Operations & maintenance
Remote control
hile inarguably pivotal to global efforts at combatting greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, offshore wind farms are undeniably harsh and hostile environments. And not just for the turbines themselves, but also for the workers who have to carry out maintenance and repair procedures to keep them in working condition. Currently, there are almost 200 offshore wind farms operating globally, with China, the UK, Taiwan, Denmark and the Netherlands leading the field. The largest, Hornsea 2, is located 90km off the UK’s Yorkshire coast, consisting of 165 Siemens Gamesa 8MW wind turbines and an energy capacity of 1.32GW. The UK’s upcoming Dogger Bank windfarm is set to eclipse Hornsea 2, however, when it is fully operational in 2025, with a total of 277 turbines producing an energy capacity of 3.6GW. These massive windfarms are both quite recently developed, but others are far older. The lifespan of
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maintenance
Electric remotely operated vehicles could be used to perform maintenance and repair tasks on offshore wind turbines without a single human being physically present, improving health and safety for workers by reducing the need for potentially hazardous missions conducted by crewed support vessels. Nicholas Kenny looks into developments in this area to learn more.
an offshore wind turbine is somewhere between 25–35 years, due in part to the atmospheric conditions they face, the pressure put on the materials and the wear and tear associated with its exposure to salt water. As a result, turbines require regular inspections and maintenance, requiring workers to travel out to sea and carry out potentially hazardous tasks under challenging conditions.
Indeed, there were 225 high-potential incidents reported within the UK’s offshore wind sector in 2022 alone, according to a report by G+, the Energy Institute’s health and safety organisation for the offshore wind sector. In total, more than 868 incidents and injuries were reported that year, with 325 taking place on a vessel, 298 on a turbine and 185 occurring onshore. With this in mind, stakeholders in offshore wind have begun to take notice of recent developments in robotics and automation, suggesting that a better solution might well be out there.
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