Page 10 - North American Clean Energy March April 2015

wind power

The Future of Offshore Wind

Design standards & certiication considerations

By James Nichols

Over the last 20 years, the European ofshore wind industry has worked to bring companies together from the onshore wind

market and the ofshore oil and gas sector. he intent has been to make connections, forming a melting pot of ideas in the

quest for cheaper, cleaner, and more predictable energy.

As the proportion of ofshore wind development prices must decrease signiicantly in the coming

August
increases, so does the pressure to reduce dependence years for continued growth and success, now seems
on Feed-in Tarifs (FIT), to attract more private the ideal time for certiication and standards to fully
passion for precision · passion pour la pŕcision · pasín por la precisín · passione per la precisione · a pas
asi-
investment, and to contribute to a more stable, develop. It’s important to ensure product safety

Be relaxed with VENTUS
sustainable electrical grid. his has resulted in some and quality, while harnessing the conidence level
conlicting pressures to reduce costs and risks,
required to attract new and ongoing wind energy
with one side seeking new innovations, while the investments.
other remains set on more familiar, traditional

technologies.
Why a multi-disciplinary approach is
Although the United States is still in its infancy best
in terms of ofshore wind power projects, the It’s very rare that one engineer, or even one company,
developments overseas are worth noting and can have the required depth of knowledge in every

learning from. Aside from in Germany and ield it crosses paths within the ofshore industry—
Denmark, there are no legal requirements to whether that be in aerodynamics, control, structural
perform certiication of ofshore wind farms in dynamics, hydrodynamics, geotechnics, fabrication,
Europe. However, for countries such as France and or inance. here is much beneit for experts in each

the UK, it’s virtually unknown for an ofshore wind of these ields to collaborate and share knowledge,
farm to be constructed without engagement with a not only for productive projects, but also for safety
certiication body.
reasons and best practices.
Certiication can mitigate risk, not only assuring With maintenance and inspection accounting for

investors that new technology is being deployed
approximately one-third of ofshore wind lifetime
in a responsible manner, but also ensuring any costs, vessels and access methods also play key roles
performance claims are not without merit. he in developing any ofshore project. It’s essential,
challenge for certiication is to remain one step ahead therefore, that developments are carried out in
VENTUS ultrasonic cold weather anemometer is proven
corrosion resistant under MIL-STD-810 method 509.3.
of the industry, developing research to underpin
a manner that strengthen safety standards for
Ventus is vibration resistant and proven for ice free operation. new rules and guidelines, while ensuring the safety workers, increasing the chances of successful rescue
It gives the best accuracy with maintenance free operation.
and reliability of newer, more eicient installations. in the event that something does go wrong ofshore.
In this arena, new methods of deployment of novel At the same time, innovation is required to
ZERTIFIZIERT DIN EN ISO 9001
NR 70100F222 and cost-efective technology are continually sought, decrease the cost of supplying energy and to drive
DKD-K-26701 CERTIFIE
tested, and validated.
uptake of long-term, renewable power solutions.
www.ventus-umb.info · www.luft.com
With awareness in the ofshore wind market that
Herein, it’s important to be aware that developments

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10 nacleanenergy.com
MARCH/APRIL 2015