The rapidly developing offshore wind industry off the UK’s east coast must gather knowledge from the oil and gas sector’s 45 years experience of working in harsh offshore environments.
That is the key conclusion from a major study by Natural Power on behalf of POWER cluster to look at challenges facing the offshore wind industry.
POWER (Pushing Offshore Wind Energy Regions) cluster is a three-year €4,998,942 project which aims to help develop the offshore wind industry in the North Sea region of Europe. It involves 18 partners from six European countries – Germany, UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – including Suffolk County Council and EEEGR (the East of England Energy Group).
Findings of the study include the recommendation that the industry could take a collaborative approach to developing offshore technology. This would drive down costs by identifying best practice, build economies of scale and reduce exposure to risks and cost overruns. Exposure to risks and cost overruns deters potential investors to the projects.
There is a belief that the offshore wind industry cannot afford oil and gas prices – although this is often a false economy. The prices charged by the oil and gas industry reflect the cost of working in the North Sea all year round. Several offshore wind farms have suffered major delays due to the use of ‘cheap’ solutions and have had to change to more appropriate vessels and procedures during the installation of a wind farm.
John Best, chief executive of EEEGR, said: “The results of this study reaffirm our key message. We must work together to reap the benefits of the huge opportunities that lay ahead. The oil and gas industry is firmly established and has the same skills and core competencies required in the offshore wind sector. It is a new and emerging market and it makes sense to learn from those who have been working in these environments for over 45 years.”
Judy Terry, portfolio holder for Greenest County, Economy and Skills at Suffolk County Council, said: “Lowestoft has more than 40 years experience in the oil and gas industry. This study demonstrates that encouraging more oil and gas companies to be engaged in wind power projects would benefit both them and the emerging offshore wind industry. This could also help drive down costs, as the offshore wind industry would benefit from a more competitive supply chain.”
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Source: TMS-MEDIA, June 08, 2011