Offshore Wind Operations and Maintenance

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EDITORIAL GUIDE

A Guide to UK OffshoreWind Operations andMaintenanceAlthough offshore wind in the UK is aedgling industrial sector, it is also a fast-growing one. The UK currently is the world

leader, with an installed capacity topping3600 MW.

The focus of the industry has thereforebeen on the development and construction ofwind farms, however, as more and more comeon-line attention is now shifting towardsthe technical and commercial challenges ofoperating and maintaining these wind assets.

In the Guide to UK Offshore Wind Operationsand Maintenance , the fundamentals drivers thatwill shape the rapidly developing offshorewind O&M industry are explored, while lightis also shed on the scale and nature of themany opportunities it presents.

2 UK tops Europeanof fshore wind leagueta ble

4 Research schemeaimed at cuttingoffshore wind costs

47Research schemeaimed at cuttingof fshore wind costs

48 UK Prime Ministeropens worlds largestof fshore wind farm

50 Th rough the weatherwi ndowSPONSORED BY:
http://www.sdi.co.uk/


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Power Engineering International :: EDITORIAL GUIDE :: sponsored by

2

UK tops European offshore wind league table

By KELVIN ROSS

EUROPE INSTALLED AND grid connected 293offshore wind turbines in 2012 - with the UKleading the way with 243 new turbines. Europenow has 1662 turbines operating in 55 offshore

wind farms in 10 countries, accounting for 4995 MW

According to new data from the European Wind EnergyAssociation (EWEA), the 293 turbines installed last yearrepresent 1165 MW a rise of 33 per cent on the 2011 gureof 874 MW and are the result of investments totalingaround 4bn.

The UK remains the signicant leader in European offshorewind, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of Europes totaloffshore capacity, followed by Denmark (18 per cent),Belgium (8 per cent) and Germany (6 per cent).

Britains 234 turbines installed last year were divided

between six wind farms. There were 20 turbines installed inBelgium, 16 in Germany and 13 in Denmark.

The UK now has 870 turbines running in 20 offshore wind

farms, more than double its nearest rival, Denmark, whichhas 416 turbines on 12 sites. Belgium has 91 turbines on

just two sites while Germany runs 68 turbines in six windfarms.

EWEAs policy director Justin Wilkes was pleased thatoffshore wind was growing, but cautioned that solidinstallation gures do not alter the fact that the wind

industry is being hit by political and regulatory instability,the economic crisis, the higher cost of capital andausterity.

He said Europe could be creating even more jobs ifgovernments gave greater policy certainty to investors, and


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UK tops European offshore wind league table

resolved grid connection problems.

However in the UK, the EWEA statistics were hailedby trade group RenewableUK as proof of phenomenalprogress in Britains offshore wind industry.

Its director of offshore renewables Nick Medic said thereport demonstrated that major companies and investorshave recognised the scale of opportunity offered by theUKs tremendous natural offshore wind resource.

He said Britain was the go-to destination for the offshorewind sector.

KELVIN ROSS is Deputy Editor for Power EngineeringInternational .

Originally published January 28, 2013
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/http://www.powerengineeringint.com/http://www.powerengineeringint.com/http://www.powerengineeringint.com/


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A Guide to UK O shore Wind

Opera ons and Maintenance


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2 A Guide to UK O shore Wind Opera ons and Maintenance2 A Guide to UK O shore Wind Opera ons and Maintenance


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PLATF ORM

ENERGYENERGY

Founda onmaintenance

Turbinemaintenance

Onshore logis cs

WORKBOATS OFFSHORE BASEWORKBOATS WITH HELICOPTER SUPPORT

Array cablemaintenance

Offshore logis cs

~12NM ~40NMThis poster gives an overview of the key offshore wind opera ons andmaintenance ac vity covered by this guide. Ac vity is centered on theseven categories which are colour-coded and used throughout the guide.

Back office, administra onand opera ons

Export cableand grid connec on

3 A Guide to UK O shore Wind Opera ons and Maintenance


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T fo u of t UK o or w u tr a o far b t

v opm t a o tru o of w farm t u for v marv ro m t. But, a mor a mor o or a t ar omm o

a t umb r of op ra o a w turb o u to row, t t aa omm r a a of op ra proj t tar to r v mu

r at r a o .

Execu ve summar


8/555 A Guide to UK O shore Wind Opera ons and Maintenance

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

O shore wind opera ons and maintenance (O&M)is a rapid deve oping sector in its own right.Standardised technica and commercia prac ces havenot et emerged. Accep ng that there are man pathso shore wind O&M can take, this Guide to UK O shore

Wind Opera ons and Maintenance sets out thefundamenta drivers that wi shape the industr andsheds ight on the sca e and nature of the opportuni esit presents.

Furt r from orAs more and arger o shore wind projects are bui t,further from shore, accessing the turbines to carrout maintenance wi require new ogis ca so u ons.As we as the re a ve we understood workboat-based

approach, increasing transit distances mean that strategieswhich inc ude he icopter support and, eventua ,o shore-based working wi be needed.

T opportu t

O&M ac vit accounts for approximate one quarterof the ife- me cost of an o shore wind farm. Over thenext two decades, o shore wind O&M is going to becomea signi cant industria sector in its own right.

Based on the UK Governments projec ons for thedep o ment of o shore wind, the O&M of more than 5,500o shore turbines cou d be worth a most 2bn per annumb 2025 an industr simi ar in size to the UK passengeraircra service business toda .

b n

Year

20252013 2015 2017 2019 2021 20230.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

F ur 1.1: UK o or w O&M p

T p a rThe main customers for O&M services are the owners ofthe wind project, the supp ier of the wind turbines and theowner of the e ectricit transmission connec on. The precisecontrac ng arrangements depend on severa factors, not

east the project owners appe te for taking a hands-onro e and the capabi i es avai ab e in the third-part market.Man areas of o shore O&M wi present opportuni esfor sma and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) par cu arthose where oca on, exibi it and new ideas are important.

A to p a forAs this industr ooks at the cha enges ahead and strivesfor commercia maturit , it is those companies who ac veengage now that wi he p to shape its future.



Contents



Using This dOcUMenT

1 Using this documentThis guide has been designed to make it eas

to nd the informa on ou need about o shorewind O&M.

It wi guide ou through the important conceptsfo owed b opportuni es and p a ers in this exci ngand rapid deve oping market.

As a reference document, the consistent co our schemea ows for quick access to detai ed informa on aboutthe areas of O&M ac vit re evant to ou.

co our m k :

n O or on O or on Turb ma t an export ab a r o on Arra ab ma t an Fou a o ma t an Ba k o , a m tra o a op ra o

H S & E

a n d T r a i n i n g

1 8 . A d m i n i s t r a o n

1 7 . W e a t h e r

f o r c a s n g 1 6 . S A P a n d

m a r i n e

c o - o r d i n a o n 1 5 . S C A D A a n d c o n d i o n

m o n i t o r i n g

14. Li ing,clim bing

and safet yequ ipme nt

1 3. F o u n d

a o n

r e p a i r s

1 2 . S

c o u r

a n d s

t r u c t u

r a l

s u r v e

y s

1 1 . A r r a y

c a b l e

s u r v e

y s

a n d r

e p a i r s

1 0

. O n s h o r e

e l e

c t r i c a l s 9 . E

x p o r t

c a b l e s u r v e y s

a n d r e p a i r s

8 . O ff s h o r e

s u b s t a o n

m a i n t e n a n c e

7 . T u r b i n e

s p a r e p a r t s

6 . T u r b i n e m a i n t e n a n c e

5. Offshor eaccommo da on

/b ase

4. C r a n e

b a r g e

s e r v i c e s

3 . A v

i a o n 2

. W o r k

b o a t s

1 .

O n s h o r e

l o g i s c s

Owner

Owneror OEM

OEM

OFTO

PLATFO RM

ENERGYENERGY

Founda onmaintenance

Turbinemaintenance

Onshorelogis cs

WORKBOATS OFFSHORE BASEWORKBOATSWITHHELICOPTER SUPPORT

Arraycablemaintenance

Offshorelogis cs

~12NM ~40NMThispostergivesanoverviewofthekeyoffshorewindopera ons andmaintenance ac vity covered by this guide. Ac vity is centered on theseven categories whicharecolour-codedandusedthroughouttheguide.

Backoffice,administra onandopera ons

Exportcableandgridconnec on

C o s t

Distance from O&M port (NM)0 503010 70 90 110 130

Tak a b r

v wu t po t r (page 3)

g t to r pw t ko pt

Sec on 2

(page 8)

Understandthe s ze of theopportun ty

Secton 3 (page 14)

F outw o w o

O&MSec on 4 (page 18)

informa onon the spec cwork packages

Secton 6 (page 32)



O or w O&M t a v t t at fo ow omm o to ur t afa o om ru of t proj t. T obj v of t a v t to mak

ur t proj t a v t b t ba a b tw ru o t a tr toutput. O&M o ur t rou out t f of t proj t, w om a20 ar . i t u tr , O&M broa m ar to p o , r pa r ama t a (iRM) a v t t o or o a a tor.

2 Introduc on



inTROdUcTiOn

Ava ab tThe economics of o shore wind O&M require a ba anceto be struck between the mone spent on maintainingthe project and the revenue ost when the e ectricitoutput is imited b technica prob ems.

An important measure of the performance of a project

is known as avai abi it . Avai abi it is the propor onof the me that a turbine, or the wind farm as a who e,is technica capab e of producing e ectricit . Avai abi itis ther efore a measure of how i e e ectricit is ost dueto equipment down me. The ba ance between O&M costand the ost revenue incurred b non-avai abi it wi bedi erent for ever project, but current o shore wind farmst pica achieve avai abi it of between 90% and 95%.Onshore wind farms, which face much ower O&M costs,t pica achieve higher avai abi it in the order of 97%.

Figure 2.1 shows indica ve trends for the cost of O&M as

a func on of turbine avai abi it . A though the cost of ostrevenue dec ines towards zero as the turbines approach100% avai abi it , the cost of achieving it approachesexponen a growth if 100% avai abi it is required. If awind farm owner invests too i e in O&M, the wi incura pena t in the form of poor performance of the turbinesand other components. Converse , if an owner over-

invests in O&M, with no regard to cost, the facediminishing returns as each increment in avai abi itcosts more than the ast. The chart shows this theore caop mum at the owest point of the tota cost curve,which of course wi be s ight di erent for each project.

Avai abi it is a technica metric and not direct re ated

to the wind resource. For this reason it is important thatit is not confused with capacit factor which, whi e a soexpressed as a percentage, is strong a measure of theoutput of the project and, as such, is in uenced b theaverage wind speed at the site.

Direct cost of O&MCost of lost revenue

C o s t

Availability75% 90%85%80% 95% 100%

Total cost

Theore cal pointof least cost

F ur 2.1: i u tra o of ba a b tw o ta o t r v u

A mp t am , O&M ompr two ttr am of a v t .

Opera ons refers to ac vi es contribu ng to thehigh eve management of the asset such as remote

monitoring, environmenta monitoring, e ectricit sa es,marke ng, administra on and other back o ce tasks.Opera ons represent a ver sma propor on of O&Mexpenditure, the vast majorit of which is accountedfor direct b the wind farm owner or the supp ierof the wind turbines.

Maintenance accounts for b far the argest por onof O&M e ort, cost and risk. Maintenance ac vitis the up-keep and repair of the ph sica p ant ands stems. It can be divided into preventa ve maintenance and correc ve maintenance.

Preventa ve maintenance inc udes proac ve repairto, or rep acement of, known wear componentsbased on rou ne inspec ons or informa on fromcondi on monitoring s stems. It a so inc udes rou nesurve s and inspec ons.

Correc ve maintenance inc udes the reac ve repairor rep acement of fai ed or damaged components.It ma a so be performed batch-wise when seriadefects or other prob ems that a ect a arge numberof wind turbines need to be corrected. For p anningpurposes, the dis nc on is usua made betweenschedu ed or proac ve maintenance and unschedu ed

or reac ve maintenance.

A er the paramount safet of personne , the second mostimportant considera on when opera ng and maintainingan o shore wind project is the nancia return. The objec veof maximising the output of va uab e e ectricit for sa e at east cost can be thought of as driving a decisionsb project owners about p anning and carr ing out O&M.

K o pt

O shore wind O&M invo ves a diverse range of ac vi es.However, there are a few fundamenta concepts that underpinthe wa that the ke p a ers are ike to approach O&M.

Some of the most important factors in shaping O&M are:

Ava ab t as a measure of the performance of the asset s u a u u ma t a the

nuts and bo ts of keeping a project running smooth Access overcoming the constraints p aced on

opera ons b the weather and sea condi ons

co t r u o a con nuing focus for the industras a who eThese concepts are explained in the following sec ons.



inTROdUcTiOn

Access

One of the major hurd es to maintaining o shorewind projects is ge ng technicians on and o theturbines and o shore substa ons to carr out work.

There are two major factors that in uence the approachtaken to gaining access:

Transit me the me needed to shu e a servicecrew from the O&M base to the p ace of work.With imited shi hours avai ab e, the me taken totransport crews to and from a maintenance job cutsinto the amount of me actua working to maintainthe turbines and other p ant. The further the projectsite is from the O&M base, the ess me can be spentb crews on ac ve work, given the onger transit meand risk of fa gue.

Accessibility the propor on of the me a turbinecan be safe accessed from a par cu ar vesse andis dependent on the sea condi ons. For examp e if,at a par cu ar project, the signi cant wave height 1 is greater than 2m for 40% of the me, a vesse thatcan transfer crew and equipment on in wave heightsof 2m or ess might be said to have 60% accessibi it .

Both of these factors depend, to some extent, onthe average sea condi ons in a par cu ar oca on

accessibi it more so than transit me. Accessibi itis especia cri ca for unschedu ed maintenance since

the project operator wi o en have no opportunitto p an an produc on outages for mes of ca mersea condi ons. When p anning the approach to O&Mfor an given project, the owner wi seek to reducethe tota cost (direct cost and ost produc on) b seekingwa s to reduce transit me and increase accessibi itto the turbines.

co t r u oReducing the cost of the energ produced b o shorewind projects is a major focus for the o shore wind

industr2

and for the UK Government3

. As a signi cantcontributor to the overa cost of energ , nding wa sto reduce the cost of O&M services and op misingasset performance have important ro es to p a .

As described under avai abi it above, the incen veson the owner of the project to maximise the e ectricitproduc on at east cost are ver compe ing and can beexpected to drive improvements in a technica e ementsof O&M as the market gathers momentum. Par cu artechnica deve opments expected to come forward inc udefuture wind turbine mode s with increased focus on:

Improved remote monitoring and contro to be erunderstand the o shore p ant and make previousunschedu ed ac vi es more predictab e, reducing the

ogis ca burden of pu ng technicians on turbines. Design and manufacturing improvements aimed at

boos ng re iabi it , thereb reducing the frequenc

and cost of unschedu ed maintenance. Other, more fundamenta , improvements such as

the deve opment of more re iab e, gear ess (directdrive) turbines.

Non-technica areas for cost reduc on, a though uncertain,ma inc ude greater s nergies, sharing of resourcessuch as jack-up vesse s or other ogis cs p ant betweenneighbouring projects and greater compe on withinthe O&M supp chain for a range of contract packages.

Perfect O&M maximises avai abi it , at east cost,

b ensuring the best possib e access to o shore p ant,minimising unschedu ed maintenance and carr ingout schedu ed maintenance as e cient as possib e u mate resu ng in the owest possib e cost of energ .

s u a u u ma t aMuch of the maintenance ac vit is current carriedout on an ad-hoc, responsive basis when a windturbine or other s stem fai s. This is referred to as

u u ma t a . Such fau ts wi requirea range of di erent responses from a simp e inspec onand restart of a wind turbine, which might take a coup eof hours, through to the rep acement of an o shoresubsta on transformer, which cou d take weeks ormonths to imp ement.

Othe r ac vi es can be p anned and executed in advance u ma t a . T pica , o shore wind

turbines and associated p ant have a de ned schedu edmaintenance regime which invo ves a major annua service

supp emented b periodic inspec on regimes. The annuaservices are usua conducted in the summer monthsto minimise weather down me and ost produc onsince average wind speeds tend to be ower in summerthan in winter and ma be carried out b a temporar ,supp ementar team of specia ist sta and providers.

1 Signi cant wave height is a sta s ca measure of the t pica height of sea waves and is used as an indicator of the severit of the sea state.2 The Crown Estate: Cost Reduc on Pathwa s 3 DECC: O shore Wind Cost Reduc on Task Force Report
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66776/5584-offshore-wind-cost-reduction-task-force-report.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66776/5584-offshore-wind-cost-reduction-task-force-report.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66776/5584-offshore-wind-cost-reduction-task-force-report.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66776/5584-offshore-wind-cost-reduction-task-force-report.pdf



inTROdUcTiOn

O or o

There is a wide range of conceivab e equipment andtechniques that can be used to ensure that technicians canaccess wind turbines and other project infrastructure, such

as o shore substa ons. The main factors that in uence thesuitabi it of the o shore ogis cs so u on inc ude: Safet and regu ator factors; Response me (a func on of speed); F exibi it ; Personne carr ing capacit ; Equipment pa oad; Weather and sea-state dependenc ; and Direct cost (of retaining and using a service).

Each o shore wind project has di erent characteris cswhich determine the op ma strateg for opera ng andmaintaining the p ant. The main factors are: Distance from onshore faci i es; Average sea state;

Number, size and re iabi i t of turbines; and O shore substa on design.

Other than the number and re iabi it of wind turbines,probab the most in uen a factor on the cost of o shorewind O&M is the distance of the turbines from onshorefaci i es. For this reason, the distance from shore is a sothe primar considera on in determining the most coste ec ve approach to O&M.

Deve opers are in the process of insta ing wind farmsat a rate that wi see more than 5,000 opera onao shore turbines in the UK b 2025. As sites furtherfrom shore are deve oped, in ine with The Crown Estate

easing rounds, the average distance from shore-based

O&M faci i es wi increase. This means that the t pica strateg emp o ed to operate and maintain projectswi gradua shi from strategies op mised for near-shoresites towards those that are more suited to ver distanto shore wind sites.

Means of gaining access to o shore turbines currentbeing used inc ude tried, tested and we understoodworkboats and the somewhat ess we estab ishedhe icopter services. Workboats are re a ve inexpensiveand can carr signi cant numbers of technicians, butresponse mes and accessibi it are imited b transit

me and sea state. He icopters, b comparison, arere a ve expensive and cannot carr more than a fewtechnicians and ver i e equipment but can respondquick , have ver short transit mes and can operatewithout regard to the sea condi ons (a though poorvisibi it can impact accessibi it ).

A though he icopters are a tried and tested e ement ofo shore oi and gas ogis cs, the are a re a ve newcomerto UK o shore wind O&M and the safet and regu atorimp ica ons of their use has et to be fu exp ored. Whi esome operators are embracing he icopters (see case stud

1) and the economic ra ona e seems strong for a signi cantnumber of sites, there is some uncertaint over howwidespread their use ma eventua be.

hor R v 2 w farm d mark f atur a x a ommo a o p a orm xt to t ub ta o .



inTROdUcTiOn

Workboats and he icopters can be thought of ascomp ementar . The di erent characteris cs mean thatworkboats ma be more suited to schedu ed ac vit whenthe turbine is not at risk of unexpected power outage.He icopters, on the other hand, ma be more suited to

Workboat-ba

Opera ng from a port base.

h - upport

Workboats with support fromhe icopters.

O or -ba

With xed or oa ng o shoreaccommoda on.

F ur 2.2: Broa trat approa to o oro

unschedu ed ac vit when response me is cri ca tominimising down- me to maximise e ectricit produc on,depending on the cost of ost produc on weighed againstthe cost of using a he icopter.

A though not current seen in support of o shorewind O&M in the UK, transit distances required toaccess turbines at UK sites furthest from po rt wi beso great as to require opera ons to be based o shore.Technicians therefore ive at a base near or in the windfarm for a number of da s (t pica two weeks) and aretransported to the individua turbines as appropriate.The base itse f ma be either xed accommoda onmodu es, simi ar to those used in the oi and gas sector,or boats of var ing sizes such as motherships, o shoresupport vesse s or jack ups.

In genera , there are three main c asses of o shore windO&M strateg , as seen in Figure 2.2, with distance to portdetermining the most appropriate.

Based on the re a ve costs and characteris cs of eachof these approaches to o shore wind O&M, it is expectedthat workboat-based strategies are ike to be the mosteconomic op on for suppor ng near-shore sites, whi eshore-based workboats wi bene t from support bhe icopters (he i-support) for sites further from shore.The transit mes for port-based workboats to the verfurthe st sites are so ong that some form of o shore-based

strateg is ike to become the on prac ca op on forthese cases.

For this guide, computa ona simu a ons have beenconducted to estab ish the transi on points the distancefrom port at which the owest cost strateg changes fromone strategic categor to another. This work is based onconsu ta on with industr , an understanding of the

technica factors that in uence O&M decisions and theoutputs from an ana ca too that mode s tota O&M cost(direct cost p us opportunit cost).

Figure 2.3 shows a simp i ed interpreta on of the stud sresu ts for a generic o shore wind project at variousdistances from the nearest O&M port.

Figure 2.3 shows that transi on points emerge from the

ana sis at approximate 12 nau ca mi es (NM) (to inc udehe i-support) and at 40NM (to o shore-based strategies).However, it is important to note that the ver mansite-speci c factors such as sea condi ons, regu a onswhich a ect avia on, safet considera ons and suitabi itof avai ab e ports create uncertaint around thesetransi on points. In some cases, the adopted opera onastrateg ma not fa within these approximate guide ines.

F ur 2.3: i u tra o of ow t o t O&M trata a fu o of ta from O&M port

C o s t

Distance from O&M port (NM)

0 503010 70 90 110 130

The primary objec ve of o shorewind access logis cs is to get peopleon and o turbines as safely andas quickly as possible.

DR. NENAD KESERI C, STATOIl



inTROdUcTiOn

O or o

Shore-side services are vita to support o shore ogis csand a o shore wind farm O&M ac vit needs access toport faci i es such as oad-out and workboat mooring. Asset out in the previous sec on, the primar considera onis the distance between the project site and the dedicatedport faci i es. This is especia true for projects emp o ingworkboat-based or he i-support access strategies for whichthe cost increases ver rapid with transit distance. Forsome projects, this driver is proving powerfu enough totake preference over the speci ca on of exis ng faci i es

eading to the crea on of new infrastructure as c ose tothe project as possib e (see case stud 2).

Mu p portWhi e da -to-da personne and ight equipment transfers

bene t great from short transit mes, wind turbineoverhau s or p anned major component rep acement are

ess distance sensi ve but require more substan a oad-outand crane c apacit . Conceivab , this cou d resu t in mu -portstrategies with speci c ac vi es focused on di erent oca onswith the most appropriate faci i es. In interna ona sea-regions such as the North Sea, it is possib e that sea transportof components can take p ace between an of the borderingcountries and a wind project. For this reason, the oca onof the component supp chain factories is a signi cant factorin determining which port is used for these opera ons.

Futur trAs the average distance to shore of the opera ona eet ofwind turbines increases and o shore-based access ogis csbegin to emerge, O&M costs wi become ess sensi ve todistance from shore (primari because access to o shore basesor motherships wi require return to port far ess o en seeFigure 2.3). This re a ve insensi vit to distance ma mean thatmore distant but be er equipped ports become op ma .

cAse sTUdy 1: gr at r gabbar T UK r t opt r upport O&M trat

cAse sTUdy 2: s r am s oa Purpo bu t port fra tru tur

Mar oThe Port of lowesto hosts the O&M faci it that servesSco sh and Southern Energ (SSE) and RWEs 504MWGreater Gabbard O shore Wind Farm. Marine opera onsare based on the use of four 18m, purpose bui tcatamaran vesse s on ong-term charter from specia istworkboat provider to the wind industr , Wind Cat.

Av a o upportGreater Gabbard is notab e as the rst UK o shorewind farm to rou ne dep o he icopters in supportof marine opera ons as part of the O&M strateg .A contract with o shore avia on rm, Bond Air Services,

has seen a sta of ve providing improved turbine accessseven da s a week using a Eurocopter EC135 he icopterto hoist technicians onto specia designed turbinessince September 2012. He icopter access is seen bthe owners as an important means of reducing thefrequenc and dura on of periods when turbines

cannot be accessed dueto weather condi ons,especia in winter. Therapid transit capabi ita orded b he icoptersupport is of par cu ar

bene t to GreaterGabbard since, whi ere a ve c ose to shore(20NM), it is 40NMfrom the support baseat lowesto .

Sheringham Shoa O shore

Wind Farm, o the coastof Norfo k, comprises 88Siemens 3.6MW turbinesand entered opera onin September 2012. Theowners, Scira (a joint

venture between Norwegian companies Statkraand Statoi ), have se ected We s-next-the-Sea forthe opera ons base and have signed a 50 ear ease.

Prox m tThe main advantage of We s is the proximit to the

project, just 20NM something which has been theoverriding factor in preference to other ports withmore pre-deve oped faci i es. To serve the workboats,a new outer harbour has been constructed (see image)

ed with pontoons. There is an ongoing dredgingprogramme to maintain the channe depth at one metreat ow de to maximise vesse opera ona windows.

T baThe opera ons base, comprising administra on andassociated storage faci it , is about 3KM south ofWe s. Each da the technicians are transported to the

ou ter harbour b minibus to minimise the disturbanceto the town from trave ing in separate cars. Theopera ons base wi serve around 60 permanentemp o ees. Base sta inc udes a sma managementteam of 13, three on secondment from Norwa andthe rest recruited oca .


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T UK urr t a t mo t amb ou pro ramm for o or w

ta a o t wor . O&M a v t a ou t for approx mato quart r of t f - m o t of a o or w farm. Ov r t xttwo a , o or w O&M o to b om a a t u tr a

tor t ow r t.

3 The opportunit


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The OPPORTUniTy

~12NM

~40NM

Opera onalUnder Construc onApprovedProposed

2,700Turbines

3,800Turbines

3,000Turbines

D I S T A N C E

T O S U I T A B L E

O & M P

O R T

Figure 3.1 provides a current status of UK o shore windprojects 4 b distance to port:i. c oser to shore than 12NM, where workboat-based

strategies are most ike to be cost op ma ;ii. between 12NM and 40NM from shore, where

he i-support strategies are most ike to be costop ma ; and,

iii. more than 40NM from shore, where o shore-basedstrategies are ike to be the most prac ca andeconomic approach to O&M.

F ur 3.1: Tota proj t turb umb rb ta to or

The Crown Estate has promoted the deve opment ofwind energ programmes on its o shore marine estateb undertaking a number of easing rounds for o shore

wind dep o ment, usua referred to as Rounds.

Rou 1 (2000) was to cater for demonstra on sca eprojects of up to 30 turbines with the se ec on of sites

arge driven b deve opers and resu ted in eighteensites being awarded.

The Rou 2 tender process (2003) was for commerciasca e projects within three strategic areas (the GreaterWash, the Thames Estuar and liverpoo Ba ). Fi eensuccessfu projects were awarded Crown Estateagreements for ease and inc uded sites within and

be ond territoria waters.

In 2008, The Crown Estate decided to invest ina further programme to enab e the de iver of the

Governments p an for o shore wind genera oncapacit b 2020, known as Rou 3 . This furtherprogramme is intended to provide 25GW of o shore

wind energ . The Round 3 zones are nine arge areasof deve opment within which individua wind farm sitesare being progressed. Individua deve opers or consor ahave been awarded exc usivit to deve op projectsin each zone.

A so in 2008, a process for easing wind farm sitesin s o T rr tor a Wat r was undertaken anda number of deve opment companies were awardedexc usivit agreements to take forward deve opment.

In 2009 the deve opers were o ered an opportunit

to xt Rou 1 a Rou 2 proj t . The aimof this easing round was to o er more capacitto the market and to ensure an unbroken supp /bui d trajector .

It can be seen that a simi ar number of turbines fa intoeach of the three categories of O&M strateg . It shou da so be noted that the deve opment status of the projectssigni cant reduces as the projects distance from portincreases no projects further than 40NM from port have

et progressed past the p anning consent mi estone. Asthe UK o shore wind sector matures, the workboat-basedO&M strategies seen un now wi be joined b increasingnumbers of turbines being serviced under he i-supportand eventua o shore-based strategies.

T crow e tat a of t for o or w proj t

4 These data refer to a projects current being deve oped in UK waters and do not refer to a par cu ar date.The na number of turbines de ivered at a par cu ar date is ike to di er


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The OPPORTUniTy

The transi on towards o shore-based O&M strategiesmirrors the site a oca ons determined b The CrownEstates easing round programme described on theprevious page. The Round 1 sites are re a ve sma ,c ose to shore and suited to a workboat-based O&Mstrateg . Round 2 sites are arger and further from shoreand, whi e workboat-based strategies have been themain approach to O&M, at east one opera ona project(Greater Gabbard) is re ing on he icopter support whi e severa projects O&M strateg is et to be na ised.Sco sh Territoria Waters projects are ike to see a mixof strategies, poten a inc uding a three op ons whereasRound 3 represents a step change in both size and distancefrom shore and has driven much of the considera onof o shore based strategies. Figure 3.3 summarises the UKO&M spend b strateg c ass. For more detai on mingssee Figure 3.4.

T va u a

As introduced in the poster on page 3 of this guide, theva ue chain for o shore wind O&M can be categorisedinto seven areas of ac vit :

n O or on O or on Turb ma t an export ab a r o on

Arra ab ma t an Fou a o ma t an Ba k o , a m tra o a op ra o

This co our coding of O&M ac vi es is a so used as ake to Figures 3.2 and 3.4. A more detai ed descrip onof these categories is provided in Tab e 3.1 and in thecontract packages in Sec on 4 and 6.

s br z

Tab 3.1: cat or of o or w O&M a v t 5

suppor Op ra o

equ pm t Ma t a

O or o equipment, p anning andresources required to move peop e and equipment

at sea inc uding work boats, o shore bases,he icopter services and jack-up services

O or o port-side ac vit , warehousingand on-site o ce space

Ba k o , a m tra o a op ra o performance monitoring, e ectricit sa es etc.

Turb ma t a the technicians andequipment needed to inspect and repair the wind

turbines

Fou a o ma t a the technicians andequipment needed to inspect and repair the turbine

founda ons and sub-sea structures

Arra ab ma t a the technicians andequipment needed to inspect and repair the susbseacab es that connect the turbines to create a uni ed

power p ant

export ab a r o o the technicians andequipment needed to inspect and repair the

connec on of the o shore power p ant to the onshorepower transmission s stem, inc uding onshore and

o shore e ectrica substa ons and export cab es

5 Not inc uded in these categories are other opera ona expensesincurred b wind farms such as insurance and o shore site eases

0

100

200

300

400

500

Workboat- ba sed Offs hor e- bas edHeli-support

O & M

c o s t p e r t u r b i n e p e r y e a r

( 0 0 0

)

F ur 3.2: O&M o t p r turb for 3 a of O&Mtrat brok ow b fu o


20/55


The OPPORTUniTy

The cost of maintenance ac vit is best considered ona per turbine basis as costs tend to sca e most strong

with turbine numbers, rather than per MW of insta edcapacit . An es mate of the cost per turbine per ear ofeach of the c asses of strateg varies as shown in Figure3.2. A though O&M costs per turbine for wind farms furtherfrom port are marked higher than for sites c oser toshore, the average turbine size can a so be expected tobe arger, meaning that an increase in the per MW O&Mcost wi not be as pronounced as suggested b Figure 3.2.

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

U K O & M

s p e n

d ( b n

)

Jack-up services

Helicopter servicesOffshore base

Work boats

Turbinemaintenancelabour

Turbine partsand consumables

F ur 3.4: UK O&M p b at or

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2013

U K O & M

s p e n

d ( b n

)

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

F ur 3.3: UK O&M p b trat a

h - upport

O or -ba

Workboat- ba

Mark t z

The primar driver of increased O&M ac vit is thenumber of opera ona turbines. Ana sis based on UKGovernment projec ons for o shore wind shows thatthe number of insta ed turbines wi increase to morethan 5,500 b 2025 with O&M spend in the categoriesiden ed increasing to a most 2bn per ear. B 2020there cou d be as man as 50 o shore e ectrica substa onssupp ing o shore wind energ to the power grid.

The breakdown of the cost of O&M ac vit in Figure3.4 gives a projec on of the sca e of the market for each

of the seven major groups of ac vit iden ed in Tab e 3.1,with turbine maintenance and o shore ogis cs furtherbroken down into more detai ed categories.

Based on ana sis of the distance from shore of eachwind farm and the most ike O&M strateg , it is a sopossib e to project expenditure on O&M across the threec asses of strateg .


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hav out t z a atur of t o or w O&M mark t

t pr v ou apt r , t apt r o ta u a r a to pra aomm r a u . i t apt r w a mpt to a w r qu o u a :

Who ar t k a tor ? How ar t work o tra t ? How o t var a ro t u tr ? What ar t opportu ?

4 Commercia practice


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

W o w o t k a tor

O&M provision is driven b three ke groups: theproject owner, the wind turbine origina equipmentmanufacturer (OEM) and the o shore transmissionowner (OFTO).

The proj t ow r wi procure a opera ona servicesassociated with the o shore wind project itse f up to thepoint of interface with the OFTO usua on the o shoresubsta on(s). The wi t pica drive the se ec on ofthe opera ona strateg and ma choose to contractthe majorit of services through the wind turbine OEMor otherwise take a more hands-on approach bprocuring a wider range of services direct , as exp oredfurther be ow. This group can be broken down into fourfurther categories:

lar , v r a t rat u , name theUK big 66 p us other European u i es, notab

DONG, Va enfa , Statkra , EDPR, Eneco andStadtwerke Muenchen.

O & ga ompa , such as Statoi and Repso . supp a p a r taking an ac ve equit stake in

projects through to construc on, such as Siemensand F uor.

sp a t v op r, such as MainstreamRenewab e Power, who ma se their stake prior toconstruc on but wi p a an important ro e in drivingO&M concept se ec on.

For the rst ears of opera on at east, the w turbOeM wi be responsib e for maintenance of the windturbines themse ves, in associa on with the mainequipment warran es. Depending on the contrac ngapproach of the project owner, the wind turbine OEM mabe responsib e for o shore ogis cs as we as onshoreinfrastructure. The eading wind turbine OEMs in the UK

market are current Siemens, Vestas and REpower.leading new entrants targe ng the UK market inc ude:

AREVA, A stom, Gamesa, Mitsubishi and Samsung. The o shore transmission infrastructure is owned

and operated b the OFTO, who in turn wi et oneor more maintenance contracts for these assets. Insome cases, the wind farm project owner itse f has bidfor and won such maintenance contracts in an e ort tosecure some degree of contro over the risks associatedwith these extreme important export assets and asa means of making the O&M regime for the genera onand transmission assets together, more e cient.The eading OFTOs are Transmission Capita Partners,B ue Transmission and Ba four Bea .

A o shore wind projects toda are managed usinga mu -contract approach with overa responsibi itres ng on the project owner. The sp it of contractsbetween par es wi depend on the overa strateg

chosen b the owner and the ength and scope of theturbine warrant .

6 The so-ca ed big six are genera on p ant deve oper/owners with e ectricit supp businesses, which account for the vast majorit of e ectricit retai in the UK.The are: Centrica, EDF, E.ON, RWE, Sco sh Power and Sco sh and Southern Energ (SSE)


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

T mporta of warra

The wind turbine OEMs con nue to dominate o shorewind O&M ac vit . The primar reason for this isre ated to the equipment warran es which are so d,as standard, a ongside the capita p ant. With a t picadura on of ve ears, OEMs guarantee minimum eve sof avai abi it on the condi on that the have responsibi itfor da -to-da maintenance ac vit . This a ignment of riskand responsibi it a ows for it to be commercia possib efor the OEMs to o er such a warrant over the equipmentin service. To date, man OEM warran es have guaranteeda certain eve of avai abi it of p ant without regard toproduc on from the wind resource. More recent therehas been a move to ink avai abi it -based contracts withproduc on targets.

It ma be argued that the unpara e ed eve of know edgethat the OEMs have about their wind turbine productsrepresents another compe ing reason for their se ec onas the primar contractor during opera ons.

When the main warran es expire, the project owneris presented with three op ons:1. Renew the O&M agreement with the incumbent

wind turbine OEM; or,2. Take the O&M func on in-house; or,3. Award a contract for O&M provision to an

independent provider.

Some combina on of the above op ons is a so possib e.For examp e, the project owner ma choose to takethe O&M func on in-house but retain some specia ist

support from the OEM. In fact, this exact h brid approachhas been adopted b at east one UK Round 1 o shorewind project as exp ored in case stud 3.

Wind turbine warran es represent a signi cantbarrier to entr for poten a independent O&M providersand, even fo owing their expir , the specia ist know-howand inte ectua propert he d b the OEM representsa substan a cha enge for such companies. However,there is some evidence of a poten a market for suchproviders emerging such as SeaEnerg Marine, whoare pioneering an o shore based service o ering.

cAse sTUdy 3: s rob sa f a r t warra xp r

Scrob Sands,bui t b E.ONin 2004 with30 Vestas V80turbines, was oneof the rst o shorewind farms to bebui t and for the

rst ve ears ofopera on, the O&M ac vit was arge managed underthe terms of the warrant agreement with Vestas.

As this warrant approached expir , E.ON reviewed itsop ons and decided to take much of the O&M ac vit

in-house. This required a signi cant up-ski ing of staand a steep earning curve as E.ON sought to move toa much more proac ve strateg , inves ng in a new servicevesse and managing ogis cs. E.ON a so tendered for amaintenance contract and, a er receiving a number ofbids, chose Vestas. In addi on, Vestas was retained on atechnica support agreement covering so ware upgrades,design changes and major repairs.

In 2013, the Vestas contract wi expire and E.ON hasdecided to take on a of the maintenance ac vi esinterna , with a technica sta , inc uding the techniciansE.ON emp o s. This wi comp ete the transi on froma hands-o owner to a fu hands-on owner.

If youre proac ve and you detecta bearing failing, you may be ableto shut that turbine down for two days,change that bearing and it has costyou a few thousand pounds. If you failto pick up the bearing failing, drive it

to destruc on and destroy the gearbox,the costs can be enormous. You could bewai ng 12-14 weeks for a jack-up bargeat tens of thousands of pounds a day. JON BERESFORD, OPERATIONS MANAGER SCROBy SANDS, E.ON


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

ha -o a a -o proj t ow r

As indicated above, project owners are taking a rangeof di erent approaches to contrac ng O&M services bothduring the warrant period and be ond. This is best thoughtof as a spectrum from those wishing to adopt a hands-onapproach taking direct responsibi it for a wider rangeof ac vi es and those who prefer to take a hands-o approach re ing on a few ke contractors to ook a erthe project. This is driven primari b the strategic interestsand corporate po ic of the owner essen a , where thesee themse ves adding va ue.

Historica , the hands-o approach has been morepreva ent. This was a natura con nua on of prac ce from theonshore wind business at the me. However, we have seen anincreasing shi towards man owners taking a more proac ve

approach to O&M, not on fo owing the warrant period,but in man cases from da one, as exp ored in case stud 4.

Tab e 4.1 exp ores some of the ke di erences betweenthe hands-on and hands-o , as we as midd eground compromise.

R k/R po b t ha -o h br ha -oAccess (weather)risk

OEM OEM/Owner Owner

Transport & ogis cs OEM OEM/Owner OwnerO&M contract term 10-15 ears 5 ears 2 earsOwners staon-site

Inspec onon

Da -to-dasupervision/Joint working

with OEM

Jointworking

with OEM

O&M in-housepost-warrant

No Ma be yes

Tab 4.1: i a v r k a r po b t a o a o

cAse sTUdy 4: dOng e r t p tom of a a -o ow r

Danish energ compan DONG has been bui ding andopera ng wind farms for more than 20 ears. To date,its approach to o shore O&M is notab hands-onwith DONG owning and opera ng marine assets suchas boats and providing technicians and other personneto work under the management of wind turbinemanufacturers in the maintenance of o shore turbines.

Mot r of v oThe principa driver of DONGs approach to contrac ngO&M services is the fact that, as a rst-mover inthe o shore wind business, it was necessar todeve op in-house capabi i es for which specia istsupp iers with adequate experience and resources

had et to emerge.

dow - m r kIn addi on to the ack of qua i ed supp iers during theear da s of o shore wind, there is a so a contractuae ement to the decision to bring a arge propor onof O&M in-house. As the u mate supp ier of e ectricit ,the wind farm owner is exposed to the risk of ostrevenue due to down- me of turbines or other p ant.Contractua arrangements which e cient pass thisrisk to another part are di cu t to estab ish.

One advantage of turbine technicians working directly for the wind farm owneris that they are able to take a long-term view on the project well beyond theini al ve year warranty period. MICHAEl SIMMElSGAARD HEAD OF GlOBAl OPERATIONS, DONG ENERGy

dOng e r


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

There is interest from the market in a wide range ofwarrant engths from two ears to the fu ife- me

of the asset (approx. 20 ears). This mirrors ongoingconsidera on and matura on of thinking in this areaand is ike to resu t in a range of approaches across thespectrum presented above, re ec ng the range of projectowners current opera ng in the industr as we asthe appe te of incumbent and new entrant wind turbineOEMs. Trends from the onshore wind business over the

ast 5 ears indicate that man OEMs are ac ve pursuing

a much ar ger revenue stream from O&M as sa es of newp ant in man g oba na ona markets s ows. There is some

evidence that this ogic is being extended to o shore windas indicated b the increasing market avai abi it of ongerand, in some cases, stronger warran es.

For consor a and for nancia investors, a hands-o approach is ike to provide a more acceptab e risk pro egiven the ack of in-house capabi i es or the comp ica ons ofcorporate governance. leading u i es and energ companies

with a ong-term strategic interest in the techno og areike to sit towards the hands-on end of the sca e.

The range of approaches in p a is a s mptom of are a ve immature industr . Because of this, companiesconsidering entering this space are advised to adopt a

exib e a tude to contrac ng. A par cu ar service mabe o ered to the owner for project A and to the windturbine OEM for project B. F exibi it and so id marketinte igence on the contrac ng approach are ike tobe cri ca success factors.

Opportu for sMe

Whi st the major commercia and opera ona decisions forthe running of an o shore wind project are driven b the

ke actors, main comprising arge companies, there aresigni cant opportuni es within the va ue chain for Smaand Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This is par cu ar thecase where one or more of the fo owing factors are in p a . lo a o : Some services are best provided b oca

companies who are a read serving o shore industries,especia where proximit to the project is crucia .These providers wi o er estab ished oca infrastructure,ski s and know edge to de iver the required servicescompe ve , when compared to compe on frome sewhere. For examp e, a compan with an estab ished

eet of workboats with a track record within a given

region wi be we p aced to win o shore ogis cscontracts for projects oca when compared to a argerforeign compe tor. Port re ated services are of re evancehere, given how important proximit to the site is asan economic driver. However, as case stud 2 i ustrates,infrastructure upgrades ma be required to make thec osest port suitab e for the required opera ons.

F x b t : SMEs are o en be er p aced than arger

cAse sTUdy 5: Mcs x b t u o k a to europ a mark t

largs-based mari me compan Mari me Cra Services(C de) ltd (MCS) is expanding its opera ons in Europe,with the purchase of ve new vesse s worth around 15mi ion. The three boats wi be used to service MCSso shore energ opera ons in German and Denmark,as we as at home and are expected to create 50 new

jobs and generate up to 5.5 mi ion turnover per ear.

We are very excited about this newdevelopment, which should furtherour presence within the GermanO shore Renewable market. Weare now able to service the o shorerenewable industry with thesestate of the art crew transfer vesselswhich are operated by our highlyexperienced and cer ed crew. DIRK KUIJT MANAGING DIRECTOR, MCS

Mcs


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

cAse sTUdy 6: MaX a t O&Mmark t t rou ova o

Designed and bui t in theUK, MaXccess is the oncommercia access s stem inuse toda . It creates a secureand measured connec onb gripping one of the boat

anding bu er tubes. Thisprevents hazardous ver ca

and horizonta bow mo on whi e a owing the vesse toro , pitch and aw free . It increases signi cant waveheight working condi ons from 1.5m to more than 2m.

The s stem was deve oped b a rapid emerging

compan in the North East of Eng and that hasexperience of providing marine engineering so u ons.With access a major cha enge for the o shore windindustr , OSBIT Power deve oped an ingenious designfrom scratch which was successfu wave tank tria ed.This ed to interest from Siemens and Statoi who testedthe protot pe unit on the oa ng H wind demonstra onturbine. This success has ed to commercia orders fromSiemens and Statoi . The unit has been opera ona onGreater Gabbard wind farm since August 2012 and atSheringham Shoa since Januar 2013.

It is all about developing nichetechnologies where we can lead theworldelegant technology to savecost and increase safety. DR TONy TRAP MANAGING DIRECTOR, OSBIT POWER

companies to provide a exib e so u on to their c ientsto take account of project-speci c factors and thereforeo er be er va ue. This app ies to both technica andcommercia aspects. For examp e, an SME which isprepared to o er Remote Operated Vehic e (ROV)services to a project owner, a founda on contractor andan OFTO on the same project but with di erent scopesof work ma have a signi cant advantage over a argerprovider which ma have ess technica and commercia

exibi it . The examp e of Mari me Cra Services a soshows how commercia and technica exibi it can a soa ow SMEs to break into overseas markets in this sector(see case stud 5).

sp a m a ova o : SMEs with bright ideas andthe entrepreneuria exper se to commercia ise themcan be successfu in this market. looking to the future,there are cha enges facing O&M where innova ve

so u ons or specia ist providers are required, inc uding: Marine logis cs: so u ons and providers whichreduce direct costs, increase access or mi gate

Hea th, Safet and Environmenta (HS&E) risks areike to be successfu , as demonstrated in the cases

of MaXccess and Coasta Marine Boatbui ders (CMBl)(see case studies 6 and 7). Examp es of this inc udenove access s stems, enhanced marine co-ordina onso ware, personne tracking s stems and nextgenera on workboats.

Training: the industr acks consistent, standardisedtraining requirements for the range of ro es required.These wi inevitab emerge and therefore anopportunit exists for providers to he p shape thisprocess now and bene t from the outcome in the

ears ahead. This is par cu ar for the case ofre-ski ing personne who are changing sectors, asi ustrated b the examp e of 3sun (see case stud 8).

Subsea inspec ons: The requirements forenvironmenta and technica inspec on of the subsea

e ements of wind projects are an a read signi cantaspect of O&M provision. This is on ike to increaseas projects are constructed in new environments andcondi ons. Diver opera ons are common and this initse f increases HS&E exposure. Providers who canbring economic so u ons to the market that reducethe requirement for divers, but de iver the requireddata and resu ts are ike to be successfu . Specia istprovider Briggs Marine are an examp e of an SMEthat has broken into this space, providing a exib e,tai ored approach to c ient needs (see case stud 9).

Reducing the need for maintenance: There is an

increased focus on design for re iabi it and maintenancein the industr in genera , but the rea it is that thereis a s a ong wa to go. Wind turbine, founda onand e ectrica e ements of the project infrastructurewou d a bene t from innova ve so u ons which candemonstrab reduce O&M spending and down me.Remote survei ance in wind turbine nace es to a owimproved remote diagnos cs is an examp e of this.


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

cAse sTUdy 7: cMBl v r t xt ra o of workboat

As o shore wind farms move further out to sea, demandsmade on support vesse s are changing signi cant .Essex-based CTruk Boats has had its sights set on thisdeve opment for some me and recent ini ated thebui d of a 50t pa oad support vesse , designed to meetthe tougher requirements of the next phase. This is the

rst comp ete vesse bui d to be contracted out b CTrukand the se ec on of Coasta Marine Boatbui ders (CMBl)in E emouth in the Sco sh Borders represents a strategicpartnership for poten a future growth. The venturerepresents a departure from CMBls tradi ona businessand the E emouth ard now p ans to construct a specia istproduc on faci it for arger commercia vesse s.

s

cAse sTUdy 8: 3 u mov to o or wv r r or r v u rowt

Strong demand for turbine insta a on techniciansand O&M engineers saw 3sun record 92.3% revenuegrowth ast ear.

The compan is current raising headcount further,from 220 to 300, with former Armed Servicespersonne o en featuring amongst new recruits.With so man new technicians coming on board,3sun has been strugg ing to secure su cient trainingp aces. This prompted 3sun to bu a training provider

ate ast ear. Training is a major part of our spend.This ear, we wi probab spend ha f a mi ion poundson training, said Managing Director, Graham Hacon.

In addi on to supp ing construc on sta , 3sun has a sosecured two three- ear o shore wind O&M contracts.It was recent awarded a statutor inspec on andgenera engineering contract b Scira, the operatorof Sheringham Shoa o shore wind farm. The 317MWdeve opment is c ose to 3suns headquarters in Greatyarmouth, Norfo k. The compan is e eing the crewtransfer vesse market. Rather than simp supp ingboats, 3sun envisage o ering c ients a turnke so u on,comprising both vesse s and technicians.

cMBl

Training is a major part of our spend.This year, we will probably spendhalf a million pounds on training. GRAHAM HACON MANAGI NG DIRECTOR, 3sun


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

cAse sTUdy 9: T Br group r pa r a ma t a of o or ab

The Briggs Group has secured a ve ear agreementextension with SSE (Sco sh and Southern Energ ).The dea wi see Burn s and-based Briggs dep o ingtai ored s stems from among its eet of 40 vesse sto repair and maintain a network of over 500 ki ometresof cab e in some of the harshest marine environmentsin Europe.

Under the ve- ear agreement Briggs wi provide 24/7immediate mobi isa on and specia ised end-to-endsupport for the maintenance of the SSE network

comprising 102 ive cab es tota ing 515km supp ingis ands, homes and businesses across the region. Thiswi inc ude network surve , cab e protec on work, cab einsta a on, repair and tes ng through a seasons incha enging oca ons where currents can reach speedsin excess of eight knots.

With over 40 ears experience in the marine sector,Briggs aims to become a eading provider to therenewab es market with the aunch of their integratedmaintenance so u on for windfarms.

T Br group

The o shore renewables industry isset to play a crucial role in providingsustainable and secure energy tothe United Kingdom, our objec ve

is to become a major provider togenerator, transmission and exportsupply chains. CRAIG ENGlISH OPERATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SAlVAGEAND SUBSEA CABlES, BRIGGS MARINE


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

co tra t pa ka

Figure 4.1 i ustrates poten a contract packages(outer ring) which are et b the ke actors (inner ring).Underpinning ever thing is Hea th, Safet and Environment(HS&E) and Training considera ons, as high ighted ingreen. The co ours of the outer ring correspond to theseven categories of O&M ac vit introduced in the posteron the inside cover of this guide and further detai edin chapter 6 as out ine work packages. These packagesshou d be considered as a representa ve guide and wivar quite considerab from project to project. The term er is de iberate omi ed given the ambiguit of itsmeaning and the ack of a standard contrac ng hierarchwithin the o shore wind band. In order to high ightpoten a opportuni es for SMEs, a red band has beenadded outside those packages where the greatestopportuni es for SMEs exist. H

S & E

a n d T r a i n i n g

1 8 . A d m i n i s t r a o n

1 7 . W e a t h e r

f o r c a s n g 1 6 . S A P a n d

m a r i n e

c o - o r d i n a o n 1 5 . S C A D A a n d c o n d i o n

m o n i t o r i n g

14. Li ing, clim bing

and safe ty eq uipm en t

1 3. F o u n d

a o n

r e p a i r s

1 2 . S

c o u r

a n d s

t r u c t u

r a l

s u r v e

y s

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7 . T u r b i n e

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6 . T u r b i n e m a i n t e n a n c e

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Owner

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OFTO

F ur 4.1: co tra t pa ka a a t k a tor

co our m k :n O or on O or on Turb ma t an export ab a r o on Arra ab ma t an Fou a o ma t an Ba k o , a m tra o a op ra on gr at t sMe opportu


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

Bui ding on Figure 4.1, the fo owing co oured sec onsdescribe some of the ke commercia aspects against eachof the seven categories of O&M ac vit . More detai oneach of the contract packages iden ed in the outer ringis provided in Sec on 6.

n O or oThe owner wi a so tend to manage the onshore site,sub- easing or providing for free certain areas to thewind turbine OEM. Faci i es wi inc ude the easing ofqua side, part stores/warehousing and o ce space atthe port base. Suppor ng services such as bunkering andberthing wi usua be purchased from the port operatoras part of a ong-term contract. If the project owner adoptsa hands-o approach then it is possib e that the windturbine OEM wi take fu responsibi it for the onshorefaci i es, inc uding the estab ishment of a service baseas part of their capita supp contract. This route canhe p faci itate ac vi es during the commissioning phaseof the project.

n O or oUnder the hands-on approach the owner wi take onmanagement of the majorit of the o shore ogis cs. Theprimar driver of doing so is that some owners fee that the

imited iabi it within the service contract with the OEMcan never fu cover the poten a down me risk facedb the owner. Greater upsides are therefore achievab ethrou gh be er op misa on of marine ogis cs and O&M

ac vit , but this has to be ba anced against far greaterrisk, which makes it on rea an op on for those highcapab e operators (usua with substan a o shore oiand gas experience). This choice wi a so determine whichpart takes responsibi it for the so-ca ed weather riskin the wind turbine OEM contract that is the part thatbears the opportunit cost of turbine down me be owa certain eve due to weather interrup ons. It c ear

makes sense for whoever takes on the weather riskto a so have contro over the o shore ogis cs.

The majorit of service vesse s are contracted b the owneron a ong-term ease from specia ist marine contractors,a though some ma own a sma number of vesse s direct .The owner wou d then decide where and when to go withthe contractor providing the shu e service to the turbine.Both boat bui ding and marine contrac ng are areas wheresma er UK companies have broken into the market a read .

For major interven ons requiring the transport of heaviercomponents (> 500-2000kg), arger vesse s and jack-upbarges are genera contracted in b the owner, either on

ong-term ease or from the open market. However, thereare examp es of owners bu ing vesse s (RWE), or in thecase of DONG, strategica inves ng in a marine contractor

though these moves are primari aimed at providinginsta a on capacit rather than resources for O&M.As o shore wind projects increase in size, the economicra ona e for having a jack-up vesse permanent on sitewi increase.

It is s re a ve ear da s for the use of he icoptersin o shore wind but for those projects that have usedthem the owner or OEM (depending on the mode ) hassub-contracted a specia ist he icopter operator to transportpersonne to and from the project site. It is un ike thatowners or OEMs wou d choose to bu he icopters outright

at this stage.

O shore-based opera ons u ising motherships, xedp a orms or o shore support vesse s are so far imitedto a few pioneering sites outside the UK. Therefore acontrac ng regime has et to emerge for this ogis castrateg . As the need for such a strateg increases,opportuni es wi emerge for experienced o shore


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

ogis cs providers to enter the va ue chain, contrac ngeither with the wind turbine OEM or the project owner.

looking forward to further o shore sites with two or moreturbine t pes, there is poten a for greater coopera onbetween OEMs in the form of shared ogis cs, be thishe icopters or vesse s, provided b a third part . This wou decho best prac ce in the oi & gas sector whereb mu p eOEMs u ise a he icopter shu e service to oi rigs.

If a more conven ona hands-o approach is adoptedb the project owner, the wind turbine OEM wou d takeresponsibi it for a aspects of turbine maintenance andwou d a so ead on marine ogis cs.

n Turb ma t aThe opera on of turbines has four main e ements:inspec ons, schedu ed and unschedu ed maintenance,provision of spare parts and training of technicians. Underthe terms of the warrant , the OEM wi have an a mostcomp ete monopo on turbine maintenance and wiundertake a of these ro es. However for those hands-onoperators ooking to up-ski , and in due course take over,owners ma ook to undertake joint working with the OEM,for instance b the owner hiring technicians who then workfor the OEM on a secondment basis.

Post-warrant there is more scope for the owners to beinvo ved in aspects of turbine maintenance inc uding

inspec ons, some t pes of schedu ed maintenance andtraining of technicians. However, due to sensi vi es aroundInte ectua Propert (IP) and technica know edge required, itis ike that the OEM wi remain contracted in a sma er ro efocusing on more comp ex and unschedu ed maintenance.

In terms of parts, there is current a imited spares marketbe ond the OEMs and in the short-term at east, OEMs are

ike to be invo ved in providing spares. However, ownershave expressed some dissa sfac on at the cost, qua it and

ead mes required for even quite basic spare parts such asubrica on oi and are keen to see a spares market emerge.

In theor this shou d be re a ve eas to achieve giventhat the OEMs are arge assemb ers of a strong suppchain whom cou d be contracted direct . However, theOEMs ma seek to inhibit this process, perhaps through

ong term agreements with their partners, and barriersaround IP and qua it assurance remain.

n export ab a r o oThe OFTOs have three main assets to manage: onshoresubsta on and associated work, export cab e and o shoresubsta on. For o shore and onshore substa ons,transformers and associated equipment, manufacturerstend to pass on the warrant the receive from theirsub-supp iers to the OFTO, with no overarching warrantprovided for the project e ectrica s stem as a who e inmost cases.

As most OFTOs are nancia investors with emergingo shore experience and imited desire to undertakethe actua maintenance ac vit , the work wi t picabe sub-contracted to another part . This cou d be thee ectrica OEM, a third part , or as we have seen to date,to the owner of the wind farm itse f. The owners mahave an incen ve to bid for this work to retain controover maintenance of an asset cri ca to ge ng the wind

f arms output to market. The OFTO wou d then own thetransmission connec on, but contract the wind farmowner to manage it.

In terms of the export cab e, the sector is star ng tosee some innova on in maintenance strategies bOFTOs with Transmission Capita signing a maintenanceagreement with G oba Marine S stems. However, prac ce

is s re a ve immature compared to other comparab esectors such as te ecoms.

n Arra ab ma t aSubsea cab es usua come with a 5 ear warrant .However this is usua on to cover manufacturingdefects. The main issues for arra cab es re ate tomovement of the cab e, exposure b des or sediment

ows, and in extreme cases fai ure due to anchor strikeor externa aggrava on, none of which wi be covered bwarrant . The owner is therefore responsib e for monitoringand surve ing the cab e and repairing it when required,a though cab e maintenance strategies are s fairimmature in this industr . The surve work and remediawork is ike to be sub-contracted to a specia ist provider.

n Fou a o ma t aIn contrast to turbines, founda ons are not generacovered b an form of warrant . Instead founda onrisks are to some extent insurab e and mi gated throughcer ca on. The maintenance is therefore of a di erentnature, composed arge of visua inspec ons and survework with remedia work comp eted when required.Inspec ons are undertaken on structura strength, i ing,c imbing and safet equipment, corrosion and scourprotec on, where app icab e. This work is generathe responsibi it of the owner, a though ma be sub-contracted either to the founda on provider or insta er,or more ike , a specia ist third part provider.

n Ba k o , a m tra o a op ra oAs the owner has overa responsibi it for managingthe wind farm, the wi a wa s undertake a numberof management and back o ce ro es to achieve this.This inc udes ana sing supervisor contro and dataacquisi on (SCADA) data, IT support, hea th and safetand genera admin support.


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cOMMeRciAl PRAcTice

T m

The ke decisions on the O&M strateg are usua on madequite ate in the deve opment process, par cu ar under thehands-o approach. A though owners wi start consideringop ons and strategies for O&M ear ier in the deve opmentprocess, the are ike to on be con rmed once the turbineOEM has been iden ed. This is because of the cri ca ro ethat OEMs p a in O&M. At the point when the nanciainvestment decision is made, the owner and/or OEM wihave iden ed the O&M strateg and be in the advancedstages of p anning with the host port. The actua opera onadetai s of the strateg , which ma trigger certain sub-contracts to be et, ma be con rmed at an even ater stage.

Figure 4.2 i ustrates the approximate ming of the kedecisions associated with the O&M arrangements for at pica o shore wind project, and therefore at what stagea poten a new entrant supp ier might consider ac vetarge ng c ients. As can be seen, this can be up to four

ears before the actua start of opera ons and so it isimportant that a ong-term view of the project pipe ineis taken when considering marke ng ac vit .

F ur 4.2: i a v proj t m

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T UK o or w tor row rap a w t t a u mark tfor Op ra o & Ma t a (O&M) rv m r . i t o um t,w av pr t a u to out t mo t mporta t a p tof t a a omm r a pra t mark t, ow a to t futur .For t o ompa o r opportu for par pa o t pa ,

om k m a from t o um t ar ummar b ow.

5 Conc usions


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cOnclUsiOns

1. The market for o shore wind O&M services is expectedto grow to 1.2 bi ion/ ear b 2020 and a most 2bi ion in 2025 in the UK a one. This represents a

ve-fo d increase on toda s eve . B the end of thedecade there wi be up to 4,000 wind turbines and50 o shore substa ons requiring O&M in the UK.

2. The o shore wind business has not et reachedcommercia maturit which means that there is awide range of technica and contractua approachesto consider. This comp exit wi increase as projectsare constructed further from shore, which presentsboth cha enges and opportuni es for incumbent andnew entrant contractors. Innova on and commercia

exibi it wi be required for success in this space.

3. A er considering Hea th, Safet and Environmenta(HS&E) and training requirements, O&M provision is,and wi con nue to be, driven b project economics

minimising spend on the one hand and ost revenue onthe other. Companies that bring so u ons to the market

which are safer, reduce costs and boost revenue wibe we p aced to succeed.

4. In common with a other sectors of the o shore windindustr , reducing the cost of energ from o shore windfarms is a primar focus for O&M.

5. The required O&M services are contracted b threemain actors: project owners, wind turbine originaequipment manufacturers (OEMs) and o shoretransmission owners (OFTOs). These p a ers are drivinga wide range of contractua and strategic approachesto o shore wind O&M, under ining the need forcommercia exibi it for contractors targe ng thisevo ving and re a ve fragmented market.

6. The ke decisions on the size and shape of O&Mprovision for a par cu ar project are made over a 2-3

ear period spanning the award of construc on consentsthrough to, and a er, nancia investment decision inthe project. The ear ier a provider is invo ved in shaping

the so u on for the project the be er the chances ofcommercia success. However, the opportunit to wincontracts on estab ished projects shou d not be ignored,par cu ar as the main equipment warran es expire atthe end of ear 5 of opera on, represen ng a possib eentr point for new providers.

7. Opportuni es for new entrants to the industrexist in severa areas most notab where exis ngprac ce acks maturit or wi be unsuitab e forfuture projects constructed further from shore and inharsher environments. Notab e areas for considera oninc ude improved o shore ogis cs, vesse easing andsubsea opera ons.

8. Sma and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are par cu arwe suited to exp oit opportuni es that require a ocapresence, commercia /technica exibi it or specia ist/innova ve so u ons. Severa UK SMEs have a read beensuccessfu in this market but there is considerab e scopefor further invo vement.

9. O shore wind opera on and maintenance shares mancha enges with para e industries from which essonsma be earned. For examp e, the ac vit takes p acein the same tough o shore environment as oi andgas inspec ons, repair and maintenance (IRM) andthe industr structure and market sca e is not dissimi arto the UK passenger aircra maintenance, repairs and

op era on (MRO) business. But o shore wind O&Mis driven b unique economic pressures, which meansthat en re new mode s and modes of opera on wiemerge as the sector matures.

10. As this industr ooks at the cha enges ahead and strivesfor commercia maturit , it is those companies whoac ve engage now that wi he p to shape its future.


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T fo ow pa prov u fu forma o o o or w O&M workpa ka a o w t t a a opportu t pr t.

6 Out ine work packages


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OUTline WORK PAcKAges

2. Workboat

Workboats are an essen a part of anshore-based o shore wind O&M strateg .Providing the backbone of ogis caservices, these vesse s transporttechnicians and equipment from the shoreto the wind farm. Far o shore sites maa so use workboats to ferr techniciansbetween the o shore base and turbines.

Current workboats are stab e catamaranvesse s of the order of 12-24m engthovera (lOA) with a passenger capacitof approximate 12. The can t picawork up to 1.5m signi cant wave heightand are usua c assi ed as MCA Categor2 imi ng them to 60 NM from base.The cruising speed of the current eetis in the range of 20 to 25 knots. It isstandard prac ce for supp of workboats,

1. O or o

An O&M port base wi a wa s be required.It is standard prac ce to co- ocate theo ces, parts store and qua side faci it .If required, he icopter faci i es, suchas a anding pad, refue ing faci i es andhangar, are genera ocated nearbto a ow technicians eas access to thehe icopter or vesse . The primar oca ondrivers are t pica distance from the siteand minima marine access constraints(such as ocks or draught restric ons).

Other drivers inc ude avai abi it andappropriateness of exis ng faci i es aswe as onshore access and infrastructure.

For most opera ons, a minimum draughtof 2m is adequate for workboats and

other sma vesse s. Ateast four berths are

usua required. Whi stit is o en convenient tobe ab e to dock argervesse s, such as so-ca ed oate s or jack-upvesse s, in the same

oca on the reducedfrequenc of visits fromsuch vesse s means thatthese can be mobi ised orre-stocked at a terna ve,more distant ports.

examp urr t prov r : AssociatedBri sh Ports, Port of Most n, locaAuthori es (eg. Thanet District Counci Port of Ramsgate)

i a v proj t p : 400,000 to700,000/ r for 500MW wind farm

c a a opportu Port oca on is cri ca far from shore

port requirements wi di er from

workboat on Scope for future expansion to supportaddi ona project phases

F exibi i t to accommodatevariab e demand with maintenancecampaigns etc.

skippers and mates to be contractedto an operator on a ong-term basis.

The superior speed and stabi it of SmaWaterp ane-Area Twin Hu (SWATH)vesse s and other nove designs maincrease the range of workboat-on O&Mstrategies where regu ator or otherfactors imit the use of he icopter support.

examp urr t prov r : WindcatWorkboats, MPI Workboats, C Wind

i a v proj t p : 2,000,000 to3,000,000/ r for 500MW wind farm

c a a opportu Increasing accessibi it (sea state

condi ons in which safe access toturbines ma be achieved) throughnove access devices and improvedvesse s

Increased speed of vesse s combinedwith comfort of passengers who mabe spending four hours a da transi ng

Regu ator change to a ow more than

12 passengers per vesse . Issue currentbeing discussed at the Interna onaMari me Organisa on (IMO)

Improving fue econom (currentaround 30% of vesse budget is spenton fue )

glgh


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4. cra bar rv

Rep acement of arge or heav items wirequire a crane barge service to ensuresu cient stabi it during i ing opera ons.These have t pica been jack-up vesse sbut oa ng d namica posi oned oranchor spread supported vesse s can a sobe used. Vesse s are needed for majorturbine repair opera ons and repairsto o shore substa on components suchas transformers.

For the purposes of O&M, vessei ing capacit is t pica ess of an

issue than opera ona water depth andcrane under-hook height, since mostcomponents are un ike to exceed 100tonnes at most.

3. Av a o

He icopters transport technicians toand from the wind farm. The a owaccess in otherwise inaccessib e seastate condi ons and their high speedsand ow carr ing capacit ts we withthe dispersed nature of o shore windprojects and the high frequenc / owe ort interven ons that make up a argepropor on of o shore visits.

To date he icopters have main ownto and from the wind farm rare

anding on the o shore substa on,with technicians being winched downto the turbine. For this t pe of work,sma four to six passenger he icoptershave been used, such as the EC135,ferr ing one or two crews each oftwo to three technicians between theonshore base (or nearb air e d) andthe o shore turbines or substa on.

In the event of crews based o shore,a arger he icopter ma act as abus transpor ng a arger numberof technicians to a sing e point in the

wind f arm, mirroring the approachused in oi and gas.

He icopters are norma contractedon a ong term basis, with either exc usiveor shared access to the aircra .

examp urr t prov r : Bond AirServices, Bristow Group, CHC He icopters

i a v proj t p : 1,500,000to 3,000,000/ r/aircra (t pica oneaircra per project)

c a a opportu Visibi it and c oud-base can restrict

opera on, par cu ar for hois ngopera ons

Consent ma be hard to gain for manprojects or oca ons

Percep on, par cu ar with regardto safet imp ica ons

Keeping costs down (e.g. asset sharing)whi st guaranteeing access to theaircra during periods of oneroussea-states

examp urr t prov r : A2Sea,Hoch ef, MPI O shore

i a v proj t p : 4,000,000to 12,000,000/ r for 500MW windfarm (average spend)

c a a opportu Idea need sma jack-ups with

re a ve ow i capacit , but highcrane reach and deep watercapabi i es

Nego a ng ca -o , frameworkor sharing agreements wherein

ead mes ma be minimisedwithout incurring ownershipcosts to the project

Ar va

gl garra ha a


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5. O or a ommo a o /ba

O shore accommoda on, a thoughexpensive, might be needed if the projectis ocated more than about two hourstransit b workboat from the O&M port.O shore-based strategies can be sp it intotwo primar t pes: xed or oa ng.

Fixed o shore accommoda on is ike toecho o shore oi and gas accommoda onp a orms and requires workboats or

a he icopter to shu e technicians andparts to the w

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Offshore Wind Operations and Maintenance

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