Renewables industry unites to cut offshore wind costs

The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult has come together with 8 other leading energy sector companies to improve the productivity of offshore wind farms. Their aim is to bring the industry towards its £100/MWh energy generation target from offshore wind sources.

The energy companies are Eon, SSE, EDF Energy Renewables, Scottish Power Renewables, Centrica, Dong Energy, Vattenfall and RWE. The organizations intend to collaborate to share ideas and skills to establish a best practice.

The remit of the group is to investigate the common issues affecting offshore wind farm performance and reliability. It is also tasked to test potential solutions. Areas being scrutinized include blade erosion, cable damage and cable failure.

Experts anticipate that a significant barrier to offshore wind farm productivity is high costs of operation and maintenance.

The ORE Catapult's Innovation Programme’s Director, Chris Hill said: "To improve performance and reduce the costs associated with offshore wind farms, there needs to be greater collaboration amongst industry players to share best practice and learning. If we are going to capitalise on the economic opportunity presented by a strong offshore supply chain, then we need to develop a collective view on what the key technology challenges are, and where the industry should be focusing its combined efforts on developing innovative solutions to drive cost reductions." Tony Lyon, Head of Renewables Operations & Maintenance from Centrica, added: "Driving cost reduction in operations and maintenance will be a significant step towards achieving the key industry targets on the cost of energy generated from offshore wind, ensuring that the UK remains an attractive investment destination in a rapidly developing global market. This Forum is an important step forward in working towards this."

Jonathan Cole, Offshore Managing Director of Iberdrola and Offshore Wind Programme Board Operations & Maintenance Workgroup Leader concluded: "We look forward to working with our industry partners as part of this Forum. The Offshore Wind Programme Board has recognised that collaboration in relation to operations and maintenance activity is pivotal to driving down costs and creating a sustainable long-term industry and this Forum should be highly complementary to the goals of the Programme Board's Operations & Maintenance Workgroup."