Offshore Wind Energy Technology Development
Operating Agents:
Riso
National Laboratory, Denmark and
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) United States.
OA Representatives:
Jørgen Lemming
Wind Energy Dept
Risø National Laboratory
P.O. Box 49
4000 Roskilde
Denmark
Tel +45 46 77 50 86
Email: joergen.lemming@risoe.dk
Walt Musial
National Wind Technology Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
1617 Cole Blvd
Golden, CO 80401
United States
Tel +1 303 384-6956
Mobile +1 303 349-9819
Fax +1 303 384-7055 - fax
Email: Walt Musial
This annex will give the participants an overview of the technical and environmental
assessment challenges encountered in offshore applications and help them to
understand the areas of further R&D needed. The objectives of this annex
are:
|
a |
To conduct R&D activities of common interest relating to wind turbine facilities operating in offshore environments in order to reduce costs and uncertainties. |
|
b |
To identify joint research tasks among interested countries based upon the issues identified at the Technical Experts Meeting #43 on Critical Issues Regarding Offshore Technology and Deployment. |
|
c |
To organize several workshops relating to critical research areas relating to offshore wind deployment issues, including technical research on deeper water structures. The goal of the workshops is to identify R&D gaps in research areas, publish proceedings, and identify specific joint research areas needing further investigation. |
|
d |
In year one of the Annex, identify interested participants, identify project leaders for each research area, and prepare separate Work Programmes and Budgets for each collaborative research areas. |
This annex has two subtasks
with an operating agent for each subtask. The subtasks include issues important
to build and sustain the nascent offshore wind industry. To narrow the range
of issues and identify joint research tasks between interested countries,
a series of workshops will be conducted. These workshops will map out the
R&D needs of interested countries, produce technical proceedings, and
propose specific joint research tasks for further work. Each research task
will be led by a project lead (interested member country) reporting to one
Operating Agent under the relevant Subtask.
Subtask 1 Offshore Wind-Experience with critical deployment
issues
The technical issues for the first subtask share a high degree of mutual interest
among the participants and have minimal intellectual property concerns. Research
areas include: External Conditions, Operation and Maintenance, Ecological
Issues and Regulations, Electric System Integration, Wind Facilities Technology
and Design. Other research topics can be added depending on the interest of
the participants. This subtask will draw upon country experience from shallow
water (less than 30 metre water depth) wind projects, both planned and operating.
Subtask 2 Offshore Wind –Technical research for deeper
water (> 30m)
The second subtask addresses deployment of wind turbines in water depths greater
than 30 metres. Primarily, this will include support structures that deviate
from the present monopile technology. Because many European countries currently
involved with offshore development have abundant shallow water sites, participation
in this subtask may be limited to countries with a scarcity of shallow water
sites or those members interested in alternative platforms. The procedure
for identifying specific R&D collaborative tasks for Subtask 2 will follow
the workshop process discussed above for Subtask 1. Some of the proposed R&D
work that may be considered for alternative platforms and structures are:
| • |
Development of low cost anchoring and moorings systems suitable for offshore wind installations in varying water depths. |
| • |
Optimization studies to determine lowest-cost options for floating platforms. |
| • |
Coupled platform dynamic modeling – understanding research requirements. |
| • | Exchange of data on manufacturing and materials benefits arising from floating platform requirements. |
| • |
Sharing experience and technical data pertaining to marine ecology, regulatory requirements, and permits in deep water and for installations far from shore. |
For more information, please visit the Task 23 web site.
