to be expected, it is far
from certain whether developers and offshore operators are willing to pay for
collective facilities that they may not need to use.
4.2.3 Trained Staff
To keep up with developments, companies will need to permanently invest in
capacity building and training to ensure that sufficiently skilled O&M personnel are
available. This holds even more for FLOW farms. A rough calculation suggests that
one O&M job will be created for every two turbines installed. With 200 turbines of
5 MW each, this equates to a need of about 100 FTE of trained staff. Even if this
calculation is conservative, and the number of staff can be reduced through greater
efficiency, there will still be a huge need for skilled personnel. To meet that
demand, operators and developers will have to set up offshore training centers and
training programs. It would not be wise, if they do this just for their own purposes.
As with the cabling sector, it is obvious that collaboration and joint financing have
great advantages.
4.2.4 Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Services (DOWES)
There are three lines of intervention in a wind farm: first, scanner control with
remote management; second, helicopter intervention; and third, heavy lift operations. Reactive maintenance, e.g. arranging a site visit if a turbine stops working, is
always expensive and can sometimes be impossible; for instance, in bad weather
conditions or if boats and crew are unavailable. This dependence on weather, crew,
and boat availability increases the risk of an expensive wind generation asset being
unable to produce electricity for weeks or even months. Predictive maintenance,
4 Operation and Maintenance Costs of Offshore Wind Farms …
101