COMMUNICATION HUB FOR THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY ‘TITANIC’ SPOTLIGHT ON NORTHERN IRELAND REGIONAL FOCUS GLOBAL WIND ALLIANCE COMPETEncY BasED TRaininG FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 | £5.25 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATING YOUR THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS WIND ENERGY NETWORK TV CHANNEL AND ONLINE LIBRARY These invaluable industry resources continue to build and we are very YOU WILL FIND WITHIN THIS We hope you enjoy the content and pleased with the interest and support EDITION CONTRIBUTIONS WHICH please feel free to contact us to make of our proposed sponsors. Please give COULD BE DESCRIBED AS OPINION your feelings known – it’s good to talk. the team a call and find out how to get PIECES. THEY ARE THERE TO FOCUS involved in both. ATTENTION ON VERY IMPORTANT ‘SpoTLIGHT ON’ regIONAL FOCUS SUBJECT AREAS WITH A VIEW Our regional focus in this edition features Remember they are free to TO GALVANISING OPINION AND Northern Ireland. Your editor visited contribute and free to access. BRINGING THE INDUSTRY TOGETHER the area in late November 2011 when TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE PROGRESS reporting on the Quo Vadis conference Please also feel free to contact us AND THEREFORE SUCCESS. and spent a very enjoyable week soaking if you wish to highlight any specific up the atmosphere, local beverages as area within the industry and we will Ray Sams from Spencer Coatings well the Irish hospitality (the craic). endeavour to encourage debate and features corrosion in marine steel feature the issue within our publication. structures, Warren Fothergill from As you will see it is a very substantial Group Safety Services on safety feature and the overall theme is one of passports and Michael Wilder from excitement and forward thinking which Petans on competency based training will ensure Northern Ireland is at the standardisation. forefront of the wind energy industry. GLOBAL WIND ALLIANCE We also feature the sterling work of The Global Wind Alliance both as a standalone feature within the magazine, which will continue in future editions, and also within the regional focus because of their important association with Northern Ireland. Duncan McGilvray Editor | Wind Energy Network www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 01 WIND ENERGY NETWORK THE GLOBAL WIND ALLIANCE OUR FRONT COVER IMAGE IS THE ICONIC TITANIC PICTURED IN BELFAST’S We first featured the Global Wind THARLANitanicD & WOLFF DRY DOCK JUST PRIOR TO ITS FIT-OUT AND LAUNCH IN Alliance within our Quo Vadis 1912.... 100 YEARS AGO. conference article held in Belfast late in 2011. The reasoning behind the choice of We also hope you enjoy finding out more The reasoning behind the concept is image is twofold... about the region and the people involved described within the feature and we in this very substantial feature. will be following their important work 1. Our ‘Spotlight On’ regional focus within the industry in future editions. feature in this edition is Northern COMPETENCY TRAININg – reAL Ireland WORLD EXPERIENCE Duncan McGilvray 2. There cannot be a more fitting There is no doubt that experiencing Editor | Wind Energy Network relationship between the engineering the actual situations within a working feats and the use of innovation & environment before you get there leads to technology in 1912 and the very a safer and more enlightened workforce similar experiences we are going through in the wind energy industry Getting that training programme right is today no mean feat, particularly with the harsh and sometimes dangerous environments which can be experienced both on and offshore. Within this substantial section we feature industry leaders giving us their thoughts and advice on the subject. 02 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk CONTENTS PAGE 29 Law – information for landowners and developers by Andrew Jackson Solicitors PAGE 30 Business development – Paul Luen continues his advice with Employee Engagement – every reason to celebrate! CONTENTS PAGE 32 Global Wind Alliance – ‘Onwards and Upwards’ an excellent example of just how collaboration can work PAGE 4 MPA-The Concrete Centre conference – the concrete PAGE 34 Energising the Wind Industry – Ahmad Haidar from sector aims to ensure the UK leads the world in ANSYS explains how offshore wind power PAGE 36 RenewPlus – a positive view on the demise of the PAGE 6 Industry News ‘It’s all about you’ starts here Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) PAGE 14 Corrosion – management of corrosion in steel marine PAGE 38 ITS - Company Feature - new wind energy solutions structures website PAGE 16 UnderCoverCoach – ‘Deal or No Deal?’ Negotiating in PAGE 40 Engineering - a new regular feature by NCOE Titanic the Workplace, part 1 (Newcastle Chambers of Engineering) P24 P48 P79 PAGE 18 Your regular events calendar and what’s new PAGE 42 ‘Spotlight On’ Northern Ireland – our continuing regional focus on ‘areas of excellence in the wind energy PAGE 20 Health & Safety section – continuing advice and industry throughout Europe’ comments from the experts PAGE 76 Real world experience - feature on the importance of PAGE 26 Wellbeing in the workplace – Gill Main from competency based training Partnering4performace looks at ‘A total health approach’ PAGE 96 Your supply chain register starts here GREEN ENERGY PUBLISHING LTD Skellfield House, 12 Skellfield Terrace, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1NE TELEPHONE 01765 644224 WEB SITE www.windenergynetwork.co.uk EDITORIAL [email protected] SALES [email protected] Wind Energy Network magazine is happy to accept unsolicited contributions for consideration. Editorial opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Green Energy Publishing Ltd and the company does not accept responsibility for advertising content. The publishers cannot accept any responsibility for omissions or errors. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written permission. www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 03 INDUSTRY ARTICLE Concrete Sector Aims to Ensure UK Leads World in Offshore Wind Power Eyebrows are often raised on hearing the declaration that the UK is a world leader. With regards to offshore wind power generation, that declaration is true. A recent industry conference, hosted by MPA-The Concrete Centre, heard how the concrete sector has the solutions and capacity to ensure that UK offshore wind generation continues to power ahead. UK TAKING THE LEAD CORES LOCATIONS believes that the third and future rounds The UK has built more offshore wind Initial proposed locations for CORES of The Crown Estate leasing could favour farms than any other country in the world, include Tyneside, Teeside, The Humber, gravity foundation solutions due to the accounting for nearly all of the turbines Great Yarmouth and Sheerness. increased water depth and distance from erected in European waters during Pook believes that the time is right for shore demanding a more robust and 2011. And, there is more to come. The investment in offshore wind power and maintenance free solution. Indeed, from Government is committed to installing stated that: “2012 will be a crucial a depth of 25m - 30m and more, gravity 3,000 additional wind turbines over the year for offshore development and foundations could be the economic next nine years taking the current 1.3GW the Government is keen to work with solution of choice. of energy generated by offshore wind industry to develop and deliver offshore power to 18GW. solutions”. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS In addition to long-term robustness and THE CROWN ESTATE performance, concrete foundations As managers of the for offshore wind turbines also offer UK seabed out to a environmental benefits. These include 12 nautical mile limit, minimum disruption to the sea bed The Crown Estate has and reduced noise to sea life during a major role to play in installation. At the end of their life they the development of the can also be easily decommissioned and offshore wind energy recycled. The issues of sea bed disruption industry. and noise to sea life was highlighted by James Bussell of Natural England. He Adrian Fox, Supply believes that gravity foundations have Chain Manager for an advantage in that their installation is Crown Estates, less disruptive than monopiles. However, outlined what he he warned that as yet the UK has little MPA- THE CONCRETE CENTRE described as being the world’s largest experience of these foundations and CONFERENCE offshore wind farm programme. He called for further modelling and trials to At the conference, the support of the warned, however, that the potential of monitor their impact. Government for offshore wind power offshore wind power would only be truly was underlined by Chris Pook, Head of realised with the delivery of greater cost MPA-THE CONCRETE CENTRE the Green Economy Team, Department efficiencies for the manufacture, installation INTEREST GROUP for Business, Innovation and Skills, who and operation of wind turbines. As a green alternative to carbon fuels, opened the conference. consideration of the environmental impact COST STUDIES of wind turbines is essential. Members of Stating that offshore wind power is The Crown Estate is currently undertaking The Interest Group for Gravity Foundations integral to the UK’s transition to a a series of cost studies examining – Offshore Wind, run by MPA-The greener economy, Pook highlighted the potential cost savings. Emerging themes Concrete Centre, have carried out a study establishment of CORES, centres for include greater site optimisation, early to determine the carbon footprint of a offshore renewables engineering, which contractor involvement, increased data typical gravity foundation for offshore wind. aim to provide local centres of excellence sharing and project collaboration, larger for development and manufacturing via rotors and more efficient foundation Henrietta Ridgeon of Arup presented partnership between central and local installation. Ultimately, the challenge is the interim results of this study which government and industry and so pull to achieve a cost of £100 per megawatt demonstrated that in part due to the together both investment focus and of power generation.