Ingeteam has developed a new computer tool that will allow calculation of optimal O&M strategies. According to the company, the tool, developed under the POSEIDOM project, will reduce uncertainty related to costs during the operation of offshore wind farms.
Currently, the costs associated with the operation and maintenance activities account for more than 25% of total costs. For example, the daily base cost of a vessel transferring 12 technicians to wind turbines, which can navigate waves of up to 2 meters, is greater than EUR 6,000 and the cost of mobilisation of a jack-up vessel is around EUR 800,000 and the daily rate can hover around EUR 140,000, Ingeteam said citing data from the Leanwind European project.
“Presently, we are working on new concepts for service and construction ships that will reduce costs. In any case, data varies enormously depending on the type of contract, of the location of the park with respect to the port, the storage space thereof, the availability of boats and the time of year. Therefore, predictive maintenance (improving the conditions of the monitoring systems) together with logistic optimization are key to avoid the stops in production and thus reduce the OPEX and therefore the price of energy (LCOE) generated by the offshore farms,” Ingeteam said.
Ingeteam started participating in offshore wind R&D projects in 2007, with the EOLIA project. In 2016, it joined new projects and other innovative initiatives related to offshore wind: POSEIDOM, Nidaros, Orpheo and WIP10+.