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Operating for Offshore Wind – Conferences @ Seawork
The opportunities for business in the offshore wind sector, support available, challenges and solutions were amongst the topics discussed at the conference session “Operating for Offshore Wind” at Seawork. Chaired by Rhys Jones, Head of Competence and Training at IMCA, the International Marine Contractors Association, the speakers included David Cooper, Clean Maritime Manager at ORE Catapult, John Krielaart, Product Manager Specials at Damen, and Jack Berryman, Director and Founder at MinMech.
To provide a viewpoint from an offshore wind vessel operator, the speakers were joined for a panel discussion with audience Q&As by Joseph Hodgson, Chartering Manager of OS Energy (UK) Ltd .
Established in 2013, ORE Catapault helps innovate and accelerate the development of offshore renewable energy, with the aim of growing businesses and creating jobs in the UK. Whilst not part of the UK Government, Cooper explained how ORE Catapault, which has around 300 employees, has been given the remit to support innovation supply chain in key areas including offshore wind.
Highlighting how the UK is leading the world in offshore wind deployment, Cooper went on to explain how the vessels supporting offshore wind farms will develop in the future, from the current CTVs, which are used to fast deployment of personnel to wind farms and the SOVs - akin to floating hotels – that provide accommodation and support for up to 2 weeks offshore. With the market changing from smaller, close to shore wind farms to larger windfarms much further offshore, the industry will see a move towards autonomous vessels, with daughter crafts working alongside existing CTVs. Another trend, Cooper explained, will be the increase in floating or hybrid offshore wind installations, located at sites 60-120m deep. This posed the question of how crew are transported and transferred, with the industry needing to work on process which would make this both quicker and safer, especially with the challenges of weather offshore.
Another key area for innovation and development is in decarbonisation with the aim of utilising fuels, such as battery, hydrogen, ammonia and potentially methanol. With the Government’s aim to achieve zero emissions, this creates a dilemma said Cooper. “Those fuels that are the most easy to have as a drop in replacement, that have got the closest energy density, are also the fuels that are the least efficient users of electricity. You have toput a lot more energy in to get that same energy out.” One potential solution, not yet available, could be to charge vessels from the wind farms themselves.
Looking next at Damen’s new Multi Purpose Vessel, MPV 4916, Project Manager John Krielaart explained that it had taken more than 3 years to develop, working in conjunction with his internal team and external customers, to create a vessel with all the requirements needed for varied and flexible offshore operations. With operational ability to stay on position in up to three metre wave height, a key feature of the MPV4916 is the ability to carry up to 400 tonnes on the aft deck, and above the waterline accommodation for up to 34 people and an office onboard.
With so many key operational features available, to suit customer needs and specifications, Krielaart concluded saying that it was almost impossible to cover all features developed in the MPV 4916 over its three yeardevelopment within his 12 minute slot.
By contrast, the final speaker, Jack Berryman from Cornwall-based MintMech, a company that provides a one-stop solution for design, build and commissioning for the offshore marine and mining sectors, based his talk around how the enemy of a working machine is the perfect specification. As a company used to developing innovative solutions, Berryman highlighted how projects are moving towards autonomous operation, through designing manual machines that work. Then, through design, and using tried and tested techniques, to build in automation. This way, the path to automation, he said, results in a safer environment, as automation removes human error, something which often occurs from people carrying out repetitive tasks.
The session concluded with Q&As from the audience during which it was highlighted that one of the biggest challenges is the lack of vessels and people. With the typical build time of an MPV at around 2 years, with costs estimated to be around in the region of £40m, there was also a lack of qualified people to work in the sector, an issue which needed to be addressed.
