Page 16 - North American Clean Energy May/June 2019 Issue

wind power
US Offshore Wind
Development and technical challenges
THE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAMS
have blossomed over recent years as a result of technology innovation, reduced installation and operational costs, and large support from the public. Wind energy installations have been maturely developed within the continental United States. e more recent advance is pointed to the o shore areas along the US coastline. As of April 2019, there has been a total of $473 million in bids of nearly 1.7 million acres in federal waters. Currently, there are 15 active o shore wind leases with a capacity of 19 GW. is is just the beginning of very large renewal energy development.
European Offshore Wind
by Bill Berger
• Design and Operational Statistics
• ISO Standard metocean analysis • Forecasts and weather window
statistics
• Synergies with environmental and engineering assessments
• Benthic habitat mapping
• Water column measurements • Accoustic monitoring
Statistics in Europe show 4,543 o shore turbines installed
and grid-connected, making a cumulative total of 18,499 MW. Sites with partial grid-connected turbines now account for 105 o shore wind farms in 11 European countries. e UK has the largest amount of o shore wind capacity in Europe (with 44 percent of all installations in MW). Second is Germany (with 34 percent), followed by Denmark (7 percent), Belgium (6.4 percent) and the Netherlands (6 percent). Installations in 2018 added 2,649 MW of net o shore capacity. 15 wind farms were completed (fully grid-connected), and another 3 have partial grid connection and will continue to connect in 2019. Construction work started on another 6 wind farms, where no turbines have yet been grid-connected.
US Government Regulations
e Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the
US regulatory agency responsible for all activities in federal waters. Since 2005, the BOEM has been authorized to issue leases, easements, and right of ways for renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). e oversight is composed of four main categories including planning, leasing, site assessment, and construction and operations. Much of the process has been developed from similar energy development activities from the Oil & Gas Industry. erefore, there is opportunity for operators and suppliers to adapt to this new environment by utilizing many skills from previous o shore projects.
In 2006, the BOEM issued the information requirements for a renewable energy Site Assessment Plan (SAP). e multi-part parameters of the SAP include topics of hazards, water quality, biological resources, threatened and endangered species, sensitive biological resources or habitats, archaeological resources, social and economic resources, coastal and marine uses, consistency certi cation, etc.
Technical Challenges
Government regulations typically set the stage as to what types of studies are to be conducted in order to address the aforementioned parameters. Industry stakeholders continually seek innovative methods and techniques to meet or exceed the government requirements. History
has shown that proper planning and communication with regulators result in the development and use of alternative solutions for data collection.
A large challenge the industry faces in this environment is to identify programs that are cost e cient within the complex marine environment. ere are many tools to select from including remote sensing, sampling, and visual inspections of various aspects within the project area. e technology improvements of the tools have blossomed within the past
20 years of operations in various industry related studies. Instrumentation and acquisition vehicles have evolved into
Figure 1. Showing metocean buoy system
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Figure 2. - Telemetry of data from buoy system