COMMUNICATION HUB FOR THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY

Spotlight on Energi Coast Community Engagement

Money Matters Offshore Support SERVICES

December/january 2014 - ISSUE 20 | £7.50 INTRODUCTION

Magazine and website Lead article interaction – QR codes Yet another reminder that we use pink and green flashes indicating more information online. QR codes have been substituted Collision risk in the printed version which means that you can scan the code with your smart phone and it will direct you to the featured at sea company or organisation micropage held within our website, so that you can learn much more in all sorts of formats. TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH Community Engagement uses computer models and A number of leading experts comment on These have already become very popular simulations to determine and the importance of community engagement as it links the printed magazine in a very assess the potential risks of a in the energy sector within our feature. interactive way – a great marketing tool for collision for people, ships, turbines our decision making readership to find out and the environment. There appears to be a continued focus about products and services following the from both politicians and the business reading of an interesting article. We feature their important work within press on the industry. Recently however the lead industry article in this edition this focus has become more intense and on pages 4 & 5 and further information reached a more mainstream audience, as is available online through their coverage increases. micropage link. This scrutiny will undoubtedly increase Energi Coast interest in projects at both a national Our ‘Spotlight on…’ feature focuses on and local community level in future and Energi Coast, one of the many regional therefore Community Engagement will organisations which have evolved to become even more important in the future. serve the needs of the industry. Features – get involved Energi Coast is the representative The magazine continues to grow and it group for the North East of England’s is now commonplace to see separate offshore renewables sector; promoting features on all sorts of areas within the the extensive offshore renewable industry. These features emanate from energy sector expertise from the region our discussions with leading experts in the and North East England’s unique industry during our visits to conferences offering to the industry. and events, as well as our editorial team bringing up subject areas when looking at The leading offshore renewables supply the industry as a whole. chain companies in North East England Duncan McGilvray have been brought together by NOF Please feel free to contact us if there is Editor | Wind Energy Network Energy to form the group. any subject area which you think may be of interest to our readership and we will www.windenergynetwork.co.uk do the rest – there is never any charge for genuine editorial. Click to view more info

You will find our ‘Forthcoming Features’ tab on our website in the magazine Scan/click this link to find out how section online. Those planned for the next to get involved in this magazine issue are detailed on our events and whats new pages. See page 19.

www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 01 WIND ENERGY NETWORK CONTENTS

CONTENTS Page 62 Gulf Marine Services’ global expansion programme Page 64 Legal Eagles – our regular law feature opening with Page 4 Industry Lead Article – TÜV SÜD Industrie Service advice from Andrew Jackson Solicitors GmbH on Collision risk at sea Page 70 Money Matters – our now regular finance feature Page 6 your Industry News section starts here Problem? Solved! – introduced in our last edition and now a regular feature Page 10 ecology – we continue our regular feature with a focus on surveying for bats Page 74 Innovation feature Page 16 ‘All in a Day’s Work’ for Neil Collier – Offshore Page 80 Business Development – regular advice from our team equipment Manager at Reef Subsea Integrated of experts Projects Page 82 offshore Support Services – companies offering Page 18 your regular events calendar and what’s new supply chain specifics Page 20 navigation & Radar feature Page 90 Quo Vadis conference held this year in Berlin Page 27 skills Gap – updates on our long term initiative Page 92 Cable Protection feature which opens with an interview with Subsea Energy Solutions’ Sales Page 30 ‘Out and About’ feature – a visit to Bosch UK’s new Director, Philip Stanyon National state-of-the-art facility in Wakefield Page 98 ‘Let’s Torque About it’ – and interview with Dave Moss Page 32 Community Engagement – some very interesting & James Clegg from DB Wind UK formerly David initiatives from around the UK Brown Gears Page 36 spotlight on the Energi Coast, a group of supply chain Page 102 Lubricants – our experts continue to give sound companies in the North East of England Research advice Page 56 a Home from Home – The Imperial Hotel in GT The cover image was supplied by Page 106 Bureau Veritas on O&M Strategies yarmouth, serving the Energy Industry Narec, longstanding sponsors of our Page 107 news on Fred. Olsen Renewables’ activities onshore Research & Development feature, Page 58 research & Development – continuing information on Energy situated in Port of Blyth. innovation and development within this exciting and Page 108 ‘Distributed Wind’ feature – continuing our regular fast moving industry feature headed by ICE Renewables Narec is the UK centre for renewable energy and low carbon technologies which develops prototypes, tests Centre renewable devices to international standards and is involved in installing low carbon technologies

We are planning to focus on Port of Blyth in our ‘Spotlight on…’ series in the February/March edition.

p30 p49 p83 Regular/one off features Amongst some 12 features within this edition we also focus on Energi Coast, Community Engagement, Money Matters and Offshore Support, to name but a few.

Green Energy Publishing Ltd (Northern) The Oaks, Oakwood Park Duncan McGilvray Business Centre, Bishop Thornton, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 3BF Editor | Wind Energy Network Green Energy Publishing Ltd (SOUTHERN) OrbisEnergy, Wilde Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 1XH

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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.

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planned offshore wind turbine. Collision- Does the model adequately The offshore wind industry has shown a 1a friendly design is proved if the calculations reflect reality? tendency to adopt this approach, i.e. the demonstrate that an individual wind turbine Given this, the BSH does not require ships modelled in calculations so far have Collision risk is ‘weaker’ than the reference ship, i.e. that collision analysis to supply exact been more ‘fragile’ than they are in reality. the turbine would fail first in the case of a quantification of the extent of damage, but However, as the standard does not define collision. In concrete terms this means that to give qualitative answers to the following comprehensive requirements as to which at sea the hull of a ship (or, in the case of double- questions: (1) what will fail first, the ship parameters must be taken into account hull ships, the inner hull) will not tear. or the turbine, and (2) will the possible and how; the various scenarios cannot be damage caused by compared to each other. Sea-going vessel 2 a collision be minor, Given this, we do not know the extent to moderate, major or which the individual models actually reflect versus wind turbine catastrophic? reality. This shows that – in the medium Of course the term – the development of standardised Wind turbines off the German coast initial findings that assumptions on models and procedures is necessary and generally represent obstacles in can be used in future which a collision that all stakeholders should work together the traffic routes of ships. What if projects, many 1b scenario is based to develop a safety-focused strategy. a large sea-going vessel, unable aspects indicate and which are to manoeuvre, were to impact an that the methods included in the Binding standards offshore wind turbine? established today calculation models Within the framework of a harmonisation are not fully suitable significantly influence process, stakeholders would benefit Computer models and for identifying and the analysis results considerably from binding standards and simulations specifically assessing and their informative directives in terms of safety, sustainability The analyses used to determine and all hazards and risks value. These are: and not least profitability. assess the potential risks of a collision involved. Which type of ship is for people, ships, turbines and the selected as reference environment are currently based on ‘Intentional’ ship? At what speed computer models and simulations. collisions will the vessel hit However, these models do not adequately The same also the turbine? While consider important aspects – such as applies in particular the BSH defines routine landing operations by service boats. to the recurrent 1c the key parameters, Do we have to alter the course of collision ‘intentional’ collisions, experts are given analysis? when a moving plenty of leeway in service boat first the preparation of Guaranteeing safety makes contact with the finite-element As the authority in charge of the approval of the fixed, but flexible models (FE models) German offshore wind farms, the Maritime offshore structure. that are needed for and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für The coincidence the analysis and the Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) must of only one boat- simulations. ensure that Germany can guarantee the landing position and safety of international maritime transport at unfavourable wave Conservative Björn Kramer all times. To do so, the distance between a direction generates assumptions for TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH wind farm and any shipping routes must be the biggest risk of simplification at least 4.5 kilometres. higher impact loads. 2 - Collision Ship vs Monopile Simplifying the very Click to view more info complex models In addition, the authority requires evidence of The ongoing landing and analyses by the collision-friendly design of wind-turbine operation of the 3 using assumptions foundations for each offshore wind project. service boat, where suggests itself and Given this, as part of the approval process, the pilot maintains is acceptable and the project owners must go through the forward thrust – even expedient, provided worst-case scenario and simulate events, in high stern waves the experts use i.e. a ship hitting an offshore wind turbine or – to keep the ship 1a - Tanker FE model middle cargo holds conservative data Ed’s Note a transformer platform. in contact with the 1b - Tanker FE model double hull and transv bulkhea and values. When This is an abridged version – please boat landing platform 1c - Tanker FE model fore cargo hold this is done, the view the full article through the QR Breaking new technological do not typically results are always on Code below or link online including… ground at high sea apply higher loads. the safe side because However, the required simulations Today’s methods of static analysis work maintenance operations are ensured on a a wind turbine that • Further aspects at a glance and analyses confront the wind power with estimated figures for a single static long-term basis, while the risks in the case fails in a collision with • The reference ship industry with numerous challenges as equivalent load (= Ultimate Limit State). of a collision are kept to a minimum. a ‘weaker’ reference • Where does the ship hull hit the they are largely based on pioneering work The results of these calculations cannot be ship in the calculation turbine or platform? and there is no long-standing practical absolutely exact and, even worse, cannot At present, the BSH only requires the model will definitely • What forces are developed by the and operational experience to fall back be used for structural stability of the wind- usual structural analysis plus a calculation fail in a collision with displaced water mass? on. So far, the offshore sector is still turbine foundation and the components of of the consequences in the case of a a ship that is more • Will the nacelle stay in position? lacking an adequate range of clear and the boat landing platform in the long term collision. Both the calculation model and robust in reality. • Are operating loads relevant? straightforward frameworks and standards. (Fatigue Limit States). The question now the analysis are based on a reference ship • Loads caused by service boats While some of the pilot projects that have is whether wind turbines are designed in representative of the sea area in question • Accepting challenges been realised off the coast are delivering such a manner that safe servicing and and on the foundation structure of the 3 - Collision Ships vs MP results plastic strain after 7.4sec

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... and also appoints new CEO Thorsten Kramer is the new top He succeeds 20 years experience executive at the world´s largest Hans Joern GES has been active in renewables for more construction and services company Rieks, who has than 20 years, providing construction of It’s all in renewables. been the top wind and solar plants, installation of turbines executive on and O&M services. Main customers are Challenges and opportunities an interim basis turbine manufacturers, energy companies With 17-years experience holding during 2013. and financial investors worldwide. management positions in global “I thank Hans companies, Thorsten Kramer has been Joern for his Exciting future about appointed top executive by the company’s commitment “I am proud and excited to join the #1 board with the goal to expand international and contribution service company in renewables.” says operations and lead the organisation to GES during Mr. Kramer, “Our industry is undergoing through the upcoming challenges and this phase,” unprecedented changes: from market opportunities. remarks regulations to risk sharing along the Chairman Peter value chain to outsourcing strategies by Leading positions Grosch, “but now it is time to look ahead customers. Through teamwork, efficiency YOU! The new CEO has held leading positions in and Thorsten’s deep understanding of and quality, GES will make the best use of turbine manufacturer Nordex for more than our industry, including sales and services the new opportunities that are arising.” 7 years, where he has been CEO of Nordex in this global market will prove invaluable Energy and Head of the Europe region. for GES.” Global Energy Services

Global Energy Services (GES) installs Gamesa’s offshore prototype

The turbine is in the Arinaga Quay in the Canary Islands

As part of its offshore strategy, Gamesa has recently developed its first offshore prototype. GES has provided services for the installation and commission of the wind turbine for Gamesa, the Spanish manufacturer.

Specification & logistics The G128-5.0 turbine has been assembled in the Arigana Quay. The different components of the 5 MW were produced in Spain and shipped to the Canary Islands. The 62.5 metre rotor blades are the largest ever produced and transported in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

Expertise GES has an unmatched track record in turbine installation projects which include offshore wind operations. This project reinforces the company’s expertise as an offshore service provider.

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and will lead a team of engineers and AMBS is a sensor or module within the Kongsberg scientists responsible for delivering services Kongsberg Integrated Environmental including underwater acoustic studies and Monitoring System, which is currently being Minister to open new Construction Hall Maritime Ltd scour monitoring. developed in partnership with Statoil, IBM and DNV. in Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone strengthens Exciting future renewables Mr Baldwin says, “It is exciting to be joining AMBS carries out acoustic monitoring of Economy Minister Edwina Welsh Government support Multi-purpose vessels Kongsberg Maritime at a time when the a proposed development site, providing Hart recently opened the new The completion of the construction hall Currently in build at the new Mustang services with key company is making a strong advance into baseline figures as to noise levels prior to construction hall for Mustang marks the end of the second and most Marine is the first in class of a range of the renewables market. We have built any work taking place. Marine (Wales) Ltd at Pembroke ambitious part of the phased development. multi-purpose vessels the SMV24 by appointment up a huge level of expertise over many Mustang Marine was awarded Skills Supacat. In build also is an Enforcer 40, a years with clients in the offshore sector, Specialist team Port as part of the planned Growth Wales funding of £100,000 from highspeed interceptor boat for police and Mark Baldwin will grow clients in but renewables offers an opportunity for Kongsberg Maritime’s specialist team is expansion for the Company. the Welsh Government in February this year custom services, in collaboration with sector through role as Business serving a wider and growing client base. also able to give an assessment of any likely to train more than 100 employees. They Cougar Marine, a Nelson 48/50 for ABP Development Manager. impact that any subsequent construction Growing industry demand have also received support from the Welsh Humber Estuary Services, and a new “The global offshore renewables energy or operational noise would have on marine The new £1.5million boat building Government’s Business Rates Scheme river trip passenger boat for Thames River Marine technology company Kongsberg sector is experiencing a period of life. Kongsberg Maritime has also recently construction hall, is the first major offered to businesses in Wales’ seven Services Ltd. In addition they have a range Maritime Ltd has appointed Mark Baldwin unprecedented growth, and I believe developed a new innovative sonar for scour investment in the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zones. of planned maintenance and service work to the post of Business Development monitoring of structures with Enterprise Zone. The hall has been built currently in progress across the Pembroke Manager as part of its drive to strengthen its underwater foundations, such in response to growing demand for Mrs Hart said: “I am very pleased to Dock and Milford Haven sites. service offering for the offshore renewables as bridges and wind turbines. workboats, pilot boats, wind farm support open this new facility which represents a sector. He will be responsible for developing The new Dual Axis sonar is vessels and passenger vessels from around major step forward in Mustang Marine’s Centre of excellence the company’s portfolio of environmental used to assess the impact that the world. This expansion has doubled the expansion plans. It is encouraging to see “This is an exciting day for Pembroke Port monitoring capabilities for offshore scour has on the integrity of size of workboats construction operations a local company doing so well and taking and a great way to celebrate its upcoming windfarms and tidal energy projects. structures, and gives an early at the Pembroke Dock facility, and will advantage of the support available to them 200th anniversary. We are very proud to warning on the likelihood of ultimately create jobs at Mustang Marine. in the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone.” be partners with a business like Mustang potential damage or loss of Marine and the skills they employ, integrity. “This marks the next step in the planned “The support we have provided coupled with these excellent facilities, are growth of Mustang Marine and it is a demonstrates our commitment to helping bringing more jobs and prosperity to the chance for us to thank our investors, Welsh business to grow and creating high area. This is our chief aim as a Trust Port suppliers and employees for all the hard quality jobs.” with a responsibility to invest to promote work they do.” commented Kevin Lewis, growth in the local economy. Managing Director for Mustang Marine. “There’s great potential now to build on to this centre of excellence in marine fabrication and shipbuilding, particularly by focusing on opportunities around the coastal renewable energy sector for which there is huge potential for we are perfectly located.” commented Kongsberg Maritime Ltd Alec Don, Chief Executive Port of Milford to utilise its knowledge Haven. and product portfolio to support clients as Mustang Marine they move forward in developing this industry and the challenges that it creates.” Mike Baldwin With over 100 offices globally, Kongsberg Maritime is well positioned to support a renewables Mr Baldwin adds, “We believe there is a project anywhere in the significant market for scour monitoring world. activity within the offshore renewables sector, however we are also now working Acoustic Monitoring with clients that are not in Kongsberg Buoy System (AMBS) Maritime’s traditional markets, such as civil The company is currently engineers, local authorities and highways a leading provider of agencies to provide monitoring services.” Experience underwater acoustic monitoring systems Mr Baldwin has joined the company – and has experienced an increase in Kongsberg Maritime the UK-based subsidiary of Kongsberg demand for its AMBS, which clients in Maritime – from Kongsberg Oil and Gas renewables, shipping and oil & gas sectors Technologies, where he spent five years can utilise to assist in the production of Click to view more info as Sales Manager. He will oversee the environmental impact assessments for company’s operations in Southampton, offshore developments. = Click to view video

08 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 09 Ecology - Surveying for bats feature sponsor feature sponsor Ecology - Surveying for bats

Case study Royal HaskoningDHV, working on behalf of DONG energy for the onshore element of a wind farm development in Walney, Cumbria has implemented the principles of these best practice survey guidelines to inform the ecological impact assessment and in turn provide a well informed and robust methodology to aid the planning inspectorate’s decision making process for this development.

This involved…

• Undertaking a specific desk study for obtaining records of bats (both roosting and activity records) within the proposed working areas Ecology • Undertaking detailed daytime inspection surveys to note features and areas of interest within the surveying for bats proposed working areas • Undertaking monthly bat activity transect surveys of the proposed We continue our ecology feature and turn our attention working areas to surveying for bats, commencing with sound advice No potential bat roosting sites were noted from our regular contributors Royal HaskoningDHV within the proposed working areas. Monitoring Please have a look at our forthcoming features on the magazine tab within our website or listed on page 19 of this Hedgerows were noted to be a dominant magazine. We are covering a different ecology feature in each over the next year. Feel free to suggest more. feature within the local landscape and were subsequently assessed as having value to foraging and commuting bats. Using ecological professional Methods, guidelines and best Best practice judgment, monitoring of bat activity practice More recently in 2012, specific best within the proposed working areas was Summary – continuous Onshore wind farm developments can practice survey guidelines for bats (Bat recommended. observation and assessments have potential negative impacts on bat Conservation Trust, 2nd Edition, 2012) Potential impacts of wind farm populations. were developed. This guidance was This involved undertaking monthly bat developments on bat populations are produced in consultation with a range activity transects surveys, particularly at still being understood, despite increasing Such potential impacts, which require of stakeholders and is now the adopted specific locations where risks to bats were amounts of research and evidence being consideration include… ‘standard guidance’ for pre-construction thought to be of highest concern. The obtained. surveys for single large wind turbine findings of the monthly transect revealed • Direct collision of individual bats with developments. that the proposed working areas supported Therefore it is imperative that surveys and blades a low number of bats using the hedgerows subsequently assessments in respect of • Damage to bat tissues caused by a and ditches within the site. bats are undertaken in accordance with difference in pressure (barotrauma) best practice survey guidelines to ensure • Habitat loss and/or fragmentation as a transparent, well informed and robust result of onshore wind farm assessments to inform the decision makers developments for such developments.

Advice and standard guidance Royal HaskoningDHV Consequently these impacts have driven the need for advice and standard guidance Click to view more info sheets to be developed. Interim guidance and technical information notes were initially developed by both Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage in 2008 and 2009.

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to five days and programmed to record Exact flightlines The importance of preliminary bat calls each night. The data can then be Mobile marine radar systems Radar offers the ability to detect exact analysed using suitable software, allowing flightlines (see figure 2), and is able to assessments and scientifically identification of calls to species level, a vital The National Wildlife Management monitor movements of several individuals robust surveys aspect of the assessment. at any one time. Radar can be combined Centre (NWMC) at the Animal Health with acoustic surveys in order to provide an A preliminary assessment of the habitat at a development site is crucial to The SM2s are placed in areas of suitable indication of the species present. establish the breadth and type of surveys required for bats as they use habitat in habitat close to the proposed turbine and Veterinary Laboratories Agency a variety of ways, and this knowledge has to form part of any scientifically robust locations, and can be paired up in certain survey. circumstances to assess how bats are uses mobile marine radar systems, using the habitat around the turbines. Protection Initially, data trawls are gathered of any equipped with specialist software, Bats are protected by law from any known roosts or recent survey data. These two primary methods can be to monitor the movements of birds reckless or deliberate damage or Surveys can then be designed based on augmented by a variety of other methods disturbance, to their roosts, as well as the importance of the area to bats, be it such as vantage point and ‘at height’ and bats. killing or injury to individuals. Evidence high, medium or low. For example, a site surveys if necessary. from North America and Europe suggests with a mosaic of suitable habitat types and They use X-band radar to detect bat movements, with bird and insect targets filtered out that interaction with rotor blades has killed previous evidence of bat presence can be Proper assessment of the raw radar data and used an x-band radar in a vertical plain to monitor altitudinal bats, particularly where turbines have been regarded as being of high importance. In this way, proper assessment can be distribution of bats (see figure 1). inappropriately sited. Therefore, despite made of the potential impact on bats in the the lack of data for such incidents in the Risks vicinity of any proposed development and, UK, it is essential that the correct level of Noctule bats are known to fly early in the if necessary, suitable mitigation designed assessment be applied. evening and at significant height, often over and implemented.

Figures 2 & 3 – Individual bat flightlines.

NWMC operates two mobile radar systems and will be carrying out further work in 2014 developing new methods in radar bat Figure 1 – Spatial distribution of bat targets. monitoring, allowing further insights into spatial distributions and movements of bats This work looked at two areas adjacent to Noctule Nyctalus noctula maternity roosts. around wind farms. Bats were detected up to a height of 800 metres. Data showed trends in use of the sites surrounding the maternity roosts, for instance, time of first emergence and peak usage of The National Wildlife Management airspace surrounding a roost site. Centre (NWMC)

Bat surveys good practice open ground; this may well put them at Is this approach correct? guidelines greater risk of collision with turbines. Other The question that remains is: Is this The bat ecologist’s gospel is the Bat species can be attracted to linear features approach correct? Surveys Good Practice Guidelines, 2nd such as hedgerows, as well as water edition. Updated in 2012 by the Bat bodies and buildings. In any case, turbines Post construction monitoring must form Conservation Trust, it now includes a cannot be placed within fifty metres of a part of the overall ecological impact chapter on surveying proposed onshore linear feature. assessment so that data on wind turbine wind turbine schemes. The chapter builds impacts on bats will grow and continue to on current recommendations outlined by Detection inform future developments. EUROBATS. Natural England is responsible In each month that bats are regarded for interpreting this guidance in a UK to be most active (April – October), both Richard Hall context, supported by Countryside Council automated and transect surveys (using Senior Ecologist for Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage. handheld detectors) should be carried out. Baker Consultants Baker Consultants has pioneered the use of the Song Meter 2 (SM2) automated detector, which can be left in situ for up

12 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 13 Ecology - Surveying for bats feature sponsor feature sponsor Ecology - Surveying for bats

Best advice This is the view of Atmos Consulting Ecologist Amelia Hodnett, “Wind developers will almost certainly have Current Bat to consider the potential effects on bat populations, but with the right information these need not be a major constraint, or Conservation involve a heavy cost.” Amelia continued, “Our SPIDA application is a highly visual front end that we have specifically developed for our GIS (Geographical Information System). This Trust gives our clients a clear and instantly comprehensible picture of populations and behaviour that is far more useful than a series of tables and charts; and allows survey guidelines us to give the best advice on site design and mitigation.” Current Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) Best practice survey guidelines may not, strictly Adherence to BCT survey guidelines speaking, have statutory force, but demonstrates best practice that benefits they are the de facto rules. It is these developers in a number of ways… guidelines that Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural • It provides the assurance that the Resources Wales, and the Northern survey effort is proportionate to the Ireland Department of Environment risks to local bat populations, enabling agencies will refer to when advising on accurate predictions of survey costs to a planning application. build into project programmes

Adhering to the survey guidelines should • Developers can be confident that the also ensure that developers and their data collected will be sufficient to allow consultants have the information they need a robust assessment on potential to minimise the impact on bat populations. impacts to be undertaken Typically, for wind developers, this involves considering where to place turbines to • a robust data set about the use of a avoid roosts and ‘flight paths’ between site by local bat populations can lead to roosts and feeding/foraging hedgerows. proportionate and cost-effective Another approach to mitigation, which mitigation strategies to be developed can be detailed in planning applications, that meet the requirements of planning is curtailment - where a development decision makers and comply with local The consultancy also has experience proceeds as planned but operations are and national planning policies in assessing potential impacts on bats curtailed at certain times when bats are from the very early stages of a scheme more active, for example the hours just through to planning submission, as well as after sunset or before sunrise, or when providing expert witness advice at planning wind speeds drop below a specified level. inquiries.

Atmos Consulting

Click to view more info

14 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 15 ALL IN A DAY’S WORK ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Seabed surveys Organisation & Planning Many projects require seabed surveys. Neil’s role upon commencement of a Imperative when planning installations project is to organise the team, equipment subsea, likened to a lunar landscape there and oversee the constant maintenance of ROV Shift are hazards to overcome. Neil goes on to all RSIP’s offshore equipment (of which he Due to short daylight hours in Norway, mention that at Ormen Lange, the seabed adds is so much more efficient with the shifts are 12 hours (6am – 6pm). First port is very strange. During the ice age a huge advent of the computer). of call is to check in at the ROV shack for a chunk of Norway broke off and fell into the handover. Connected by an umbilical to a The ROV also provides sonar allowing sea, known as the Storegga slide, leaving All in Such upcoming projects for RSIP includes winch onboard the ship, the ROV pinpoints clarity up to 200m which is as good a huge underwater mountainous range – the mobilisation of the 750kW Q1000 jet its location on a navigation screen. Precise as a video. Video with date, time and large blips on the sonar with that one! trencher for subsea trenching work on positioning of the vessel is calculated via positional information overlaid is constantly Bøyla with Technip in the early part of 2014, satellites (within centimetres). recorded on hard drives and is known Other high technology, such as multi- as well the start of the Grane permanent as the Black Box beam echo sonars, assist in surveying reservoir monitoring (PRM) project, where (similar to aircraft). the seabed. These in simplistic terms a Day’s RSIP will provide the installation and burial Upon completion of are 60 ‘fingers’ of narrow beams which of seismic array cables at the Grane site a project the DVD illustrate/profile the seabed and illustrate the Company expertise offshore Norway for client Statoil. Neil’s recording, together topography. Fibre Optic Gyros (FOGs) are As a global leader in providing specialist team is also responsible for the equipment with a written log used to calculate the altitude and heading subsea services to the offshore renewable support on the ongoing Gwynt y Môr is presented to the of the ROV. Work and oil and gas industries, Reef Subsea Offshore Wind Farm project, which will see client and includes Integrated Projects’ scope of expertise RSIP install inter-array cables in field 13km cable laying detail Taxis! ranges from subsea construction, off the North Wales coast. e.g. time/date/depth ROV’s are configured to be ‘taxis’ to take trenching of cables/umbilicals, inspection, etc. and operate tools and sensors to the Name maintenance and repair (IMR) and ROV/ The very nature of the beast working depths. Neil Collier survey services. I was fortunate to catch subsea presents numerous challenges and That shrinking up with Neil Collier, Offshore Equipment each project demands precision planning. feeling! All the data collected is date and time Company Manager to find out more about his role Neil was involved in the cable burial and All of RSIP’s ROVs stamped then transmitted to the surface Reef Subsea Integrated Projects within this specialist industry. laying of gas pipelines from Norway have the capability using Fibre Optics. However, latest (RSIP) to Holland, which brought up its own of reaching 3000m, developments are to reduce the subsea The Yorkshire connection challenges. ambient pressure processing and do all this on the surface – Occupation Having lived in Norway for the past 15 years, increases by one Bar the technology is ever-evolving. Offshore Equipment Manager I was surprised to hear Neil’s dulcet tones Needing to avoid damaging existing per metre of depth. were still loyal to Yorkshire (haling from pipelines and cables on the seabed, it was The phenomenal It was a delight to speak to Neil, his Habitat Sheffield) which goes hand-in-hand with an necessary to build a bridge across them A sonar from the vessel to the ROV returns pressure at such depths is illustrated by modesty, dedication and enthusiasm is Bergen, Norway imitable sense of humour! - Imperative to by placing concrete mattresses, creating a ping, thus mathematically measuring installing a polystyrene cup in the ROV. infectious! counterbalance the huge responsibility he a ramp, known as ‘building a crossing’. the angle, the amount of time i.e. speed Having reached just 2000m and returning has in maintaining all the equipment. Cables are tested when on the vessel of sound in water (measured constantly) to the surface, the cup had shrunk to the Fliss Chaffer as well as when laying, establishing any to pinpoint their exact location subsea. A size of a thimble! Quite a thought! Interviewer No stranger to offshore life, Neil worked foreseen problems prior to laying. pipeline/structure may be pinpointed by Wind Energy Network for many years for Fugro, prior to being sonar on the ROV and can therefore be At such depths visibility can be very poor, in the military. He undertook a short stint avoided. with the seabed being disturbed by cable Click to view more info onshore, but missed the offshore life so he laying or even by fish. In fact Neil goes returned and joined Reef Subsea. Flying the ROV on to say fish create quite a challenge, Pilots ‘fly’ the ROV by sitting on a cyber- predominantly bottom-feeders like cod. = Click to view video chair on the vessel, which comprises a joy stick on the arm, feet up in front, and a wall with huge monitors, The vehicles have 360 degrees visibility with cameras built into the arms, on top and below, which tilt up and down.

16 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 17 WHAT’S NEW WHAT’S NEW

Forthcoming features Events and what’s new next edition FEB/MAR 2014 We continue to feature some of the most important events in the calendar, so that you can, at a glance, consider which events to support. A more detailed Issue 21 (editorial deadline 5th January 2014) listing is available online. • Planning Issues Sponsored by Pegasus Planning Scottish Renewables Offshore Wind & Supply EWEA – Annual Event 2014 Chain Conference, Exhibition & Dinner When 10 – 13 March • Legal Eagles When 28 – 29 Jan 2014 Where Barcelona, Spain Where Aberdeen CONTACT www.ewea.org sponsored by Andrew Jackson CONTACT www.scottishrenewables.com Scottish Renewables Annual Conference 2014 • Spotlight on Stoke-on-Trent & Winterwind 2014 When 18 – 19 March Staffordshire When February 11 – 12 Where Edinburgh, UK Sponsored by Make it Stoke-on-Trent & Where Sundsvall, Sweden CONTACT www.scottishrenewables.com CONTACT www.winterwind.se Staffordshire IWEA Annual Conference 2014 Wind Energy Asia 2014 When 27 – 28 March • Problem? – Solved! When 19 – 21 February Where Dublin, Ireland - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Where Jeju, Korea CONTACT www.iwea.com CONTACT www.gwec.net/wind-energy-asia-2014 NZ Wind Energy Conference & Exhibition 2014 • Oils and Lubricants Renewableuk Wave & tidal event When 14 – 16 April Sponsored by Hydac When 26 – 27 February Where Wellington, New Zealand Where Belfast, UK CONTACT www.windenergy.org.nz • Coatings & Corrosion Control CONTACT www.renewableuk.com AWEA Windpower Conference & Exhibition 2014 - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE EEEGR SNS 2014 When 5 – 8 May When 5 – 6 March Where Las Vegas, USA • Bolting & Fastenings Where Norwich, UK CONTACT www.awea.org Sponsored by James Walker Rotabolt CONTACT www.eeegr.com • Gears - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Supply Chain Register • Ecology: Mitigation for Birds Looking for a specialist service provider in the wind energy industry? - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Visit our extensive online Supply Chain Register where circa 1200 companies specific to the wind energy industry are listed. City Centre Hotel • Research & Development 190 Spacious contemporary bedrooms Sponsored by Narec 6 Meeting Rooms 2-30 delegates W www.windenergynetwork.co.uk Costa Coffee from 7am • Training: Working In Confined Spaces T 01765 644224 E [email protected] Wifi throughout hotel - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Early Checkin - Express Checkout To advertise your course in the next edition for only £100 contact [email protected] • Focus on Blyth Sponsored by ARCH – Northumberland Conference & Exhibition Development Company 5 - 6 March 2014 • Hydraulics - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Norfolk Showground, Norwich

Day 1 Platform for Innovation and exhibition Call for information: • Vibration Issues - SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE Day 2 SNS conference and exhibition 01493 446535

Book now for the UK’s leading conference and Don’t miss your chance • Distributed Wind (small to medium) exhibition devoted to the Southern North Sea energy to exhibit at this event: Sponsored by Ice Renewables business. www.eeegr.com/events Jurys Inn Belfast SEa of Fisherwick Place, Great Victoria Street oPPortuNIty SNS2013 was EEEGR’s biggest and best ever - SNS2014 will top it. Belfast BT2 7AP

 Leading speakers from the energy industry. Please contact us if you would like to  Outstanding networking opportunities.  High quality exhibition space. contribute to any of these features. 02890 533 500  Gala dinner with guest speaker. [email protected]

18 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 19 Navigation & Radar feature sponsor feature sponsor Navigation & Radar

changing the landscape for wind farm developers Detecting aircraft flying over wind turbines is a huge and growing problem – and one that current air traffic control radar benefits for wind farm systems are unable to solve. The inability of these systems to distinguish between flying aircraft and moving wind turbines developers means that air traffic controllers are often left with a patch of airspace above wind farms where they lose sight of aircraft, • The technology is scalable and has creating ‘no-go’ zones around airports which affect the safety and efficiency of airport operations. This has a knock on effect for no moving parts. It can be deployed wind farm developers as airports and other ATC radar sites can object to proposed wind farms, making it increasingly difficult at the airport or at the wind farm, for them to be built. onshore or offshore, meaning there are no range limitations Solution When built in the line of sight of air traffic Proven technology • There is no limit to the number, type However, radar technology is now available control radars, wind farms create a great The technology has now been or layout of wind turbines that can be that has the ability to solve this issue and deal of interference or ‘clutter’ that can independently proven to clearly distinguish mitigated to ensure that wind farms and the aviation adversely affect the air traffic controller’s between wind turbines and aircraft, • The 3D nature of Holographic industry can co-exist. British technology view of the surrounding airspace. To the air exceeding recommended targets set by radar (HR) means that data from one company Aveillant has developed traffic controller, the tips of wind turbines aviation authorities. Experts in air traffic HR installation can be fed to multiple 3D Holographic Radar that has been can appear like aircraft on the radar display control, Helios, conducted analysis of surveillance radars, a cost effective independently tested and proven to provide and the resulting radar returns can cause Aveillant’s 3D Holographic Radar in trial solution in situations where there are an effective solution to the problems. It not confusion between blade rotations and real operation at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. multiple aviation objections only distinguishes between wind turbines aircraft. These returns or ‘false plots’ caused The team found that the solution had a • The air traffic picture delivered by and flying aircraft, but improves general by the wind turbine can also generate the probability of detecting aircraft of greater 3D Holographic Radar over the wind farm visibility for air traffic control both inside and effect known as ‘track seduction’ on radar than 99% and a ‘false plot’ rate of less is clearer than the standard Primary outside the wind farm – paving the way screens. Track seduction is when the false than 2%. It also did not lose any aircraft surveillance Radar (PSR), meaning for safer air traffic management as well as plots generated by the wind turbine create tracks once detected. This greatly that the overall air picture for the airport development of more wind farms. a false track for an aircraft. The turbines exceeds the CAA and Eurocontrol safety is improved can also create a radar ‘shadow’ behind the recommendations and was found to give air • Start-up costs are generally much lower Problems with air traffic wind farm, meaning that air traffic controllers traffic controllers a consistent and accurate than for a complete new radar at an control radar systems could miss aircraft over large areas of air view of the aircraft the entire time it is in the airport A typical air traffic control radar works like space. Overall, wind farms can create a vicinity of the wind farm and also its shadow. • 3D Holographic Radar is in line with a lighthouse, sweeping the surrounding large amount of uncertainty in the air traffic future CCA plans for surveillance radar environment every four seconds and picture and a solution is needed to benefit all 3D Holographic Radar and spectrum – it is fully future proofed providing an intermittent trail of an aircraft’s parties involved. technology taking off • Aveillant’s service model eliminates flight path. The radar systems in use today Following successful trials at Glasgow the issue of ‘who finances the new only provide range and bearing information Improving the picture for air Prestwick Airport, Aveillant is now in radar’. Instead developers pay only for about the location of an aircraft (or more traffic control talks with many airports and wind farm the MW to be mitigated accurately a radar ‘return’) and not its The 3D Holographic Radar technology developers and is currently in the process • Holographic Radar solves the radar altitude, meaning it cannot distinguish offers a major advance in surveillance of obtaining a full Safety Case which will clutter problem at source, so it is rapid between moving turbines and aircraft. radar. As opposed to ‘sweeping’ around be assessed by the CAA. It has come a to install and integrate, meaning These problems are compounded by the every four seconds, it uses flat panel, long way since Cambridge Consultants reduced project risk. issue of additional ‘clutter’, which can be phased array technology that identifies first began working on radar in 1980, when caused by a range of objects including and differentiates every moving object’s the initial focus was on short range radar Aveillant buildings, clouds, moving vehicles and terrain. signature by constantly measuring all the systems specifically designed to provide detailed characteristics of every individual maximum information on targets in a volume Click to view radar return, providing a continuous and of interest. Aveillant was spun off from the more info clear view of airspace. Not only does 3D business in October 2011 and since then Holographic Radar remove the turbine 3D Holographic Radar Technology has been clutter from the display, but it increases the trialled and tested to great success. Having detection probability of aircraft both inside gained industry approval and independent and outside the wind farm environment, verification, 3D Holographic Radar increasing air traffic safety as a whole. Technology is now set to revolutionise the renewable energy industry– and improve air traffic control and aviation safety in general.

20 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 21 Navigation & Radar feature sponsor feature sponsor Navigation & Radar

High visibility towers In addition to the buoys – Jet 9000QI with Impact of wind turbines on radar Making the high visibility towers consisting of two East, two West and one South Cardinal – Vega Turbines have the potential to affect radar and navigation Technical differences new Humber VLB-36 stand alone LED lights were also The rental service was introduced to systems because they interact with electromagnetic Meteorological radar networks monitor and predict weather purchased from Hydrosphere. accommodate companies needing lights signals. This can impair the effectiveness of the system by patterns. There are numerous technical differences between Offshore and buoys for short term projects and altering the desired interaction of the signal with its target radar types according to their function. However, the basic The Hydrosphere system has proven popular with the company’s (in the same way walkie-talkies are ineffective if a building operational principle is common to all types. Electromagnetic The system incorporates iridium monitoring wind farm customers including SCIRA, the is in between them). pulses are emitted by the radar itself, these propagate through windfarm on each buoy, developed by Hydrosphere developer of Sheringham Shoal Offshore the atmosphere where they interact with the target of interest to provide peace of mind for windfarm Wind Farm. Earlier in the summer the Concerns (e.g. aircraft, ships, or raindrops). Pulses that return to the radar safer operators. company extended its rental of eight JET When wind farms are proposed, they can present a risk to following this interaction tell the radar operator something about 9000 Q HV navigation buoys used to mark radar and navigation systems in their vicinity. This often leads to the target (e.g. its proximity, velocity or direction of travel). Hydrosphere has been chosen to The system provides operators with the the site. objections from stakeholders such as airports, the Ministry of supply lights and buoys for the new ability to check buoys have not drifted, the Defence and the Met Office. Concerns over safety risks can delay Other Navigation Systems Humber Offshore windfarm. light is working and the power system is Bespoke contracts projects at various stages within the planning system. There are other types of navigation systems that rely on operating correctly. The buoys have been “Contractors often need temporary electromagnetic signals to communicate information about a Developed by E.ON, construction has deployed in water varying between 25m to navigation aids for short-term, project target. These include Instrument Landing Systems at airports, begun at the 24.8 sq km site off the coast 30m deep with moorings – chains, swivels based deployments, marking sites navigation beacons and radio communication stations. of East Riding, with the windfarm due to and shackles. while construction is underway. We’ve come on-stream in 2015. designed our rental service to be as Avoiding Issues Deployment flexible as possible for our customers with In order to avoid issues, it is important that the potentially affected Location The rental buoys were initially deployed by a minimum rental contract of just three radar and navigation infrastructure is identified. Early consultation The easterly and southerly boundaries Briggs Marine with Trinity House using THV months.” with the relevant stakeholders combined with reliable modelling to the 73 turbine site which will produce Galatea removing the rental buoys and of the issues is the best way to avoid issues or identify mitigation 219MW in capacity are bounded by the deploying the permanent buoys. Cost-effective solution requirements and stop wind projects being derailed by these shipping channels leaving the Humber Hydrosphere also supplied a basic set of Manufactured by Mobilis, the JET 9000 impacts. estuary. The northern boundary runs spares. buoys provide a robust and cost-effective parallel to existing pipelines running into solution for offshore and deepwater Pager Power Easington. applications, especially where high visibility is a must. As with all Mobilis buoys in the Flexibility JET range, they are constructed from UV The flexibility of Hydrosphere’s service was stabilised polyethylene components to fully utilised with five buoys initially rented withstand harsh sea conditions with colour while five bespoke buoys were being built. retained within IALA guidelines for more “Our rental facility provided a great short than 15 years. term solution for E.ON,” said Hydrosphere MD, John Caskey. “According to the Hydrosphere wind farm consent, buoys needed to be onsite for four weeks before vessels were allowed to start work.”

Importance of radar Radar systems are used for navigation purposes across a wide range of industries worldwide. Radar is most commonly associated with aviation, where it plays a crucial role in detecting and managing aircraft movements. However, radar is also important for marine operations, where it is utilised for navigation and collision avoidance.

22 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 23 Navigation & Radar feature sponsor feature sponsor Navigation & Radar

Aviation Guidance from The UK assistance to planning authorities when assessing whether aviation arguments are warning technology Civil Aviation Authority considered, supportable and reasonable, in order to facilitate a fair process. “...the aviation community must for offshore met masts engage positively in the process of In the medium to long term, within the We strongly encourage early engagement developing solutions to potential context of the Government’s intention to by all parties to enable understanding and conflicts of interest between wind release surplus public sector spectrum, assessment of the issues and mitigation Tideland Signal, the international specialist in aids to navigation, has launched a Standard features include side-lobe energy and aviation operations.... the CAA is assessing the feasibility of techniques. Our ultimate aim is to promote comprehensive integrated package of warning systems specifically designed to suppression, proportional scaling and Those involved in addressing wind emerging technologies to meet the safety a positive influence with regards to wind mark meteorological masts in offshore windfarms. normal traffic power consumption of only energy and aviation issues must do so and operational requirements of a future energy and aviation being able to co-exist 0.75W, with a heavy traffic maximum of in a positive, co-operative and informed surveillance environment. A key element rather than conflict. Complete package Nova-250 which projects a 360 degree, only 1.06W. The Tideland design also manner.” (from the CAA’s published of this work is to identify the feasibility of The complete package includes both aids high-intensity horizontal beam over a range offers a high sensitivity of -50dBm in both guidance) delivering a strategic solution to the impact Aviation effects to navigation (AtoN) to warn shipping in the of more than 15 NM at a transmissivity X-and S-Band, meaning that the units will The development of sites for wind turbines vicinity and also aircraft obstruction lights factor of 0.74. respond better to weaker interrogation from have the potential to cause a variety of (AOL), all compliant with the relevant IALA lower-power radars –or to radars at greater effects on aviation. These include (but are (International Association of Lighthouse The smaller Nova-65 may be used when distances/ranges. not limited to)… Authorities) and the UK’s DECC standards ranges below 10NM are specified. (Department of Energy & Climate Change). AOL elements • Physical obstructions Solar power operation The AOL elements of the package typically • the generation of unwanted returns on As the leading OEM in its field, Tideland Manufactured from a marine grade of include a medium intensity beacon Primary Surveillance Radar is also able to offer consultancy services, rugged, corrosion-resistant housing, these mounted at the top of the mast and low- • adverse affects on the overall commissioning, training and applications new lanterns combine low-maintenance, intensity red lights, as necessary for the performance of navigation engineering for specific user requirements. high reliability, advanced optics, power- height of the tower, with a control panel equipment turbulence. In addition, all equipment can be conditioning circuitry and high-intensity and photocell at the bottom. The GPS configured for solar power operation LEDs, making them highly suitable for solar antenna and Tideland’s type-approved Summary document using photovoltaic panels and batteries power operation. If required, an AtoN Informer series AIS AtoN (Type 1 or Type 3) The CAA have published a summary of engineered by Tideland’s subsidiary panel with back-up batteries and volt-free are also mounted at this level. The Informer the issues that planners and developers Tideland Power Systems. contacts for SCADA may also be included. unit broadcasts the position of the mast on should consider when assessing the impact which it is located and its status. of a proposed wind turbine development. This guidance is also designed to enable Maritime traffic aerodrome operators and Air Navigation Maritime traffic in the vicinity of the asset Service Providers to provide expert may also be monitored using the highly interpretation of what the impact will be flexible Tideland AIS Viewer, TSD, on to on their operations, and how it will affect which reporting lines and virtual exclusion the safety, efficiency and flexibility of zones can be easily configured. their specific operations. The document discusses the various mitigation measures As well as tracking all AIS fitted vessels, available, providing a descriptive overview this also features a high-capacity recording and an analysis of the different techniques. database using the Tideland NavTerm system allowing easy access for historical, Guidance updates revenue or security purposes. The CAA regularly update their advice to ensure it remains relevant and balanced General Marking for Offshore and contains the latest information and Wind Farms most accessible explanations with regards With successful installations around the to the effects and mitigation techniques. UK, Tideland Signal also has proven Balanced approach of wind turbines on radar systems, thereby The aim is to ensure a positive approach equipment and systems for the compliant The CAA tries to promote a balanced reducing the obstacles to wind turbine to mitigation and the ability to overcome marking of the offshore sub-station and approach to wind energy to enable the UK planning. aviation issues. This includes new the complete wind farm – in accordance to meet Government renewable energy information on the next generation offshore with international and national authorities – targets, whilst ensuring aviation issues, Providing policy and guidance wind developments - the scale of which both Temporary AtoN for the construction particularly safety concerns, are addressed. Our purpose, then, is to provide policy and is likely to increase in the coming years phase, and Permanent AtoN for the guidance on a range of issues associated requiring additional considerations for operational phase. Responsibility with wind turbines and their effect on stakeholders. The CAA is responsible for safety aviation that will need to be considered by Tideland Signal regulation of civil aviation in the UK. On all interested parties when assessing the Sqn Ldr Kelly Lightowler, that basis, they have an obligation to viability of wind turbine developments. The Surveillance Operations Specialist provide assistance to aviation stakeholders CAA does not routinely object or support Civil Aviation Authority Specifications SeaBeacon 2 System 6 to help them understand and address planning applications for wind turbines and The main AtoN items in the package This racon most widely specified by wind energy-related issues. However, it would not seek to unfairly influence the are Tideland’s benchmark SeaBeacon name across the world, due not only is acknowledged that other users such planning process. In addition, we cannot 2 System 6 radar beacon, AB-560 fog to its technical capability, but also to as planning authorities, wind energy provide an arbitration service. Rather, signal, fog detector, Tideland Informer AIS the exceptional reliability and minimal developers and members of the general we are able to offer regulatory advice and broadcasting information to shipping and maintenance requirements enhanced by public may also need our advice. guidance to all stakeholders and impartial the latest generation LED marine lantern, the design’s inert gas protection system.

24 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 25 Navigation & Radar feature sponsor SKILLS GAP

Partnership in Scotland “We are delighted Industry standard Safety Technology to deliver to have been selected to work with the LightWave Radar The team’s decision to design a traditional prestigious partners on this programme after five years in the making, scanning radar that operates at S-band renewables training to Scotland and look forwarding to supporting this was driven by the fact that it continues to be ground breaking training initiative.” wind turbine clutter is now acknowledged as the industry’s standard. It RenewableUK approved training Safety Technology Ltd, a leading safety has been globally adopted for over sixty years provider Safety Technology Ltd training provider for the Renewables sector, Viable career choice officially over by aviation customers around the world. As recently became project partners on based just below the border in Tyneside, The ESP’s drive to develop the capability well, it is the most cost-efficient and least the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) have been selected as training project and capacity of training for this giant susceptible to jamming than any other type of drive to deliver demand-led training to partners for operations in the West of industry in Scotland is playing a key role radar. the Wind Energy sector in Scotland. Scotland, centred in Dumfries. in promoting the Wind Energy sector as a viable career choice for young emerging S-band operation College collaboration Responsibility technicians, and ensuring the economic By operating at S-band, impacts from weather The ESP is a collaboration of colleges across The UK based safety specialists will be development of this sector. such as rain and snow are negated while Scotland, with the main aim of establishing responsible for the safety training aspect X-band systems are significantly degraded. As a high performing energy community. A of the Marine and Wind Training Network, Turbine Technician training well, X-band is not recommended for use at new strategy focusing on pooling expertise delivering industry required courses such as Now, after years in the making, this industry an airport location per the UK’s Civil Aviation and resources in the region will see industry RenewableUK Work at Height and Rescue recognised Turbine Technician training will Authority’s guidance on terminal surveillance. specialists working together with the ESP to and Global Wind Organisation Basic Safety soon be available for individuals to take offer the qualifications needed for individuals Training. from colleges across Scotland. Other technologies to work on wind farms, onshore and While some other radar providers in the offshore, across Scotland. Working group Safety Technology Ltd are currently In 2008, C Speed took a clean sheet market have attempted to adapt other radar By working with Industry to identify providing the accredited safety courses of paper and designed a radar system technologies to the wind turbine clutter Marine & Wind Training Network demands, ESP have created a working which will be part of this new training from to mitigate wind turbine clutter for the mitigation market, they have not seen success This newly formed Marine and Wind group which will ensure the Scottish Energy their RenewableUK and GWO facilities benefit of airports and wind developers for several reasons. Firstly a ‘flash bulb’ type Training Network has established 3 centres sector is supplied with the provisions across the UK, Ireland and US, with facilities in the United Kingdom. radar, one that transmits an omni-directional in the North, East and West of Scotland. needed for a fully skilled workforce. in South Wales, Great Yarmouth, South beam with multiple ‘listening’ or receive beams Shields, Blyth, Killybegs and Michigan. Its engineering team focused on meeting is designed to just look up from within a Bob Dickens, Managing Director of Safety the stringent requirements of governmental windfarm. Technology Ltd said of their involvement Safety Technology Ltd aviation regulators, commercial airports, in this new project from Energy Skills and military aerodromes. In addition, This involves locating one radar in each while it would incorporate state-of-the- windfarm which generates a much higher art technology, it would still need to be cost, is handicapped by a severely limited affordable for its aviation customers to range of only 5 nautical miles, and is massively acquire, integrate, operate and maintain challenged by requiring the airport to accept - including many that were anticipated multiple data feeds which is highly undesirable. to originate from the wind development community where radar technology was It is also one of the most easily jammed radars unfamiliar territory. that exist.

LightWave Radar Another X-band provider has resorted to After months of work the team agreed on ‘blanking’ techniques to remove clutter a set of requirements that would result in where turbines are present, however, this an S-band, solid state, primary surveillance creates holes in the coverage volume. And, radar that would employ a traditional as such, seems unlikely to be accepted by scanning antenna array. LightWave Radar the regulators as you must demonstrate was born. predictable performance.

In May 2013, nearly five years after setting Summary out to design and build the world’s first Today, with multiple installations in the United wind turbine clutter mitigation radar system, Kingdom and the United States, LightWave C Speed delivered, under contract, the Radar is now allowing airports and wind first LightWave Radar production system developments to co-exist as was planned five to Manston, Kent’s International Airport. years ago. With LightWave Radar, the issue of Today, it remains the first and only mitigation wind turbine clutter is now officially over. radar system that does not require terrain screening that has been purchased, David Colangelo installed, and integrated in the United C Speed Kingdom. Click to view more info

= Click to view video L-R, Safety Technology Ltd’s Technical & Business Development Manager Ben Williams and General Manager of Operations Mike Dickens

26 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 27 SKILLS GAP SKILLS GAP

Military personnel

Cohesive Combined strengths check out career in energy Renewable UK and Global Wind Eighty serving and ex-military gathered at Colchester training programmes Organisation (GWO), whose training Football Club recently to explore whether the energy programmes have until now been mutually industry would be suitable for a second career. exclusive, have combined their strengths to create an accredited programme which will Ex-military speakers, currently working in the energy industry, greatly benefit those whose careers depend recounted their experiences leaving the services and provided on being able to work without geographical advice on how to make the transition as smooth as possible. restriction.

New two-day course A new two-day course, which South Tyneside College’s Tyne-based Marine Safety Training Centre (MSTC) is accredited to deliver, provides key qualifications for those looking to work in the sector and specialisms such as windfarms.

Devised by Renewable UK/GWO, it provides basic safety training and competence while addressing significant health and safety issues that relate to vessel transit and transfer under the requirements jurisdiction of European UK health and safety law. It is Attention! Military and ex-service personnel focus on a intended to ensure a common approach possible future career in the energy industry. to basic training delivered by an approved training provider under controlled conditions. Skills for Energy programme The Military Energy Industry Awareness event was organised as Helpful industry overview part of the Skills for Energy programme, hosted by EEEGR (the The course also gives an overview of the UK East of England Energy Group), and sponsored by Essex Armed and European industry and facilities under Forces Community Covenant. construction, with other areas covered, include vessel transfer theory and practical Aims training and vessel emergencies, theory and One of the main aims of Skills for Energy partnership is facilitate the practical. access into the energy industry by the service leavers. Executive Director for EEEGR, Celia Anderson, who leads the Skills for Energy The MSTC has run courses by both programme, said: “The number of service leavers approaching us organisations – Renewable UK’s over is steadily increasing. They need advice on how they might fit into two days and GWO’s one-and-a-half the industry and how best to sell themselves. day provision – but the beneficial ripples stemming from this important development “Many jobs are secured through people you know and so we help of this one course will undoubtedly be felt them to build their networks with contacts that can help.” by the many companies involved in offshore renewables. Transferable skills Among the speakers was Ian Moulton, Operations Improvement Partners Manager from Perenco, who spoke about how the equipment Marine Safety Training’s other partners who used in the energy industry is not too dissimilar to that used in the will play a part include Safety Technology armed forces. Mr Moulton also highlighted the importance of using Limited, a Renewable UK and GWO- their transferable skills, but also demonstrating the ability to learn. approved training provider and one of the UK’s leading provider of safety training, CV workshop equipment and health and safety for those Also speaking was Kip Morton, Director for Forces4Energy who working at height. facilitated the CV workshop that took place in the afternoon.

While their centre, where more than “This was an excellent opportunity for experienced and motivated 100 companies and 3,000 students are ex and serving military to gain valuable insight into the energy trained each year, will continue to offer the industry directly from those who work within the sector,” he said. The dramatic growth of the offshore It has taken time for the combined needs of GWO course, the combined module is an “It is rare to get an opportunity to discuss your own CV, skills renewable energy sector has brought industry and individual to come together in important new addition to a sector where and capabilities in an open forum such as this and it has proved with it a steep increase in the number one cohesive training programme that gives growth continues to pour over the horizon. invaluable to the service leavers.” of people working in the industry and them the skills and insight to work safely whose training requirements must be anywhere – both UK and worldwide. Marine Safety Training Centre Skills for Energy Click to view more info met. EEEGR

28 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 29 Out and about Out and about

Bosch UK opens new £1.2 million state-of-the-art “At Bosch we are truly committed to skills development of the workforce and that is why we want to continue to invest in the northern facility UK, especially when it comes to service Bosch UK has opened its new state- and training.” of-the-art facility designed to provide It has a fully equipped workshop and a single northern location for Bosch, test site, to service and repair hydraulic He continued: “The opening of this site which combines Bosch Rexroth, equipment, both at the site and in the field, reaffirms our commitment. At the heart its industrial drives and controls for customers in the UK and overseas. of the new facility is training and support company, and Worcester, Bosch for our customers. Whether our customer Group, its heating and hot-water Designed to BREEAM standards is a mechanical engineer, an installer or solutions company. The Wakefield facility, which has been an apprentice at the very start of his or built to BREEAM (Building Research her career, this new facility will provide A major investment in the region by the Establishment Environmental Assessment the comprehensive training and support global supplier of technology and services, Method) standards, the world’s leading programmes, which make a major this new facility will form part of the group’s design and assessment method for contribution to an individual’s professional drive to provide skills development.” enhanced service and support to the Major northern customers. investment Mr Fouquet Bosch combined concluded: “Our facility aim at Bosch is now fully to pass on our operational knowledge and The new facility, expertise to our located at Devilliers customers, through Way in Normanton, our products and near Wakefield, our after-sales consolidates three support. I am Bosch sites in the delighted to open North of England into this new facility a single location. The which combines facility, built on a 3.6 our commitment to acre site, equivalent customer support to two football and environmental pitches, will provide sustainability in one customer service and location.” support to its Bosch Rexroth mechanical Expansion engineering customers drive and training to its installers in the heating and sustainable buildings, includes a 21,150 This new site is the latest addition to Bosch’s hot-water sector. sq ft workshop; a 9,300 sq ft training area, expansion drive in the UK. The company including seminar rooms and office space. recently opened two engineering sites in the Bosch Rexroth will design and manufacture Midlands for its automotive business and hydraulic systems for many industry In order to comply with BREEAM another site in Uxbridge, Middlesex which sectors, including marine, offshore and bulk standards, the facility has been designed is dedicated to providing training to the materials handling, at its state-of-the-art to minimise energy use through thermal automotive aftermarket sector. Wakefield site. The site will also be a base loss, and includes a high efficiency boiler; for hydraulic training and courses which will intelligent low energy lighting systems, and Bosch Rexroth be run throughout the year. motion sensor taps which reduce water consumption and wastage. Click to view more info Opening Bosch’s new site in Wakefield Mr Peter Fouquet, President of Bosch in = Click to view video 1 the UK, commented: “This new facility is a major investment for Bosch and = Click to view video 2 represents not only our commitment to the region, but is also part of our continued drive to provide enhanced Facility opening ceremony (L-R) Councillor Jacqueline Williams, Graham Rowell – Finance Director, Bosch Rexroth, service and training to our customers. Roger Marsh - Chair of Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, Peter Fouquet – President of Bosch UK and This new addition brings the total number Carl Arntzen – Managing Director of Worcester, Bosch Group. of Bosch sites in the UK to 42.

30 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 31 Community Engagement Community Engagement

Winning support Every project will bring its own challenges, but trust within an organisation and its responsible representatives are an essential ingredient for any project to find the importance of community support within a community and overcome resistance. An organisation whose brand is trusted will have certain advantages The result is a need to think more engagement in the energy sector to those either unknown or with poorer strategically about community engagement reputations. and how it can be supported by the For those of us working in the energy sector, there seems to have been a continued focus from both politicians and the broader, corporate responsibility business press on the industry for some time. In recent weeks however this focus has become more intense and reached a Building trust or sustainability strategy. Too often more mainstream audience, as coverage increases. Building trust means bringing local community engagement gives the engagement into a broader corporate appearance of a short term, bolt-on Rarely a day goes by without a news Engaging with the community can responsibility framework that considers the procedure. Focus should also be given to headline or political debate on cost, be difficult community, workplace, marketplace and setting up the governance, systems and security or perceived failings in the market. Engaging with the community can be a environment, complete with appropriate, process before any engagement happens, Renewable energy often finds itself centre difficult, time consuming and resource demonstrable governance structures. It which will enable longer term collaboration, stage of the debate, with the usual pros heavy process, whether it’s for a small also means being open and honest on communications and integration. Road and cons being aired. And this scrutiny will scale renewables project, or for large scale the economic, environmental and social mapping and stress testing the likely undoubtedly increase interest in projects at offshore wind turbines or the manufacturing impacts to present a balanced and fair view impact and responses of your projects and both a national and local community level. infrastructure required for these. Polarised that ultimately can be verified. communications should also be a priority views often prevail even in projects well in advance of engagement. that bring great economic benefits to a Strategic long term thinking community. It’s also important to think longer term, Rich Hall not just for the life of the project build, but Northern Head of Sustainability continuing the dialogue on the benefits or PwC impact that continues over the life of the site/assets and for the wider organisation itself. Previous projects that clearly show the continued benefits to a community provide useful reference points and advocacy for future plans and projects.

32 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 33 Community Engagement Community Engagement

Providing specialist Community consultation Consultation fatigue Consultation fatigue can occur, especially planning and for a NSIP where the development programme can be protracted, with a tick box exercise? several required consultation stages built environmental in. This further underpins the need to ‘The applicant of a proposed Nationally plan each consultation event providing input to community Significant Infrastructure Project adequate information to help stakeholders (NSIP), …..must where relevant make understand the key issues, and setting Community-based co-operative SLR Project Manager Clive Fagg said: diligent inquiries, carrying out their appropriate response times can all help to wind energy ownership “This project is a great example of what own investigations and taking their reduce fatigue. The development will be owned by the an enthusiastic and highly organised local own legal advice, as appropriate. It project community-based co-operative and will community can achieve. Community is the responsibility of the applicant It must be noted that often consultation include a significant community fund to renewables is a key aspect of the to ensure that their pre-application over a lengthy period of time can be Leading environmental firm SLR fund other local projects. Government’s energy policy and one consultation fully accords with the frustrating for local communities. It is Consulting has been working with which we see being a major growth area requirements of the 2008 Act, ……’ therefore important expectations are Valley Wind Co-operative Ltd to SLR provided advice and guidance on the in 2014 and beyond. The project further (Advice Note Three version 5, The Planning managed to ensure all consultation events develop a community based wind development of the planning application strengthens SLR’s rapidly expanding list of Inspectorate. July 2013) achieves its objective by clearly explaining energy scheme, near Slaithwaite, West and Environmental Impact Assessment community renewables project experience its purpose prior to the event commencing. Yorkshire in the UK. to the Co-operative including carrying out throughout the UK and Ireland.” Increasing requirement ecological, hydrological, transport, shadow Consultation is now becoming an ever Community benefit The project will generate around 18 million flicker and cultural heritage assessments as Professional service increasing requirement for both national A clear benefit of community consultation Kwh of renewable electricity a year, the well as preparing the Planning Statement. Steve Slator, Chair of Valley Wind Co- and local planning applications. This for NSIP is the requirement of developers same amount of energy used by the local operative Ltd, said: “SLR Consulting has includes both statutory and non statutory to produce statements of common community. The low-carbon scheme will Consultation event provided a professional service to guide consultees as well as the host communities ground with affected interested parties. also save over 10,000 tonnes of carbon The company also played a key role in Valley Wind Co-operative through the for a given project. If engagement has occurred throughout dioxide per year. pre-planning application submission planning and EIA process for our wind the pre-application stage this can allow for discussions with the local planning authority energy project. SLR has always been Decision makers put clear emphasis on At each stage of consultation it is important these to be easily produced and also for and other stakeholders. This included a on hand to provide clear and concise consultation both through planning policy communities need to understand their quick agreement between the developer two day public consultation event, held support for us as people with limited requirements but also through the inclusion role and how their views are incorporated. and the consultee. in Slaithwaite, which was attended by experience of wind energy and the of a consultation report as part of the Failure to consult, or doing it effectively, almost 200 people. Attendees were asked planning process.” suite of planning application documents. can harm relations between the developer This can save time during the lead up to whether they would support the community This document provides a timeline of and local community, this could impact planning submission and for NSIP during scheme of which a substantial 91 percent SLR Consulting your consultation but also how views of achieving consent for the development. the examination phase, when resources are of respondees indicated that they would. stakeholders and communities have been stretched and time is short. incorporated into proposals. Key features of effective consultation Information and communication Vital contribution There is no official guidance of what is best It is important to remember, consulting Community consultation has often taken a practice for community consultation, but with the community does not necessarily back seat when developers are progressing Royal HaskoningDHV has a proven track mean that views have to be accepted a planning application. However Royal record in effective consultation… or incorporated into a proposal. The HaskoningDHV believe that community purpose of consultation is to help inform consultation can make a vital contribution • Programme consultation – consult communities about proposals and to obtain to the development of a successful early, consult when you have feedback. In a lot of cases it can save time planning application by considering the something to say. Work with the project and money by obtaining information first interests of affected parties, encouraging team to ensure information will be hand and in a more direct manner. debate and explaining the benefits and available for each consultation stage appropriateness of the development. • Ownership – the community should David Morgan feel that they have ownership of any Royal HaskoningDHV Promoting transparency Community Consultation activity Good consultation promotes transparency including a sense of participation where Click to view more info about project decision making. This possible provides a platform for accountability and • Flexibility – allow yourself to helps establish trust between the developer approachable & work with communities and local communities. For consultation to • Transparency – consultation achieve these desirable outcomes, it should processes should be open and be started at the beginning of the project transparent, with clear objectives that lifecycle. are reported • Resources – consultation processes should be adequately resourced, both by project personnel but also written material suitable for the audience

34 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 35 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast

Strengths Tees Valley’s main strengths are in its deep water ports, prime land availability, 12 Enterprise Zone sites and excellent supply North East England’s excellent chain. Tees Valley also has the world’s largest infrastructure and logistics capabilities cluster of subsea cabling and trenching enabling it to become a global hub for the companies, plus expert offshore fabrication offshore renewables sector. Energi Coast facilities and port sites ideally located for three • Logistics – PD Ports, AV Dawson, Energi Coast also promotes the benefits of investing in of the world’s largest offshore wind projects. aLE Heavylift North East England to aid the growth of the • specialist Expertise – MPI Offshore, region’s offshore renewables supply chain. Cost competitive location tata Steel, The Welding Institute a vision turns into reality Tees Valley has some of the lowest (TWI) Tees Valley Unlimited - sponsor operating costs in the UK with rents and • skills – Industry training providers Energi Coast is the representative Investment We welcome Tees Valley Unlimited as our rates around half that of major UK cities including TTE & NETA (technical group for the North East of Energi Coast members have invested sponsor and hope you will enjoy the varied and a quarter of those in London and the training), Faraday Centre England promoting the extensive almost £400m to meet the demands contributions from many of the companies South East. (high voltage) and Falck Safety offshore renewable energy sector of the renewables market. Its members and organisations involved in the area. services (offshore survival) expertise from the region and employ 6,000 people in the region, which Enterprise Zones North East England’s unique is forecast to increase by 30% as Round 3 Tees Valley Unlimited is the Local Enterprise Tees Valley has 12 Enterprise Zone sites Unmatchable business support is offering to the industry. activities gather pace. Partnership for Tees Valley – supporting with a total of 423 hectares available for available through Tees Valley Unlimited the economic growth and development new business investment. 4 sites have including the UK’s only performance and The leading offshore renewables Turnover of Energi Coast members is of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Enhanced Capital Allowances up to £100 warranty bond scheme which provides supply chain companies in North East forecast to double to more than £400m in Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton on Tees. million and simplified planning. These are up to 100% of the cash security required England have been brought together offshore wind, which will have a significant South Bank Wharf, Hartlepool Port Estates, for bonds to help local companies bid by NOF Energy to form the group. impact on the region’s economy and Centre for Offshore Renewable New Energy and Technology Park and on the world’s biggest projects. supporting supply chain. Engineering (CORE) Wilton International. Identified as a CORE, Tees Valley is a prime Energi Coast promotes… location for offshore wind investment with Supply Chain Tees Valley Unlimited • the capabilities of regional companies a long track record and strong reputation Tees Valley is home to over 200 companies in servicing the offshore renewables through delivering large scale projects in in the offshore wind sector, including Click to view more info markets in the UK, Europe and oil and gas, ship building, fabrication and international sector leads… internationally decommissioning. • the key competencies of North East • Fabrication – Heerema, TAG Energy england’s integrated energy supply solutions, Wilton Engineering, MTE, AV chain Dawson • the unique comprehensive ‘balance • subsea – Deep Ocean, Modus, Reef of plant’ offering from one geographical subsea, JDR Cables, Subsea Innovation location • Nacelle Panels – Millfield Composites • Member companies with a strong track-record of collaborative working and a commitment to further strengthening those partnerships to serve offshore renewables

36 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 37 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast

The visit, in partnership with the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership, provided an opportunity for Energi Coast to brief Mr Fallon. It explained the background of Energi Coast, showcased the strength of the region’s energy sector, and highlighted Energi business development opportunities in the area.

Q & A session Steering Group Following the briefing, there was a The Energi Coast group, consisting of a Coast question and answer session, which steering group of more than 20 companies enabled members of the steering group to was created to promote the extensive comment and question Mr Fallon regarding offshore renewable energy sector expertise the development of the North East of from the region and North East England’s England’s energy sector. unique offering to the industry. Steering welcomes Group companies have already invested Michael Fallon MP, Business and Energy almost £400m to meet demand in the Minister, said: “We need to produce more renewables market. of the energy we require, here in the region. Being able to encourage British Unified voice Energy firms who are based on Teesside to do Joanne Leng, Deputy Chair of Energi so, will be a major step towards achieving Coast, said: “The visit from Mr Fallon has this, and could create a centre for the new enabled Energi Coast to demonstrate the energy investment we need.” capabilities of its steering group, and the region’s strength and ability to serve the Minister “There are also export opportunities, we offshore renewables industry. should not just think of the wind farms being built along the East Coast, there Energi Coast ensures that the emerging is huge potential for firms to do this offshore wind sector supply chain throughout the globe. has a unified voice when highlighting to North its capabilities to industry and the “The sector, supported by the Regional Government. The group is just over Growth Fund and other financial two years old, and has already played instruments, has benefitted from the a large part in putting the region on the techniques that have been developed in offshore wind map. In addition to two very East the North Sea for oil and gas exploration. successful networking dinners, Energi Subsea technology is one of those, and Coast has appeared at numerous industry an extraordinary range of technologies are conferences and exhibitions, hosted a now being applied around the world by high profile event in partnership with NOF England British companies.” Energy, and even held a reception at the House of Commons to showcase the Falck Safety Services region’s capabilities.” The visit also featured a tour of Falck Safety Services, based in Billingham, which provide Joanne Leng added: “The North East of safety training for the offshore industry. England’s energy sector is well prepared Training can be delivered in areas such to step up to the mark and provide more Energi Coast, North East as offshore survival, medical and first aid, of the region’s energy needs. Members of emergency and crisis management, and our group are experts in the sector, and England’s Renewables renewable energy. Among Falck’s facilities will be able to utilise their experience and is a 23.7m wind turbine, this allows for expertise.” Group, recently hosted a training to accurately replicate real situations, and further reinforces the region’s ability Energi Coast visit from Business and to become the destination of choice for Energy Minister, Michael offshore wind supply chain activities. Fallon MP

38 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 39 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast

Bespoke engineering solutions for 20 Questions complex offshore applications Who are you? IHC Merwede has been a core member of the offshore wind supply chain for a number of years and can provide developers Damien Murphy, with a comprehensive portfolio of products and services to meet the requirements of the sector. developing an offshore access system that Technical Director, FoundOcean actively compensates vessel motions, which can be utilised by maintenance crews or during What brought you into the industry/your position? Who would you not turbine installation. After working as a Mechanical Engineer in an office based role like to be? I decided I wanted to see some more of the world beyond four Any politician. Not a career Chris Jones, IHC Engineering Business Product walls and offshore was the obvious way to do it. path I think I could deal with. Manager for Subsea Vehicles said: “The broad and complementary range of services Family status? What is the best available through IHC Merwede offers a Married 3 months ago. 0 kids, 1 puppy. advice you have ever been given? real advantage to developers. In addition to Focus on outcomes, processes are unimportant. accessing IHC EB’s products, our customers Who is your hero and why? can utilise a comprehensive collection of Isambard Kingdom Brunel not necessarily for the things he What is your favourite smell? suppliers, which can provide an integrated designed but for the breadth of work he carried out across what Coffee and toast. service.” would now be considered very different engineering disciplines. What do you do in your spare time? “Our exceptional experience in carousel What annoys you the most? Tinker with old cars, lift weights and play with my dog. manufacture, subsea trenching and cable lay Middle lane hoggers. enables IHC EB to be a valuable member of What sport do you participate in/watch the most? IHC Merwede’s portfolio, which also includes, What was your best holiday? I compete in amateur strongman competitions and I also watch a The Group, based in Stocksfield, Northumberland, delivers among others, turnkey vessel solutions, blade installation tools Honeymoon in the Maldives a few months ago. fair bit of rugby. bespoke engineering solutions for complex offshore applications and turbine access platforms.” including pipe and cable lay and subsea trenching. Its solutions What was your worst holiday? What is you favourite record/CD/artist/music? are applied across the subsea sector, including the growing IHC Merwede Only the ones I’ve had to cancel. That changes on an hourly basis! If I’m training then AC/DC and offshore wind market that is benefiting from the company’s Foo Fighters. innovation and continual investment in research and design and product development. Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with other than your current partner? The group’s cable lay expertise includes its ability to design and I’m a newly married man! I can’t answer that. build offshore carousels for power cables, umbilicals and flexible products. If money was not a factor what would you buy tomorrow? Hi-Traq A 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS in Complementing its lay systems is their range of trenching and guards red cable burial systems. The company’s engineers have developed a range of ploughs and trenching vehicles to support seabed What talent would you like to have? cable laying activities. Its commitment to continually evolving its The ability to reduce my e-mail inbox. technology is evident in its latest trenching innovation, Hi-Traq.

What prominent person would you like to meet? Designed specifically to overcome the challenges of inter-array Stephen Fry, would probably be quite an interesting conversation. cable laying for offshore wind farm construction, Hi-Traq will apply next-generation technology that will improve manoeuvrability, What book are you reading at present? traction and overall trenching capability. Raising Steam, the latest Discworld novel from Terry Pratchett. Services and expertise What car do you drive? These services are an essential element of their products that can An old Skoda Fabia VRs as a commuter car and I have an old be used in foundation installation, turbine installation, cable lay and 1974 MK1 Escort in Ireland that I brought home from Australia Operation & Maintenance markets. with me. It will only be a matter of time before I buy another old BMW as well. The company’s expertise includes the design, engineering and construction of vessels and equipment for all aspects of Where would you like to be 10 years from now? the installation, operation and maintenance of wind turbines. Still a Director at a much larger FoundOcean and living in a nice Equipment includes subsea piling templates and hydraulic piling house in the countryside with lots of room for old cars and strongman systems used for the installation of monopile foundations. equipment. Click to view more info Capabilities FoundOcean Among IHC Merwede’s offshore renewables Operation & Maintenance capabilities is a range of equipment, including = Click to view video Inspection, Repair and Maintenance (IRM) tools. It is also

40 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 41 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast

PD Ports appointed as logistics hub for Teesside Offshore Windfarm

The Port of Hartlepool was appointed by EDF Energy Renewables Ltd as the Centre of excellence main logistics hub for the Teesside Offshore Windfarm project in 2011. Located PD Ports’ involvement in the successful 1.5km off the coast at Redcar, and completed in July 2013, the project now installation of the Teesside Offshore generates enough green energy to power 40,000 North East households. Windfarm project further strengthens the position of the Port of Hartlepool and Since 2012, the Port of Hartlepool, which the wider Teesside region as a centre of is owned and operated by PD Ports, saw excellence for the Offshore Wind energy 27 Siemens turbines and the associated sector. EDF Energy Renewables Ltd monopiles, as well as transition pieces, has also established the operations and pass through the port for installation. maintenance base for the project under a 20-year contract with PD Ports to be Fundamental importance operated out of Hartlepool. The extensive available land bank and deep water at the port was fundamental to the Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports’ Managing delivery of the project. The further provision Director Bulks and Port services, said: of dedicated storage and pre-assembly “The successful completion of this areas for the massive structures with direct project firmly positions Hartlepool as a access to the load-out quays and on to the major centre for the deployment of wind North Sea also proved a critical factor in the turbines in the North Sea and we continue selection process. to work towards securing further, similar work in this sector as the UK expands its Ro–Ro facility offshore wind capacity.” Wind turbine components were delivered through PD Ports’ ro–ro facility at PD Ports Hartlepool directly to a 20 acre site occupied by Siemens on the port estate, for pre-assembly work and testing.

Early in 2013 the wind turbines were taken out to site by the MPI Adventure one of the world’s largest Offshore Wind Installation vessels, and the project became fully operational in July.

Blades being loaded out from the Port of Hartlepool as part of the Teesside Offshore Windfarm Project

42 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 43 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast Modus AUV Cutting edge crisis management facilities Falck Safety Services, one of the emergency management specialists Altor With the new facility at the Fire Training Technology world’s leading providers of safety Risk Group the facility features the latest Group (FTG) at Aberdeen airport, this will training and offshore services, has Control Room Operator (CRO) software, also enable the incorporation of real time reducing the cost invested more than £100,000 in cutting which will replicate realistic offshore training scenario training during live exercises with edge crisis management facilities situations and control room areas. fire teams. near its existing training centre at of offshore wind Aberdeen airport. Increasing demand Partnership reinforcement There has been considerable focus Project scope Falck and Altor are able to offer the most The investment at the Aberdeen site on the subject of reducing the costs Modus has conducted The six-figure investment, based in Forties up to date and advanced facilities and reinforces Falck’s partnership with Altor of offshore wind and there are a extensive internal trials Road at Aberdeen Airport provides qualified instructors to meet the increasing Risk Group and its and Falck’s, joint OPITO lot of ideas and innovations being on the south coast and state-of-the-art training rooms for Major demand for CRO training and assessments. accreditations in CRO, MEMIR and OIM presented and discussed. has recently undertaken Emergency Management Initial Response In addition, the investment will continue training, coaching and assessments. a successful project for a (MEM IR), OIM Controlling Emergencies to provide MEM IR, OIM Controlling However, due to a lack of investment windfarm client. (OIM CE) and CRO Emergency Response. Emergencies and CRO coaching and Colin Leyden, Managing Director of Falck these concepts do not always become a Working with its partner global risk and assessments all under the same roof. Safety Services, said: “We are pleased to reality. Modus Seabed Intervention has, The scope of the project be able to collaborate with a vital partner however, brought to market an activity that was to provide high definition like Altor as we continue to expand, and immediately offers significant savings to mosaic imagery of export improve, our training portfolio in the developers and contractors. cables and mattresses in offshore energy sector. shallow water (less than Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 10m) within a construction “Our partnership with Altor reflects (AUV) division site. The 2 man team our capacity to supply digital control In 2012 Modus began an investment operated from an existing technology to meet the increasingly programme into a planned fleet of AUV infield vessel utilising its spare capacity on project has clearly demonstrated that this challenging logistical and workforce training units; utilised for survey and inspection a non-interfering basis which proved to be technology provides outstanding imagery, requirements in the offshore energy sector across the offshore field development highly successful and cost effective. The which is not normally available from vessel in the region and throughout the world.” life cycle. In the same year the company AUV surveyed more than 30Km of line or ROV mounted systems. This, coupled launched its AUV division and received its survey in just over five hours in-water time. with the significant savings achievable Falck Safety Services first equipment early summer 2013. by deploying the technology during idle Offline data processing was conducted or standby time from vessels already Click to view more info The AUV Division is led by the Richard remotely. Results from this demonstration operating at the worksite, for example, Hill, The Royal Navy’s former Officer in have been provided to the end client and has deploying the system from crew transfer Charge, founder and driving force behind allowed remedial works to be undertaken vessels between crew changes, creates a = Click to view video the inception of operating REMUS AUV based on the detailed imagery provided. tangible, immediately available efficiency technology for the UK Ministry of Defence. saving for developers throughout the Richard has brought in his own team of Outstanding imagery offshore field development life cycle.” AUV operational experts and the division is Nigel Ward, Commercial Director of Modus now fully operational. Seabed Intervention, said: “This recent Modus Seabed Intervention

Currently, TAG Energy Solutions is in the Alex made a significant contribution to the process of delivering 16 monopiles and company in establishing TAG as a key player transition pieces for the Humber Gateway in the industry. On behalf of the board I wind farm, which is the first contract of its would like to thank him for his services and New CEO for TAG kind to be awarded to a UK company. wish him every success for the future. TAG Energy Solutions has welcomed years with Subsea 7 in a number of roles appointments include Director of Weir Pumps Stuart Oakley said: “TAG Energy Significant role experienced marine and offshore working in locations around the world Limited as well as senior executive positions Solutions has quickly established itself “Stuart will play a significant role in helping construction specialist, Stuart Oakley, including the North Sea, US Gulf of Mexico, with a number of technology start-up as an effective operator in the offshore to grow this business in the future and as its new Chief Executive Officer. Brazil, India and Asia Pacific region. companies using venture capital funding. renewables supply chain and I am keen his expertise in the subsea technology to build on the successes it has achieved. sector will prove invaluable in helping the Stuart joins the North East England-based In 1990 he joined the Stolt-Nielsen Seaway Stuart replaces Alex Dawson who recently The sector is still evolving, but we are business achieve its objectives.” company from an emerging offshore Group, now part of Subsea 7, holding made the decision to move on from TAG at the forefront of turbine foundation accommodations group in the Netherlands positions as Managing Director of Seaway Energy Solutions. development, which supports the TAG Energy Solutions and brings considerable senior executive (UK) Ltd, Director of the Hyperbaric Centre business’ growth objectives in the UK and and management experience from his in Aberdeen and Chairman of Seaway Leading manufacturers European offshore markets.” Click to view more info career in the subsea and deep-water field Heavy Lifting BV in the Netherlands. The company has become one of the development sectors. leading UK manufacturers of offshore wind Reputation He was subsequently appointed turbine foundations and transition pieces Michael Foster, Chairman of TAG Energy = Click to view video Background Managing Director of McDermott Subsea following a £30m investment in its riverside Solutions said: “Stuart’s reputation in the After managing offshore vessels in the Constructors Ltd before joining Smedvig’s facilities on Teesside. offshore industry is second to none and North Sea and Canada, Stuart spent 14 FPSO operations in Aberdeen. Subsequent he is a worthy successor to Alex Dawson.

44 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 45 Focus on Energi Coast feature sponsor feature sponsor Focus on Energi Coast Offshore wind rubber coatings agreement Embracing renewable energy market opportunities

JDR has embraced the growing Dedication Installation support international market for alternative The company’s dedication to the To support installation and long-term and sustainable energy delivery. highest levels of quality and continuous equipment ownership, JDR’s aftermarket improvement, developed over many years service provides 24/7 installation (testing and The JDR engineering team has pioneered of providing subsea power cables for deep commissioning) and maintenance support the development of Inter-Array Power water oil & gas projects, is fully aligned with through a global network of experienced and Cables for offshore wind, wave and tidal the needs of offshore wind farm operators. fully certified technicians. The aftermarket Aquaseal’s Jason Armstrong (left) energy projects. The team has developed team also supports the company’s and his father, Eddie Armstrong renewable energy cable systems for most termination products and provides the only Research and development (centre) with Robert Bowles (right). of the ground-breaking UK projects, Next generation research and development industry qualified repair joint. including Greater Gabbard and London is now focused on high voltage array Array. In 2013 they shipped its first cabling that will help make offshore wind JDR Cables German windfarm project for the Meerwind a more cost-effective and competitive Barrier Group has secured a new Investment Barrier to expand the business and move into Sud/Ost development. source of power. The research, which is Click to view more info project with Close Engineering for the This latest agreement follows on from new markets. Existing customers of Barrier part-funded by the Department of Energy Humber Gateway offshore wind farm. a significant period of investment by will also benefit from the additional range of and Climate Change Offshore Wind Barrier Group. In addition to introducing services provided by the acquisition. Components Scheme, will benefit offshore = Click to view video The Wallsend-based company is providing a vulcanising vessel, which enables the wind developers in a number of Round 3 rubber linings for 120 steel guides, which process of applying rubber to external Real potential UK wind farms. will be fitted to 12 offshore wind turbine risers and J-Tubes, Barrier has also Robert Bowles, Chairman of Barrier Group, transition pieces being created for the acquired part of a North East England said: “The offshore wind market holds Manufacturing base wind farm by TAG Energy Solutions. rubber product manufacturing business, real potential for Barrier and, through the The group’s manufacturing base in Hartlepool Aquaseal Rubber Ltd. investments we have made, we are creating is on the North Sea coast and ideally situated Second agreement an effective niche in the sector. Working to supply UK and European wind farms. The This is the second offshore wind-related Aquaseal Rubber, which is based in with Close Engineering for a second time facility was opened in 2009 and a £30m+ agreement between Close Engineering, Longbenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on a project for TAG Energy Solutions investment programme has enabled JDR which is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is a family business run by Managing demonstrates the quality of the supply chain to incorporate the latest developments in and Barrier Group. Director Jason Armstrong and his father, that exists in North East England.” cable production capabilities. This includes Eddie Armstrong. The company primarily simultaneous manufacturing lines and large Barrier recently delivered rubber manufactures rubber coatings, tubes for Barrier carousel storage. coatings for a set of 40 guides on the road cleaning equipment, and fenders for first foundation systems manufactured Remotely Operated Vehicles. by Teesside-based TAG, which has a Click to view more info contract to manufacture 16 foundations Aquaseal Rubber for E.ON’s landmark wind farm Acquiring a 49 percent stake in Aquaseal development in the North Sea. Rubber comes as part of a broader move by = Click to view video

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the Institution of Occupational Safety & New training programme Health (IOSH), the world’s biggest health and safety membership organisation.

addresses human error Stuart Cameron, Maersk Training Managing Port of Tyne Director commented, “It is crucial that in incidents at sea staff working at sea develop a deep appreciation of the hazards associated Maersk Training announced Improved understanding with offshore renewables at all stages of The gateway to opportunity recently the launch of a new training Stuart Cameron, Maersk Training, asset life, understand the process of how programme aimed at minimising UK Managing Director, commented: to assess the risks associated with those incidents through human error in “Incidents at sea can be minimised hazards and mitigate against them. Connected to world-wide markets, the Enterprise Zone status Supply chain experience marine environments. The course is through an improved understanding of Port of Tyne is a major deep-sea port The Port has two sites on the north bank North East England as a whole has a strong designed to help offshore workers the human element, as well as effective “Offshore managers must develop a with the perfect resources, location and of the River Tyne earmarked for potential supply chain with extensive experience of understand the impact of the human leadership and communication on-board broad knowledge of the onshore based infrastructure plans in place to confirm development including 30 hectares with supporting the marine and offshore sectors. error in marine incidents, and enhance ships. It will enable Masters and Chief and maritime based health & safety legal its position as a key player in servicing Enterprise Zone status. Businesses The region’s tradition of heavy and marine their leadership and management skills Engineers, Chief Mates and Second duties relating to an offshore renewable the needs of the offshore industry. locating to the Port can benefit from engineering, shipbuilding and offshore oil in order to prevent them. Engineers to apply regulations, policy project and know where to find help a supportive planning approach and and gas extraction has resulted in a strong and procedures, and acquire certification and guidance. We provide them with Location therefore establish themselves as ‘market skills base, with many companies in the Latest mandatory requirements under SCTW regulations. Due to the the knowledge and tools necessary to The Port of Tyne’s geographical location, ready’ quickly and efficiently. region having either an existing commitment This course meets the latest mandatory current pressures in the industry, it is also review their own departmental systems, only 96 nautical miles from Dogger Bank, to the offshore industry or the clear potential requirements for approved training in very useful for operational personnel in introduce new controls and ultimately ensures it is ideally placed to become Facilities to diversify into it. the Human Element, Leadership and shore-based roles.” ensure safety in the workplace.” a major centre for the manufacture and The Port of Tyne offers a deep-water, Management at Management level as maintenance of offshore wind turbines and lock free, safe haven that is operational Port of Tyne directed by the STCW2010 convention Safety issues Maersk Training to service and support the attendant supply 365 days a year. An experienced, skilled and based on the Merchant Navy Training Maersk Training in Newcastle also chain. workforce is on hand with a range of Board’s criteria. specifically addresses safety issues in Click to view more info equipment at the Port’s disposal; including offshore renewables environments through 6 cranes each with 100-tonne lift capacity, This programme will build on the theory a course that provides managers and ensuring crew changes and maintenance using a range of practical exercises supervisors in offshore wind, wave & tidal = Click to view video procedures can be completed efficiently designed around shipboard drills, bridge with the essential tools for competently and on time. and engine room simulation and maritime and safely leading their teams. The experiential team exercises. It will be course, named Managing Safely for available for marine professionals from Offshore Renewables will be run from early November 2013 onwards. December onwards, and is approved by

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So why choose Energi Coast CBT 1100 Trencher The OGN Success Story members? Technip Offshore Wind The CBT 1100 trenching system (also OGN believe there are three fundamental developed by SMD) was made specifically Offshore Group Newcastle Limited (OGN) is a leading UK oil & gas and offshore reasons why prospective clients should Technip Offshore Wind has been a member of Energy Coast since 2012 and for cable burial and can both jet and cut wind engineering, procurement and construction contractor, headquartered in choose OGN and other Energi Coast provides specialist offshore wind field development services to the renewable simultaneously. This adaptive technology Tyneside. members. They include… energy industry including… increases capability and burial efficiency by allowing cables to be laid in varying soil Flagship facility One of the first steps for OGN was to • resources & Experience – the North • Concept development This patented and ground-breaking piece types without the need for interchangeable The Hadrian Yard, OGN’s flagship facility, build on links already established through east has a long standing heritage within • Front end engineering of equipment provides personnel with a tool sets. has a long and distinguished history of our oil and gas business and form a solid the heavy industry sector, and as • Project management & comprehensive safe working platform for cable pull-in and executing and delivering a significant supply chain that showed the North-East a result benefits from the UK’s largest offshore installation services reduces cable pull-in completion time by Collectively, these technologies help to proportion of the offshore oil and gas of England was both capable and willing to resource of skilled engineering manpower up to 60%. ensure safe, effective project delivery infrastructure operating in the North Sea/ work on these projects. • access to the Market – located in the Company expansion across the offshore wind industry. UKCS/Norwegian sector over a thirty year north-East of England all Energi Coast 2013 has seen the company expand HD3 Cable Burial Plough period. Energi Coast – vision and members are perfectly situated to cost its technology offering with a focus on Technip Offshore Wind’s HD3 cable burial Technip Offshore Wind foresight effectively access and service the North improving HSE and cost-efficiency in the plough - developed by fellow Energy In late 2009 OGN required a facility that Energi Coast was formed in no small sea renewable industry European offshore wind sector. Coast member, Soil Machine Dynamics SMD could accommodate large scale EPC measure due to the vision and foresight • supply Chain – an experienced well Ltd (SMD) - provides a high performance contracts, and the Hadrian yard with of the NOF, who played and continue to established & collaborative supply chain Their suite of industry-leading cable-lay burial solution for subsea power cables and Click to view more info its previous track record and glowing play an instrumental role in its continued technology includes the Pull-In Module, umbilicals. credentials, which had been mothballed success. The formation of the Energi Coast Formula for Success HD3 Cable Burial Plough and CBT1100 by former owners Amec in 2005 was the ticked all of the correct boxes for OGN and The three factors above together with a Trencher. The system uses the latest technology = Click to view video perfect option. they therefore became one of the founding collaborative ‘can do’ approach adopted to ensure effective and reliable cable members of the group in 2011. by all Energi Coast members means we Pull-In Module burial and protection, helping to de-risk A Balanced Portfolio can produce world-class performance and ‘Renewable Energy Health and Safety the overall cable installation process and OGN while historically an oil & gas The Energi Coast brings together like positive business results for its members Award winner, 2013’ provide a cost-effective way of achieving business has set ambitious plans to minded businesses through the North-East, and the wider regional economy. effective cable protection for the operation become an integral part of the offshore all of whom have one common goal, which The award-winning Pull-In Module (PIM) life-cycle of the cable product. wind supply chain over the coming years. is to showcase the North-East regions Offshore Group Newcastle Limited innovation was developed by Technip We firmly believe that we can utilise skills extensive energy related credentials and Offshore Wind with the aim of providing a built over many years in the oil and gas subsequently grow their business in the Click to view more info safer, more efficient offshore wind cable sector and efficiently implement them in renewables sector. The group has a louder installation process. the burgeoning offshore wind market. voice than a collection of individuals which we feel is crucial in a relatively new market Technip developed the PIM after identifying place, especially when lobbying public and pitfalls in existing processes used to carry private sector support. out cable lifting and pull-in activities.

The PIM is a three-leg tripod featuring a self-contained winch and equipment storage for all tasks associated with pull-in activities. Its design negates the need for bolted connections and allows it to be installed in any orientation, reducing the potential damage risk to the TP.

The unit’s benefits include… • Removal of vessel winch wires from operation • Introduction of compliance to industry standards • Reduction of vessel dependency • Improved speed of installation • Provision of on-board equipment storage • Incorporation of power supply for lighting/tools

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In fact this was touched upon when discussing with Pierre Boyd in the last issue. This particular service was called upon for the parbuckling of the Costa Concordia. ROVs The images were so clear it allowed the Tony goes on to say that it is in very rare successful salvage company (Titan Salvage) The Inside Story cases they use divers, as the majority of to accurately pinpoint areas on the stricken projects are undertaken utilising ROVs, cruise liner suitable for tying up on the quay, remotely controlled from a vessel. whereupon a cylindrical donut sling was installed, then pre-fabricated a point which in Future Some equipment is so complex in nature turn was able to right the vessel, a significant Tony states he wishes to continue to they can be the size of a house – one benefit! This service has also proved to be build the strength of the business within such ploughing machine is a huge 15m an invaluable tool for not only the offshore a strong and positive growing market, DeepOcean x 18m long and 10m high, and ROVs the Wind industry but for IMR. of which wind is decidedly strong. He When we speak to business Global leading company In Europe the company has three marine size of a car, especially one utilised for Jet concluded that the company is proud leaders on our travels to DeepOcean is one of the world’s leading bases in Darlington, UK, Haugesund, Trenching. Initiatives & aspirations to be British and looks forward to the conferences and exhibitions we companies within the subsea industry, Norway and the head office based in DeepOcean believes its competitive future with enthusiasm and expectation. often discuss their successes. offering a wealth of innovative technologies; Amsterdam, The Netherlands. DeepOcean One such trencher is 1.5MW – 2.3 MW strength lies with the expertise of its Large international companies including high quality IMR, subsea also recently set up an office in Tronheim, pumped 8 x 8 x 6 m UT1, which is currently personnel and has an initiative ‘aspiration can seem distant and somewhat intervention services such as trenching Norway and is in the process of setting up operational in Asia. to be the employer of choice’. Human DeepOcean impersonal although their and installation of flexible products such a presence in Aberdeen. Resource teams strive to excel for the personnel are far from it. as cables, providing cost effective and The Tractor T-3200 is the largest subsea work environment, in a dynamic and Click to view more info bespoke solutions to clients. DeepOcean also operates two offshore vehicle 2.4MW machine, which as we varied industry resulting in continued job Under our new interview feature ‘The bases at Teesside, UK and Haugesund, speak is being modified in Teesside, satisfaction, proof is in the pudding as this Inside Story’ we feature DeepOcean Acquiring this Norway. These facilities provide storage, before it will be permanently mobilised is reflected in the 3% turnover in staff. = Click to view video and sent our intrepid reporter Fliss accolade has been heavy lifting and maintenance and support on the Havila Phoenix vessel, which joins Chaffer to find out a bit more about an interesting journey of the equipment. Globally the group the fleet in 2014. This trenching spread is the company and its experiences and I was fortunate employ over 1000 specialist personnel with almost ambidextrous as it may be utilised/ within the industry. to speak with offices in Brazil, Mexico and Singapore. mobilised for a variety of industries, offshore Managing Director, wind farms and oil and gas. Please feel free to contact us if you Tony Inglis to find Wind Market would like to be featured in a future out the story behind DeepOcean are able to provide unique DeepOcean have been requested to edition and we will do the rest. this successful and packages to clients supported collectively undertake installations of high capacity forward thinking by the expertise of their personnel, country interconnectors. The installation company. extensive experience and by a wealth and laying of cables which spreads the of vessels and specialist equipment. In load of energy and provides a seamless Ebb & Flow order to carry out such specialist services, supply – which also balances the load As with all success stories we tend to I was fascinated to learn more about the of energy/utilities. Good for future power forget the hardships and frustrations equipment, Tony enlightened me... management – a “Supergrid”. leading up to that moment, however DeepOcean have had a few ebb and Equipment ADUS 3D Visualisation flow scenarios but have always remained The company currently has between 17 The company also acquired a 50% interest focused and on course! and 19 vessels operating, managing 5 in ADUS in 2013, a small clever imaging from the UK (with 3 long term deals and company which surveys subsea equipment, In 2008 DeepOcean went through difficult 2 shorter term charters) – all of which allowing super high resolutions and accurate times due to a misguided acquisition by are state-of-the-art. For the majority of data measurement. This has proved to be Trico Marine Services, who were later clients the company provides the whole invaluable for the wrecks market. declared bankrupt. DeepOcean AS and package from survey to installation and CTC Marine Projects were both successful in most cases this is within challenging businesses with a long history and track environments, especially in shallow water, record of providing niche subsea services. which presents its own problems, with fast These two parts of the Trico business still moving currents, and poor visibility. offered a lot of potential and the major lenders of Trico decided to invest in their future. By 2011 the company had been restructured, re-branded and their services re-aligned, creating a stable business and by 2012 they were on an even keel once more.

Marine Base Stations The UK execution centre in Darlington currently employs 130 people, with 12 people working at the Teeside Offshore Marine Base. This office works closely with the Norwegian office in Haugesund.

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a number of pre-laid, high voltage array Innovative cable ends at the site. The QT 1000 has the ability to manoeuvre close to the turbine experienced operators, which will provide foundation using its sophisticated control added value to our client on the Bøyla solution for and measurement system, enabling burial Development project.” of the array cable in close proximity of the offshore j-tube bellmouth. Mike Jones, Managing Director at SMD a subsidiary company of commented: “the success of the QT1000 wind RSIP will now provide the state-of-the-art is based on the continuous development With over 40 years’ experience and QT 1000 jet trencher, along with a team of of SMD’s jet trenching ROVs over the proven track record in trenching experienced operators, to conduct trenching past 20 years, and working closely with solutions, SMD continue to provide the services in connection with the Bøyla project RSIP to incorporate their extensive industry with world leading products located 225 kilometres West of Stavanger, operational knowledge into the design of for the offshore wind market. Norway, at a water depth of 120 meters. the system.” Offshore Wind EPC Fabrication Delivering all your offshore wind fabrication needs • Wind Turbine Jacket Foundations • AC/HVDC Transformer Substations • Substation Jacket Foundations • Met Masts

QTrencher 1000 Launch & Recovery System (LARS) SMD The QTrencher (QT) 1000 is an industry The QT 1000’s LARS has been developed leading free flying jet trenching ROV with over 40 years of subsea engineering Click to view more info embracing the latest technologies in jet experience, to enable deployment in the high trenching and ROV design. With 750kW of sea states which are typical of Norwegian total installed power and 700kW of variable waters. It uses a cursor deployment system, = Click to view video jetting power, the QT 1000 is capable of allowing the QT 1000 to be latched below trenching pipelines, umbilicals and cables the wave zone; technology enabling vehicle up to three metres in the seabed, and at launch and recovery up to sea state 6. Reef Subsea up to 2000 msw. This proven design has RSIP will also provide all of the associated been upgraded, based on RSIP’s specific engineering, procedures and onshore and Click to view more info requirements, to operate in either high offshore project management necessary to pressure mode or high flow rate mode complete the trenching workscope, which depending on seabed conditions. will take place in 2014. = Click to view video

Reef Subsea Bøyla Development project Reef Subsea Integrated Projects (RSIP) Daryl Lynch, Commercial Director Reef Technip initially mobilised the QT 1000 on its Subsea Integrated Projects commented, maiden job on the Lincs wind farm “We are delighted to have secured this located 8km off the Lincolnshire coastline. workscope with a prestigious client, Following an onsite trial, Reef Subsea Technip Norge AS. The Q1000 is an Engineering Procurement Construction operated the QT 1000 to successfully bury exceptional trencher, managed by

54 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk T: 0191 295 8700 E: [email protected] W: www.ogn-group.com HOME FROM HOME HOME FROM HOME

As an Avis car hire partner they also offer a collect and return facility and their car park is covered by cctv, and offer charging points for the ‘greener’ motorist with an Extra attention for business electric vehicle. travellers The Today they offer a specially tailored service Fine wining and dining for the energy sector worker, including a The recently constructed Terrace, Café 24 hour reception for checking in and out Cru, and Bar Fizz all offer a first class range Having been involved in the service industry at any time, laundry service, breakfasts at of drinks and food, ranging from a snack to at managerial level and also in setting Imperial flexible times for those early departures and a more sophisticated dining experience. training standards I know just how difficult 7 day a week room service. that kind of service is to achieve. Open all year round, with flexible and cost Hotel When you need to work they will help you effective tariffs, the Imperial is the ideal port When you need a home from home, and a take care of business throughout your of call for today’s business traveller. All the place to relax, check in to the Imperial and stay and have hard wired and wi-fi internet staff are prepared to go that extra mile to check out their very special welcome. access, faxes, printing and secretarial make your stay a real pleasure because they put services. Their conference facilities are they understand your needs. The Imperial Hotel excellent and include lap tops, projectors and screens. Meeting rooms are available Industry meeting place Click to view more info and can accommodate numbers from 2 to Where we stay is key to being as happy as a lot of 120. you can be when working away and the Imperial Hotel in Great Yarmouth serves that need very well. The hotel has become energy into one of the places where people in our industry meet up and has an atmosphere of friendliness from both the proprietors, Eileen and Nick Mobbs, through to the staff welcoming who are attentive and professional but after just a few visits become more that just staff you! but friends.

Situated at the quieter end of the sea front, but within easy reach of the town, they have developed a close relationship with the energy industries since the late 1960s when gas was first discovered in the southern sector of the North Sea.

Wind energy industry Many companies and organisations within the industry use the hotel’s considerable facilities to hold conferences, training courses and events as well as its comfortable en-suite accommodation so it is difficult not to bump into someone you know.

The Imperial Hotel in Great Yarmouth has been welcoming holidaymakers This in our view is its major asset – it and business travellers for over eighty years. Still family run, and now Great is recognised as a meeting place Yarmouth’s only four star hotel, The Imperial assures you of a warm greeting, fine for colleagues who enjoy a chat in a dining and first class accommodation. comfortable atmosphere which takes away some of the pain from having to work away from home.

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UK first Narec also launches new validation Green light given for The project is the first large-scale deep water demonstration site in the UK to be service for floating lidar... UK’s largest offshore wind granted both offshore permits and onshore consent and is seen as an essential Anemometry Platform to compare new This new activity will allow clients to demonstration site facility for the industry to be able to test measurement technologies against validate new devices and demonstrate next-generation offshore wind technology traditional methods to reduce the costs the reliability and resource measurement cost-effectively in realistic environmental of the offshore consenting process. accuracy of floating LiDAR against • Onshore and offshore planning consents conditions before commercial production. existing methods. The new service will allow LiDAR mean Narec’s site is ready for development Complete suite of independent manufacturers and project developers the Onshore success open access test facilities ability to compare and trial new techniques Following the success of LiDAR for • Demonstration site is key facility for testing For Narec, the £350 million demonstration and technologies against traditional wind onshore applications, their use in the next-generation offshore technology site will be the final piece in the jigsaw as measurement methods to measure the offshore renewable energy sector could part of its strategy to provide a complete wind resource offshore. provide significant advantages. Narec The development of the UK’s largest offshore wind demonstration site – suite of independent open access test is currently engaged in a number of regarded as a pivotal strand in helping to lower the costs associated with facilities, enabling manufacturers to reduce It will also utilise Narec’s high-tech Offshore floating LiDAR projects, these projects Round 3 offshore wind farms – has received a boost with dual planning the risks and costs associated with Anemometry Hub (NOAH), installed three together with the facility are enabling consents being given to the construction of the site and the onshore developing the new technologies that will nautical miles offshore, which forms part Narec to build up industry knowledge substation. be needed in Round 3 projects. of the recently consented Blyth Offshore of the offshore environment and prove Wind Demonstration Site. The high new technologies which could reduce Construction permissions Andrew Mill, Narec’s Chief Executive said: quality meteorological and ocean sensors the costs of consenting, build-out and The Marine Management Organisation “We’re delighted to have reached such installed on NOAH will be used to study the operation of offshore renewables. (MMO) has granted permission to The an important milestone and my thanks go sensitivity of floating LiDAR measurements National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) to the project team including consultants to waves and atmospheric conditions in a Offshore acceptance to construct the grid-connected 99.9MW Natural Power and Turner & Townsend in remote offshore environment representative Ignacio Marti, Narec’s Chief Technology demonstration project, comprising 15 getting us to this stage. of Round 3 conditions. Officer, said: “Narec has launched turbines in three arrays in depths of 35m, this new validation service, in order to 45m and 55m off the coast of Blyth in “We’re now in talks with potential accelerate the acceptance of this new Northumberland including cables back to investment partners to build out the technology within the offshore wind shore. demonstration site. Construction of the first sector. array is targeted to be completed in 2015.” Northumberland County Council has also “By developing innovative and granted permission for the construction Largest site approval competitive testing and validation of the supporting onshore infrastructure Shaun Nicholson, Head of Offshore services Narec is helping to reduce time including the electrical substation that Marine Licensing for the MMO, explained: to market of new technologies that will will transfer the power created by the “The Blyth project is the largest site we ultimately help to reduce the cost of demonstration turbines to the grid. have approved for the testing of turbine offshore wind energy.” devices. We aim to enable sustainable growth in making decisions about developments at sea. We consider Narec economic benefits alongside any adverse impacts, such as on the environment Click to view more info and other users of the marine area. We have worked with Narec to ensure the development satisfied such conditions.” = Click to view video 1

= Click to view video 2

ED’s Note: We will be focusing Image taken from location of the 99MW offshore demonstration wind site looking towards on the Blyth supply chain and its Blyth, Northumberland with Narec’s offshore anemometry platform in the foreground. importance to the industry in much more detail in the next edition

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An accumulator is most effective when Innovative system design and integrated with a secondary-controlled integrating accumulators drive. Normal active heave systems are Steve Smith, Marine and Offshore Sector controlled via the pump or motor and Manager at Bosch Rexroth, says by Hydraulic accumulators can only react to energy, not recover it. A innovative system design and integrating Ideally, subsea lifting operations would be Hydraulic accumulators effectively store secondary-controlled drive performs as accumulators into the active heave completed at times when sea levels and energy in a nitrogen filled bladder within a both a motor and pump, directly on the With up to 95 per cent movement Active compensation control process, end users weather patterns are placid. But, as the steel shell. When fluid under pressure fills cranes winch, which results in a compact, compensation and up to 75% energy could achieve energy savings of up to 75%. demand for energy increases, companies the accumulator it compresses the gas in accurate and dynamic response system, savings available, Bosch Rexroth are increasingly being forced to operate at the bladder and when the pressure in the able to compensate up to 95% of the secondary-controlled winch drives With the days of easily accessible oil lower depths and in harsher sea conditions, system falls the oil from the accumulator is vessels movement. integrated is a sure and effective way heave and gas fields becoming numbered, putting a huge strain on energy resources available to provide pressure and high flow of reducing energy consumption and offshore operations are being forced to due to the demands for much higher rates back into the system. They could be As the operation of support vessels occurs costs. how to operate at increasing depths and harsher powered equipment to operate during considered as a very large hydraulic spring in a wave state, the vessel is moving up and environments, putting new challenges on these conditions. For example, a typical and follows the basic Boyles law (P1. down, creating energy during the upward accumulate the equipment used. Crane and winch 50 tonne knuckle boom crane operating in V1=P2.V2) motion of the vessel. This energy is absorbed Steve Smith drives are having to position loads of waves of over three metres, will consume by the hydraulic accumulators and then fed marine and Offshore Sector more energy more than 250 tonnes on the ocean floor, two megawatts of electricity per hour, a Applications such as knuckle boom cranes back into the hydraulic system during the Manager stretched to their limits at depths below very costly operation. and ROV deployment systems are ideal vessel’s next downward motion, essentially bosch Rexroth savings 2,500m. for accumulators as they are subjected working as a hydraulic spring. Through this This has led to an increased demand for to large flows at high speeds, generating process, the drive system recovers up to Click to view more info With oil becoming harder to exploit Continuous movement fast acting, dynamic and responsive active significant amounts of energy that can be 75% of the energy, significantly reducing and prices increasing, operations Vessels at sea are continuously moving heave compensation systems, which stored in the accumulator. When required, necessary installed power. are moving into deeper waters. with the ocean swell and vertical motion in not only compensates the motion, but the accumulator releases the stored energy = Click to view video 1 Active heave users need to move particular has significant effects on subsea also works as a form of energy recovery, back in to the hydraulic system resulting Driving out cost towards more energy efficient lifting operations. This makes it difficult to reducing the energy usage. in substantial energy savings and an Energy consumption remains a concern = Click to view video 2 solutions as subsea activity deploy and place loads on the ocean floor increased system lifespan. for machinery operators, meaning energy needs more power to deploy the whilst protecting vital umbilical cables and Dynamic systems recovery systems where possible are of equipment to reach these hidden the equipment itself from damage during One way of reducing energy consumption great interest and active heave systems depths. harsh seas conditions. is to install a secondary-controlled drive present one of the best opportunities for which senses the torque at the winch energy recovery. either positive or negative associated with a large auxiliary hydraulic system with a Active heave compensation integrated with bank of accumulators, producing a highly secondary-controlled winch drives and responsive system using the minimum accumulators have been developed by of power. These very successful and Bosch Rexroth to facilitate load placement efficient secondary control solutions that on the ocean floor in all weather conditions. compensate for 95% of vessel movement Dynamic, powerful drive systems play have been supplied by Bosch Rexroth to a decisive role in achieving a good many companies worldwide. compensation factor.

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The S-Class jackups New-build Bridging the gap will be used for well The new S-Class jackup design will bridge services in the oil programme for the gap between GMS’ existing seven and gas sector and K-Class assets currently operating in the for offshore wind Middle East in water depths of up to 45m farm maintenance, worldwide wind and equipped with 36 and 45 ton crane “In addition to this, we’ve identified a in northwest Europe, options and its two E-Class harsh weather need for a jackup that falls mid-way the Middle East, dynamic positioning (DPII) vessels currently between the two classes we already South East Asia and operations working in the North Sea and suitable for provide and have produced a modified West Africa. worldwide operations in water depths of Gusto design called the S-Class. The first up to 65m and with 230 ton and 300 ton of three new S-Class barges will be ready In-house Gulf Marine Services (GMS) has The four new self-elevating self- cranes. for quarter two 2015.” construction announced a strategic new- propelled vessels with dynamic facility build programme that includes positioning (DPII) will be capable of Increase in demand Specifications Through its new S-Class: An artist’s impression of the new S-Class a further E-Class vessel global operations in the oil, gas and Duncan Anderson, Chief Executive Officer The S-Class will have DPII and will operate build and renewal jackup barge being built by GMS. - similar to GMS Endeavour, renewable energy sectors and will at GMS, says “We’ve seen a major in depths of up to 55m, however it will be a programme, the the company’s jackup barge be built at the company’s yard in Abu increase in demand for our jackup barges smaller and more utilitarian harsh weather company has currently occupied in wind Dhabi. The first, GMS Enterprise, is over the last five years. As a result, we barge than the E-Class; a workhorse that ensured its fleet is farm operations in European already underway and will be ready for are currently building a third E-Class will be ideal for wind-related operations. It the youngest and most sophisticated in Duncan Anderson adds: “The fact that waters - and three S-Class new contracts in quarter three, 2014. vessel in Abu Dhabi with this capable of will have 800 sq m of deck space, a 150 the industry, currently with an average age we can build our vessels in Abu Dhabi vessels, a new design GMS working in even deeper water, up to 80m ton main crane, a 15 ton auxiliary crane, of just nine years, compared to a global is absolutely key as this allows us to describes as a ‘workhorse’ and with a larger 400 ton crane; we also and will accommodate from 150 to 300 offshore average of 24. Using its in-house produce these sophisticated assets at ideally suited to the have an option to build another of these people. construction facility, GMS has a proven lower than market prices. The state-of- renewables industry. large units. track record of successfully customising the-art design and operational efficiency its fleet of self-propelled jackup barges of jackup barges like GMS Enterprise and to meet the requirements of the offshore the new S-Class means we can also offer renewables industry. cost-effective solutions to our clients. This, along with our excellent safety record, is what defines GMS.”

Gulf Marine Services

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Marine Conservation Zones The standard covers SACs, SPAs and The principles of marine Nine Stage Approach to Marine Conservation Zones were created MCZs where they are situated within conservation advice Producing MPA Conservation Towards a under the Marine & Coastal Access Act England’s territorial waters, i.e. 12 nautical The new standard has developed the Advice 2009 and are designed to protect a range miles. It is hoped similar standards can be following principles for new conservation The standard will also provide a nine of nationally important marine wildlife, applied to sites outside territorial waters. advice… stage approach to the production of common standard habitats, geology and geomorphologic conservation advice for each marine features. They can be designated anywhere A more consistent approach • Conservation advice should be easily protected area. These nine stages are within English and Welsh inshore and The standard will assist in providing a more accessible as follows… for marine UK offshore waters. The first marine consistent approach to the management of • Advice should be consistent in conservation zones have now been such matters as… approach and structure 1 Preparation identified by the Marine Conservation Zone • Advice should be written to be as clear 2 Mapping protected area Project and are awaiting Government • The assessment of the effects of any and stakeholder focused as possible 3 Feature, sub-feature and supporting approval following a recent consultation. plans or projects or acts • There should be clear guidance for its habitat descriptions. • The development of management plans internal production and external use 4 site overview and condition conservation A Common Standard • The identification of management • Stakeholders should be engaged in the assessment As can be seen from the above measures for ongoing activities production of advice and any additional 5 advice on operations designations, all of the three MPAs • The identification of conservation guidance 6 Conservation objectives mentioned have slightly different emphasis, management measures • Information provided as advice should 7 senior advisor and internal technical Those developing renewables Special Areas of Conservation whether that be habitats, the protection • The monitoring and assessment of the be quantified where there is sufficient quality assessment resources offshore, together (SACs) of fauna, flora, or the protection of birds, condition of the site supporting evidence to do so 8 external dialogue with stakeholders with many other offshore Special Areas of Conservation are or indeed the protection of geology and • The best available evidence should be and the resolution of issues developers, face a plethora of protected sites designated under the EC geomorphology. Whilst the operational standard is aimed at utilised and the confidence limits of the 9 sign off and publication different marine conservation Habitats Directive. Article 3 of the Habitats Natural England staff who are responsible advice stipulated designations which they must Directive requires the establishment It can prove difficult for developers and for advice production, the standard is • The best available evidence on the Of most relevance to stakeholders in work around. The appropriate of a European network of high quality their advisors in knowing exactly how also intended to provide a reference for features condition should be used to the renewable industry will be stage 8, consents must be obtained conservation sites that make a significant Government intends to regulate and all stakeholders to provide clarity on how inform their conservation objectives being the external dialogue and issue before any works can proceed, contribution to conserving the various license operations within such areas. advice in marine protected areas will be • Advice should be updated as and when resolution. A timetable of 20 days has whether those works are habitat types and species identified in It is also correct to say that there still developed. The standard is also linked the evidence base improves and should been suggested for this within the overall preliminary surveys or actual Annexes 1 and 2 of the Directive. There are seems to be a good deal of uncertainty and should be applied in conjunction with be used to inform condition monitoring timetable and the process aims to share installation and commissioning in fact 189 habitat types and 788 species within organisations such as the Marine Natural England’s ‘Strategic Standard on and research and discuss the advice obtained to of generating equipment. It is identified in these two annexes. The Management Organisation (MMO) as they Conservation Objects for European Sites • The effectiveness of advice should be that stage with relevant authorities and not only the turbines themselves species identified do not include birds, as are still undertaking a learning exercise in England’ and their ‘Evidence Strategic regularly assessed and waste stakeholders. It is anticipated the joint that fall foul of marine protected these are covered under the Provisions for with, in particular, the MCZs. As a result, Standard 2013’. continuously improved identified meeting would be arranged by Natural areas but also the additional Special Protection Areas as set out below: in August this year Natural England • The activities that could impact a site’s England’s lead advisor with all relevant infrastructure including cabling produced a draft operational standard for Draft standard features should be clearly identified authorities and stakeholders present. to shore. Special Protection Areas conservation advice for marine protected The draft standard itself runs to some Special Protection Areas are protected areas. The consultation with regard to this 52 pages and therefore it is not possible Structure of Marine Protected Finally, the standard also anticipates There are a number of designations sites classified in accordance with Article draft standard ended in late October. to reproduce it in detail in this article. Area Conservation Advice independent external review and all with slightly different purposes 4 of the EC Birds Directive. Unlike the However, the structure of the standard is New conservation advice for each area amendments to conservation advice and emphasis. The three main Habitats Directive the Birds Directive does as follows… will be produced and will have five key produced pursuant to it. This will be designations which will frequently not provide any formal criteria for selecting sections… reviewed by the Conservation Advice be encountered are Special Areas SPAs. So in the UK it falls to the Joint • Firstly, it sets out the principles of National Stakeholder Advisory Group as of Conservation (SACs), Special Nature Conservation Caommittee (JNCC) conservation advice for marine • A site overview and feature descriptions well as the Conservation Advice External Protection Areas (SPAs) and Marine to select the criteria on behalf of the UK’s protected areas • Condition information, being advised on Advisory Group. Conservation Zones (MCZs). statutory conservation agencies. It is also • Secondly, it sets out the structure of the current condition of each feature worth noting that a number of SPAs are conservation advice for marine and sub-feature where possible Once approved and published, the also classified as RAMSAR sites, which protected areas • Conservation objectives, representing a Standard should hopefully streamline are wetlands of international importance • Thirdly it provides a nine stage high level objective for each site to the process with regards to obtaining designated under the RAMSAR convention approach to develop and review achieve, supported with supplementary conservation advice for MPAs, meaning 1971 which provides for the conversation conservation advice advice setting targets against identified that stakeholders should obtain and good use of wetlands. ecological attributes consistent advice with regard to their • Advice on operations describing a interaction with MPAs whatever the sensitivity of features to pressures and official designation of that MPA is. information as to which activities could cause an impact to the features • Site maps to provide detail on the site andrew Oliver boundary and the location of features andrew Jackson Solicitors and sub-features of supporting habitats within that site Click to view more info

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Warranty & Liability The warranty package offered under a new Negotiating new O&M agreement will be substantially decreased from the original agreement, however an Partnership availability warranty will still be included and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) are increasingly O&M agreements both the owner and the funder will want to ensure that the availability percentage and being adopted as alternatives to conventional leasehold Since the UK’s first onshore commercial want to see any material deterioration in the mechanism for calculating liquidated arrangements for renewable energy sites. Colin Lawrie wind farm opened in Cornwall in 1991, the services being provided – especially if damages (and bonus payment, if included), and Jim Hillan of Dundas & Wilson look at some key over 5000 wind turbines have been the fee has increased! Cost, delivery times is robust, adequate and proportionate. implications of that choice. constructed in and around the UK, with and obligations in respect of ‘additional’ almost 3000 of these constructed in the services and components will also need to Similarly limits on liability and caps on liability last five years alone. be considered. will also need to be considered in detail to What are LLPs? Why choose an LLP? ensure that the plant is adequately protected. LLPs are corporate entities which combine The choice of an LLP begins with a It is still common for the Original Equipment many of the decision-making and tax conscious decision of landowner and Manufacturer (OEM) to provide operation and The skill is obviously to know the market transparent characteristics of traditional developer to reject more traditional models maintenance services along with the initial and to ensure that the owner negotiates a partnerships with a limited liability status of engagement (such as a landlord/ turbine supply, usually running for five years. ‘market’ position to minimise the comments more akin to limited companies. As such, tenant relationship). Such a joint venturing from the funder, which can add further delay, the adoption of an LLP allows participants approach may unlock sites not otherwise Increasingly a number of turbines are but also to get the best position for the a greater degree of involvement in a available for the developer and overcome coming to the end of the original operation owner. project than might otherwise be available, landowner concerns about how its voice and maintenance period but require while affording them protection from the will be heard as a project develops. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) ongoing operation and maintenance. After The last thing the owner wants is for the commercial risks of a failed venture. The LLP changes the way profits are The SDLT regime applicable to the initial five year period a further O&M wind farm not to be covered due to delays enjoyed, while facilitating the landowner partnerships will apply to the transfer agreement will therefore usually be entered in agreeing the new O&M agreement. contributing land and site specific of land to the LLP. Compared to the into (unless the developer maintains the knowledge and the developer contributing situation of a landlord granting a lease, turbines himself). Key themes project management expertise. this is likely to result in some of the SDLT Ensure… at 4% being borne by the landowner. From our experience, there are a number of Are there any ground-rules? However, compared to a transfer of land issues which need to be considered when • you allow adequate time (think in terms LLPs allow a high degree of flexibility; to a company, the partnership regime can negotiating the new O&M agreements. of months not weeks) to agree the new however, the following points should be actually be advantageous. The funders will need to review and operation and maintenance agreement borne in mind… agree any new agreement which is not • you engage with the funder at an Strong fences, good ‘on substantially the same terms’ as the early stage and once the owner and • there are exceptions to the limited neighbours? original O&M agreement and most will not the contractor have got to a suitable liability status of members of an LLP, The LLP structure can mean that the be. This should be done at an early stage position in their negotiations, provide notably a potential clawback on landowner needs to maintain greater as it can take considerable time to put in the contract package for comment – distributions made within 2 years prior involvement in a project than the developer place new direct agreements and any other this need not be the final version to insolvency. Landowners in particular might instinctively desire. However, while supporting documentation. The owner and funder will want to • you engage experienced advisors to need to both appreciate and mitigate this could be seen as a negative, greater ensure that the ‘standard’ or ‘additional’ minimise delays and to ensure you the risks involved in being a member landowner involvement may be a positive Considerations components provided under the agreement receive a ‘market’ package and not a landlord factor which it is desirable to harness. Key points to consider in the new O&M are covered by an appropriate defects Finding the right balance and expressing agreement include what are the ‘standard’ liability period. The warranty package, as Frazer Peavoy • restrictions under Financial Services this in the partnership agreement, is services under the agreement and what part of the turbine supply agreement and/ Director in the Renewables, Energy & legislation dictate that members need what puts the ‘art’ into any successful components and consumables are or the O&M agreement, covers various Resources Group either to maintain a significant degree partnership. covered by the ‘standard’ service fee. performance related warranties, such as Walker Morris LLP of day-to-day involvement in the LLP’s Both the owner and the funder will not power curve, availability and noise. business, or be capable of Colin Lawrie and Jim Hillan demonstrating that their involvement Partners in the LLP is part of a wider business Dundas & Wilson (e.g. ownership of a wider estate) Click to view more info • Members of a LLP are subject to Class II and Class IV national insurance contributions. Note must also be taken of recent anti-avoidance provisions, which target LLP members that should properly be regarded as employees and so liable to (the more expensive) Class I national insurance contributions

• the landowner’s holding in the LLP may potentially be structured to attract inheritance tax business property relief (a potential 40% saving)

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Quirks of Scottish Guidelines Wind energy A number of guidelines have been developed in consultation between wind energy the HSE and RenewablesUK. These healthier & safer guidelines when correctly and appropriately implemented will… developments On Monday 28 October the St Jude In many cases the legislation imposes strict When it comes to wind energy developments there is no one- Day Storm battered the southern part liability to achieve the standard of safety • represent industry good practice for size-fits-all legal template. Turcan Connell were the legal of the UK with gusts of up to 99mph. required. The renewables sector is no safeguarding employees from the advisers to some of the first landowners involved in onshore As well as causing four fatalities, different from other sectors in this respect, inherent dangers that exist from wind farms in Scotland and have since been instructed killing 10 million trees and causing but because the application of wind power installed electrical and mechanical in hundreds of wind energy projects across Scotland for widespread disruption to travel, a 27m to the generation of electrical power is a equipment in wind turbines landowners, developers and funders. We have found that, turbine collapsed in a field at Higher more recent development than say the • assist in the development and while there are general legal principles which can be applied Rixdale Farm near Teignmouth in burning of fossil fuels, the standard of safety application of safe systems of work in a to most wind energy projects, each has its quirks. Devon. required evolves as the sector matures. consistent manner

Recent example A recent example involved a proposed wind farm in one of the crofting counties of Scotland. With accredited specialists in the Renewable Energy Team, with Jeremy Scott far right area of Agricultural Law and with huge experience in Crofting Law, Turcan Connell are regularly asked to advise where there is a potential crofting or agricultural interest.

As crofters have a right to a share in the income of a wind farm located on croft land, the first task was to identify whether the land required by the developer for the wind farm was indeed subject to crofting tenure. This can be difficult as the present register of crofting tenure maintained by the Crofting Commission is not plan based, although legislation has recently been passed by the Scottish Government which aims to establish a plan based register in the coming decades.

Identification Identifying the relevant crofters can also be difficult as the Crofting Commission does not always hold an up-to-date list and there are particular procedures to be followed in order to ensure that the wind farm developer has made sufficient enquiries in that regard. Once identified, there is a court process to be followed to temporarily resume the land from crofting tenure.

Rights Rights were also required to oversail the crofters’ land as the vehicle transporting the wind turbines required to oversail the croft at each bend in the developer’s access track. The land required for oversail was not resumed from crofting tenure and instead an agreement Whilst no one was injured, incidents like Industry standard • Provide a robust approach to was entered into with the crofters, which required to be approved this, which follows the collapse of a 30m What then can be considered to be the demonstrating legal compliance with by the relevant court, to allow oversailing to take place. Once micro- Endurance E-3120 50kW turbine at required industry standard? Essential reading relevant health and safety regulations siting was complete a turbine was found to oversail land subject East Ash Farm in Bradworthy, Devon on can be found on both the HSE and the to an agricultural tenancy through part of its arc. We were able January 27 2013, serve as a stark reminder RenewableUK websites. It is very fortunate Rare occurrence to satisfy funders that sufficient rights existed allowing oversailing to anyone who designs, manufactures, that the UK wind industry benefits from an Whilst turbine collapses will always capture without potentially difficult resumption and Land Court processes. supplies, installs, operates or maintains excellent working relationship between the the headlines, statistically they are rare. a wind turbine, as well as to planners, HSE and RenewableUK, the leading trade Ensuring that health and safety is at the Specialist advice developers and landowners, that they have and professional body in the UK. centre of what you do will result in fewer Specialist advice will ensure that any site specific quirks are a duty to ensure that rigorous health and incidents and a much greater degree of identified at an early stage and thereby avoid the delay or moth- safety standards are being met. The HSE, in recognising that the UK has protection from prosecution in the event of balling of a project when significant expense has already been the best wind resource in Europe, aims to an incident. incurred. Risk control and liability develop a supportive regulatory framework Anyone who creates a health and safety for the sector and to promote sensible, Further, it will help to show that the option Louise Johnston risk has a duty to manage and control that proportionate management and control of wind energy is healthier and safer than an Turcan Connell risk. Duty holders are therefore obliged to of hazards and risks, stating that it ‘… over-reliance on coal, gas and nuclear power. ensure, in so far as is reasonably practicable, need not act as a brake on the rapid Click to view more info the health and safety not just of their and widespread use of emerging energy Jeremy Scott workforces but also of anyone else who may technologies in the UK.’ Langleys be affected by their work activities. = Click to view video

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Flexible approach Research results Leading negotiations As the success of the project finance From our research, it can be concluded Secondly, for financiers this outcome concept heavily relies on the future that in case of the relative realised return can be interesting. If a financier is unsure cash flows of the project, risks affecting on equity the ‘flexible cautious’ strategy about the viability of the business case of a these cash flows need to be adequately in the model is superior over the ‘develop wind farm investment, but not completely anticipated (and mitigated) to prevent the and delay’ strategy in any modelled future reluctant to invest, it would be interesting project from failing. In a risky environment scenario. This means it is, in all scenarios, to take the lead in the negotiations and such as the (offshore) wind business, wiser to invest using a piecemeal approach. suggest willingness to finance a pilot following a flexible approach may help project. If the development of this pilot mitigate risks and uncertainty. This has This finding contains an important message project would meet certain pre-defined Towards been proven in ‘real option theory’, in which for project developers, financiers and requirements, the financier could be the options to expand, contract or delay governments alike. By consciously deciding persuaded to finance a next stage. have been investigated, for example. to develop a less ambitious initial project more (a pilot), a developer can learn lessons that Improved returns Also in the power sector, research can be exploited in the next stages of the A third party for whom the results are flexible has been done on the added value of project. This will lead to cost reductions relevant is the government. Based on the incorporating flexibility into the investment due to avoiding mistakes as well as due to insights provided, the government could strategies of project developers. The reductions in manufacturing over time. consider to follow a piecemeal approach, investment prevalent idea in these studies was by tendering relatively small budgets for that flexibility in investment strategies is multiple project developers instead of strategies equivalent to ‘waiting for better conditions’ tendering a budget with a high amount (also known as ‘develop and delay’). for only one project developer. If project Indeed, waiting for better conditions avoids developer, financier and government all use for wind risks, but may at the same time prevent an extendedly flexible approach, (financial developers from reaching optimal returns. and social) returns for all stakeholders will In other words, it is questionable whether be improved. projects a ‘develop and delay’ strategy generates optimal results (realised return). Pieter Meulendijk-de Mol These days, the most commonly Marco Karremans accepted concept of financing projects One step further in the power sector is through project Flexibility in investment strategies can Royal HaskoningDHV – Investment finance. In project finance, the cash be taken one step further than ‘waiting Services flows resulting of the project can for better conditions’ and can be found be used as repayment for the debt in determining the optimal capacity at Click to view more info financiers and shareholders. The each stage of the project (this strategy ownership structure of such projects could be called ‘flexible cautious’). Royal is established through the creation of a HaskoningDHV – Investment Services so-called special purpose vehicle (SPV) (Karremans and Van der Beek, 2013) in which the investors are not liable if investigated different investment strategies the project fails, making project finance for a varied set of simulated scenarios. a form of limited-recourse financing. In a ‘flexible cautious’ strategy, a project developer would not only expand the project at the moment the expected return exceeds the desired return, he would also invest in the minimum amount of turbines for which the expected relative return is highest. This is a break with the ‘develop and delay’ strategy, which would at this point expand the project maximally, employing a maximum amount of turbines.

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SME Businesses STILL losing millions in unclaimed R&D tax credits

UK SMEs are missing out on “There has been a steady increase in hundreds of millions of pounds of R&D tax relief claims since the 2000-01 tax credits by not claiming for new financial year, when less than 2,000 SMEs product research and development claimed relief, but there is still a chronic costs. lack of awareness amongst the UK’s SME base. The result is that hundreds The warning, from new product of millions of pounds of R&D tax credits development consultancy, Pera Technology, are going unclaimed which could make a one of the UK’s leading SME funding and significant impact to the ability of an SME business support consultancies, is driven by to fund new product development.” concerns that SMEs are failing to maximise their tax efficiency which, in turn, impacts Claims available R&D tax credit advice on their ability to finance new product Any company or organisation can claim R&D tax credit advice forms part of Pera development programmes. R&D Relief whether it is making profits or Technology’s new leap® package of losses, with no business support services, which cover all upper limit on aspects of new product development from the amount of idea conception, feasibility evaluation and the claim. SMEs securing funding, right through to in-depth are capable research and development programmes of deducting and commercialisation. up to 225% of R&D costs, Mr Day says that the big issue is that many which could SMEs and advisers wrongly believe that include specific R&D Relief can only be claimed on new costs such products. “R&D Tax credits are not only as staff costs, confined to light bulb Eureka moments,” subcontractor says Mr Day. “Product improvements, costs, new ranges and new production consumable or processes can also be eligible.” materials, power, water, fuel He continued: “It is important that SMEs and computer examine their suitability for reclaiming software that tax and work with an adviser who is used directly understands how HMRC works. It should in carrying out take HMRC around four weeks to process R&D. a well-structured claim and this could radically alter a company’s year-end financial position and help finance further Recent statistics “Many SMEs are involved in R&D and research and development work or other The most recent statistics from HM the HMRC definition by no means investment.” Revenue & Customs suggest that less than restricts the ability to claim to hi-tech or 10,000 SMEs claimed tax relief last year, pharmaceutical industries. Many SMEs do Pera Technology from a UK SME base of 4.8 million. Simon not realise that they have eligible projects, Day, an expert in R&D tax credits at Pera worry that the process is too onerous and Click to view more info Technology, says that awareness of R&D costly or, more commonly ‘package’ the tax relief is improving amongst SMEs but R&D tax claims as part of their wider tax there is still a long way to go. claim which often limits its potential.”

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The finished gangway was presented in A step change 2012 and the first unit was deployed spring 2013 by Turbine Transfer Limited. The system is now in full production with more in offshore wind TASTM delivers Safe Access units due for delivery in 2014. A detailed review of each aspect of the design, operation and construction has Houlder – a track record of innovation been undertaken including comprehensive innovation TASTM Offshore Award Winner for HAZID and HAZOP assessments with wind The name Houlder has been associated Safety Innovation 2013 farm operators, developers and regulators. with the marine environment since the “In all Houlder’s markets, Houlder won top honours for innovation Operation outside safe working envelope 1850s when it began as the Houlder Renewables, Oil & Gas, Marine and at the 27th Offshore Achievement Awards is impossible as motion control keeps the Brothers’ Shipping Line where it was at the Gas Ships, customers want the organised by the Society of Petroleum TAS within its design specifications, safely forefront of developing trade routes with same things – trusted partnerships, Engineers (SPE), Aberdeen. The judges shutting down if required. Australia and South America. dependable technical support and decided that TAS clearly demonstrated innovative solutions” says Chief improved safety during personnel transfers, User safety features include traffic light and Reputation Executive Officer Rupert Hare. and as a result, delivered a resulting increase audio operator warning system, two control The company’s reputation for innovation in operability. An increase in working days systems, anti-slip gangway and a defined the energy sector began in the 1960s when Houlder delivers all three, whether whilst maintaining safety is a key goal for any safety gap from the turbine ladder. TASTM it developed a fleet of liquefied gas tankers. the requirement is for design and wind farm operator or developer. has been designed for existing Wind Farm It soon became renowned for owning and build of new vessels, complex project Crew Transfer vessels. The TAS has been operating some of the most ingeniously management or specialist marine TASTM ingeniously dampens and designed to be retro fitted on to workboats designed equipment in the North Sea equipment. The company does this compensates for vessel motions in excess of 18m with a deck footprint including the Uncle John semi-submersible globally for clients at the forefront of TAS creates a stable platform for available of 3.0.m by 4.5m. The 150 bar dive support vessel which set records. offshore expansion and innovation. offshore transfer via a patented motion hydraulic supply can be taken from the Since becoming independent twenty-five compensated gangway and bow rollers. vessel or a self-contained diesel unit. years ago, the business has expanded Recent rapid development This combination provides safe and reliable its capability and continues to deliver For the last five years in particular, the access in higher sea states than current Development through innovative solutions across the oil & gas, company’s engineers, naval architects, personnel transfer methods. It does not collaboration marine and renewables markets. designers and project managers have require the vessel to be Dynamically Development started in 2011 and the initial done more than simply offer their Postioned or to be attached to the turbine concept won the Seawork Innovation of the individual expertise to the offshore wind structure in any way. Year that year. Houlder was accountable for Houlder sector. They have combined forces the engineering of the gangway – given its to bring clarity to industry challenges, Proven case study expertise in marine handling systems and Click to view more info present fully thought through solutions The operational performance of TAS was deck equipment. BMT Nigel Gee brought and balance intellect, experience and proven on Turbine Transfers’ Cemlyn Bay their experience of workboats in support – practical knowhow. 24m workboat operating on RWE’s Rhyl including dampening of vessel motions via = Click to view video 1 Flats wind farm. It delivered gangway motions an integrated bow roller system. Key success below 3% of vessel motions in a maximum = Click to view video 2 In this way they have contributed wave height of 3.0m. Crew reported a Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind innovative installation and mothership stable, safe and comfortable ‘stepping Accelerator (OWA) Access designs, access solutions and bespoke off’ experience. The gangway motion competition handling equipment to clients looking to compensation means the step off point is TAS received further development as gain competitive advantage in a rapidly maintained 500mm from the Turbine ladder. part of the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind growing market place. One of the key It does this by using motion referencing, Accelerator (OWA) Access competition. successes has been the TAS (Turbine control and hydraulic systems to significantly Judged by nine major wind farm Access System) developed with BMT reduce the impact of vessel motions in three developers in a joint industry project, the Nigel Gee to improve the safety, comfort planes – actively compensating for pitch, roll competition has the aim of reducing the and effectiveness of wind turbine and surge in real time. cost of offshore wind by 10% by 2015. maintenance personnel. “The TAS system is absolutely stable” Skipper, Cemlyn Bay

Further stability is achieved by replacing traditional workboat fendering with a dampening roller system that provide a soft landing and eliminates the tendency to ‘stick and slip’ as the boat pushes against the turbine structure. The resulting smoothed motions maximise the TAS gangways impact. They also minimise fender wear and reduce the risk of damage to the boat landings.

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“We ought to call ourselves Homo clamorans Major developments in – Noisemaking man” rope access In usual Terry Prachett style, he prediction of the potential impacts of manufactures the innovative PAMBuoy™ cleverly makes his point. When we noise from construction, operation and which is a cutting edge autonomous noise UK’s specialist height safety manufacturer heightec has build new man-made structures such decommissioning activities, not only for level and marine mammal detection passive announced the launch of three new products for the rope as bridges, wind farms, and harbours, individual animals, but also looking at acoustic monitoring system. Using real access industry. we make a lot of clamour pounding how effects on individuals translate at the time communications and data reduction, it and digging our way into the sub-sea population level. sends processed data to users, decreasing Quantum sediment. the risk of data loss, whilst saving time, The Quantum back-up device is a new, unique design, achieved The European Commission’s Marine increasing cost effectiveness and ultimately through extensive research, continuous development and rigorous Underwater noise Strategy Framework Directive aims to client confidence. testing. It controls slippage with no rope damage, works on new Underwater noise travels four times faster achieve a good environmental status (GES) or used rope, is suitable for two-person rescue and cannot be and up to 100 times further than in open by 2020. GES allows for different uses of Another PAM tool is the CPOD, which is a dropped. It is a step forwards in simplicity, strength, durability and air. This noise can cause huge disruption the marine resources to be conducted at a hydrophone device that records bio-sonar performance and a significant advancement in safety for users. to marine mammals which rely heavily sustainable level, guaranteeing their survival or echolocation clicks, of marine mammals on sound to navigate and detect prey. for future generations. – performing best for detecting harbour Prism Innovative tools exist to measure both The Prism descender has involved years of development and the noise which is disturbing the animals refinement, resulting in a device that is not only multi-functional and detect the vocalisations made by the but offers a high load rating, with patented variable friction modes animals themselves, allowing mitigation and which can be switched between configurations under load and a monitoring of the marine mammals in the double braking mechanism. area of noisy working.

The power of noise Mammals exposed to increased noise levels ultimately have increased levels of stress. This stress can cause disorientation, erratic behaviour, avoidance of food and migration routes, disruption of breeding and can even lead to death. Acoustic noise can range from very quiet and persistent noise to exceptionally loud. The latter has been known to cause permanent hearing damage or erratic behaviour that could lead to death.

We’ve seen recent evidence of this in the The Marine Directive’s Descriptor 11 porpoises. The data collected from this news lately. The International Whaling aims to ensure the introduction of energy device allows for the indication of presence Commission’s September findings on (including underwater noise) does not and habitat use. the 2008 stranding of 100 melon-headed have an adverse effect on the ecosystem. whales in Madagascar concluded that loud Measuring underwater energy for activities The SM2M Marine Recorder is another sonar ‘pings’ was the most likely trigger for such as harbour development, dredging hydrophone device which provides long- The X-Cam Pro their behaviour. and oil rig decommissioning requires an term monitoring for anthropogenic and The X-Cam Pro is a new range of ascender devices which are Another example may be seen in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). multiple species’ acoustics from 2Hz up a considerable improvement over ‘traditional’ sharp toothed case of the Blainville’s beaked whales in to the ultrasonic frequency of 192 kHz. cams, have exceptional grip on varying conditions of rope whilst the Bahamas. When exposed to mid- As part of the EIA process, noise levels These can be set up to detect for porpoise, minimising rope damage. The X-Cam Pro range includes the frequency active military sonar the whales (and marine mammal detections) are dolphins and vessels. Pulsar handled ascender and Twist chest ascender for rope appeared to display erratic behaviour recorded before and during construction access. leading to potential decompression or decommissioning begins in order to Moving forward sickness (or the bends), which establish a baseline. Once a baseline has With the recent results from the latest Distinctive innovation subsequently could result in stranding. been established, SMRU Marine is involved International Programme on the State Each product brings its own distinctive innovation with new in the data collection analysis to ascertain of the Ocean review of science on functionality and ergonomic design. The new heightec range has Mitigating the impact if there is any impact on the environment. anthropogenic stressors on the ocean, been tested to loads exceeding industry standards and offers Mitigating the impact of anthropogenic If an impact has been determined, we mitigating these stressors will become users major benefits without the need to change their existing activities on the marine environment can then develop appropriate mitigation more of a priority. As such, developers work practices. requires a method of mammal detection. strategies to reduce the impacts noise must ensure environmental compliance To help with this, SMRU Marine Limited, would have on the local population. does not take a backseat to expansion. “Rope access is a major industry in the UK and overseas. With a global leader in marine mammal the number of man hours on the ropes increasing each year, consultancy, which is a wholly owned Passive acoustic montioring SMRU Marine Limited/St Andrews safety remains high on everyone’s agenda. It is essential that subsidiary of the University of St (PAM) tools Instrumentation Limited manufacturers push forward safety innovations to ensure the Andrews, Scotland, provides advice on In order to monitor for underwater noise, risks involved with working at height are continually kept to an the acoustic biology, hearing capabilities SMRU Marine utilises many different passive absolute minimum”, said Keith Jones, Managing Director. and behaviour of marine mammals. acoustic monitoring tools. Its sister company Additionally, advice can be given on the St Andrews Instrumentation Limited (SAIL) Heightec

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Change in policy? Innovative Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) land surveys How innovation in energy storage can One way to solve this would be for a change in policy to make electricity provide significant benefits to wind farm developers help attract renewables funding storage a separate market category from generation, transmission, distribution and Specialist aerial inspection and land survey company Cyberhawk has been working with wind farm developers to survey Amid the varying energy policies and Furthermore, a raft of studies have supply. Fortunately, The Department of sites more quickly and more safely than traditional survey methods. Cyberhawk is the first company in the UK to offer mixes across governments around highlighted the benefits of energy storage Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has professional land surveying services using a combination of fixed-wing and multi-rotor UAVs, operated by its accredited the world, it’s broadly accepted that at different price levels for different energy called upon S&C and other organisations pilots under the direction of its qualified and experienced land surveyors. renewable energies such as wind mixes and growth. For example, an Imperial in our space to help to determine are a medium-term, low-carbon and College energy storage report found that electricity storage’s value to the UK potentially cost-effective alternative the UK could make system savings of more thereby encouraging this market category energy source. than £10 billion per year by 2015, if it can distinction and pre-empting concerns from develop 15GW worth of storage by then. utilities about the risk of unproven options However, when projects are implemented and a lack of financial incentives. in isolation from storage, the old barriers of renewables intermittency prevail. Unlike a power plant, you cannot simply turn on a wind turbine when there are peaks in energy demand. In the absence of energy storage, wind energy captured but unused at that moment in time is effectively wasted.

Solution The solution to this inefficient system is energy storage, which can store energy when the wind is blowing and release it when it is not, as well as manage the flow of energy during periods of peak demand. Additionally, by investing in storage we can defer spending on power stations, upgrading cabling and infrastructure and put an end to situations, in Scotland for example, where wind energy operators are asked to power down their turbines when generating more power than the system can handle. Challenges and the Future Such barriers are not unique to energy The opportunity It is clear that at a grid level, energy storage storage; however we are confident that Increased survey area would be the most efficient way to survey topographic information together with Traditionally the cost of energy storage can deliver a number of opportunities and with the technology becoming more The company uses UAVs to survey more the site. Decisive factors included time vertical and oblique photography of a technology was inhibitive for mass benefits. Yet, one of the main problems mature, cheaper and being increasingly than 100 hectares in a single day and saved, the reduced risk to subcontractors proposed site provides windfarm developers implementation and the technology itself holding back investment in storage is a lack adopted around the world, adoption will acquire thousands of high-definition geo- and the quality of data produced by the and the renewables industry with enhanced was still in its infancy. However in recent of knowledge sharing between the four advance. referenced aerial photographs. The images UAV methodology. data to allow improved decision-making on years, thanks to bodies like the UK Low key stakeholders: generators, transmission are processed with ground control markers their sites in a cost, time, and safety-efficient Carbon Network Fund, British companies system operators, distributors, and supply Andrew Jones to provide highly detailed aerial mapping The purpose of the survey was to provide way. are being given the opportunity to companies. With each part of the chain Managing Director and topographic surveys (Digital Elevation data to assist with the planning, design and demonstrate their technology innovations, only responsible for a narrow segment, it’s S&C Electric Europe Ltd. Model and orthophotos – see Note 1). construction of the site, which covered over Cyberhawk consequently, we have seen the cost of hard to put a ‘value’ on efficiency as the 400 hectares of moorland and bog with storage technology reduce as it matures. efficiency gains are split four ways. By contrast, a traditional land-based limited access. The aerial survey meant topographical survey might cover only risks were reduced with minimal access Note 1 10% of the area of a UAV survey in the and time on site required by staff. An orthophoto is an aerial photo same timespan, but without the added geometrically corrected so that the benefit of high-definition images of the Deliverables scale is uniform. The photo has the site. Other advantages over traditional The deliverables from the survey were same lack of distortion as a map. surveying methods include dramatic cost highly detailed geo-referenced orthophotos This is different from an uncorrected savings, step improvement in safety, faster and an accurate Digital Elevation Model aerial photograph where perspective turnaround and improved site information (DEM). In addition to the information distorts the spatial relationships to aid decision-making acquired from the air, the team added between points. some ground survey information such as Case study culvert levels using GPS equipment. Note 2 In a recent project in South-West Scotland, LiDAR is a detection system that the wind farm developer had considered The detailed orthophotos revealed previously works in a way that is analogous to alternative survey methods such as hidden detail, including a watercourse radar, but uses laser light instead of traditional land-based surveys and manned that was not shown on Ordnance Survey radio waves. aerial LiDAR (see Note 2) surveys, but mapping and was previously unknown concluded that the technique using UAVs to the client. The combination of detailed

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This is an essential pre-requisite to successful training This type of on-site training works best when employees at all levels feel that they The 3 Ts are being taken seriously. It also means that team members have to feel that it is relevant and appropriate to express their Its impact on individuals and concerns openly. In my experience this Terrific teams is truly terrific is an essential pre-requisite to successful It has long been my experience that the training especially at level three (disposition impact and meaning of training both in the and attitude). short term and in the long term is magnified Training in when it is done locally, in the workplace Getting team members to feel comfortable and in work teams. about speaking openly has been so difficult to achieve in the past that I have been In the workplace training takes on a mantle forced to: (i) turn up unannounced, (ii) do a Teams Remembering facts can be important but of significance that I cannot re-create in tour of the premises with team members, The commitment to doing things most vocational or ‘on-the-job’ training is the classroom. When training has this one at a time, and (iii) ask supervisors to better can be secured about learning how to do something safely. ‘Disposition and Attitude’ level significance and importance its impact on leave the room so that team members can For this type of training - once we have the After the learner has done it safely once we The highest level of learning is the individuals and teams is truly terrific. speak openly about their feelings. appropriate learning objectives in place need the person to do the newly learned ‘Disposition and Attitude’ level. Whilst and team members have had the chance task over and over again until we can we might really like to get certain people This is in no small part due to the fact In my experience it takes a lot to get to get their feelings off their chest then the In the second of two articles on the eventually look and see that the person is to completely change their attitude on that we can work together in familiar some people to talk about their feelings. training becomes more meaningful and the training we give (and get) at work skilled at performing that task. something or maybe convert a pessimist to surroundings on workplace problems. This Once they feel it is safe to do so then the commitment to doing things better can be - Trainer and Motivational Speaker being an optimist – it could take us a whole is particularly true when team members are strongest feelings and opinions emerge! secured. Frank Newberry looks at some of In Part 2 of this article (The 3 T’s) I want lifetime! working for the very first time on key issues These are usually but not exclusively about the pre-requisites to making the to review the three levels of learning and that really bug them - like communication, the allocation of work, how they are being Perhaps we all need to remember that training we give (and get) more consider how all three need to be engaged It is, however, both meaningful and teamwork, individual and team morale treated by other team members and how training does not have to be something meaningful. if any investment in training is to be reasonable to ask people to ‘adopt’ a and other key factors affecting their they rate the employer and those people that one person ‘does’ to another. It can worthwhile and meaningful. particular attitude in the workplace. I performance. currently in management and supervision. and should be a partnership between In Part 1, we looked at how we can do recommend that if a particular attitude is supervisor or trainer and learner. It is for a better job of recalling essential facts ‘Knowledge and Awareness’ a requirement then we should write it into me a sobering thought that supervisors for vocational tests and examinations. I level a person’s job description. For example or trainers are always judged by the know that even those of us who believe The lowest learning level is the ‘Knowledge we might state that a ‘positive attitude to answers to simple questions like: ‘Were the we have poor memories will taste and Awareness’ level. To teach someone health and safety’ is essential in the job. We employer’s requirements met?’. ‘Were the success if we make the effort to commit to be able to recognise the most suitable might also require people to have a ‘friendly trainee’s learning objectives met? things to memory. Our memories are tool for a particular task can take just disposition’ towards other people including perfect – it is our recall systems that are seconds or maybe a minute or two. Just colleagues, customers and officials. Good luck with the training you give and imperfect. The five recall reminders from about any experienced member of the get in the workplace. Part 1 were: work team can train people at this level of Supervisors and trainers do not learning. Junior members of the team might have to worry about changing 1 no note taking, no reliable recall find it meaningful if supervisors were to attitudes 2 no reviewing of notes taken, no delegate training at this level to them. With this requirement pre-requisite in place reliable recall – supervisors and trainers do not have to 3 no tidy organisation of notes and ‘Skills and Ability’ level worry about changing attitudes; we can study materials, no reliable recall The second highest learning level is the confine ourselves to the relevant actions Frank Newberry 4 no context or understanding of how ‘Skills and Ability’ level. To teach someone and observable behaviour that constitute www.franknewberry.com the learning is applied, no reliable to be able to identify correctly a tricky health friendliness towards others. For example recall and safety situation (and recommend a – being polite, offering help, encouraging 5 no effort and no energy, no reliable remedy) or operate a particular machine people and so on. recall. can take longer than a few minutes. It might take an hour, a day or even longer This is so important because whenever I depending on the level of skill we want the ask employers which level of learning is the learner to achieve. most important to them after an employee has been working for six months – the If training is to be seen as relevant and response is always the same. It is level meaningful to the learner it is vital, at the three - disposition and attitude. start of any training activity, that the learner is absolutely clear what his or her learning objectives are. Is the objective to just raise awareness (level one) or is it to see the learner skilfully operate a complex and valuable machine (level two)?

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The teams undertake a variety of duties Emergency in addition to their medical rescue. Depending on the log and scope of All in a day’s work work for each shift, these range from Response Teams refuelling generators and clearing guano In particular, HSSE has fostered a keen The ERT Crew to changing bulbs for the navigation aids. interest in developing safer working 24 hour cover Each of these tasks is essential to ensure (ERTs) Not for the faint hearted methods; the result of this has been the The company provides 24 hour cover for the 160 turbines avoid downtime and are It’s not an easy life working in an ERT; introduction of the Emergency Response Name: the 160 turbines and working vessels, and continually operational. each member is constantly put through Team service. Despite managing numerous Phil Keating guarantee that at any given time an ERT We have been featuring Hughes Sub their paces in a rigorous training regime, high profile projects and providing diving, crew will be no more than 4 miles from the Refuelling Surface Engineering within our pages covering all types of rescue. They taste the roped-access, confined space and ERT Company: windfarm. Personnel can be safe in the Assets often require refuelling - not for a number of years now and the full spectrum of offshore life, climbing as high works, the company maintains a small staff Hughes Sub Surface Engineering knowledge that, should an emergency arise, the easiest of tasks considering the company has grown considerably over as the highest turbine engineers and often and friendly atmosphere which extends to an emergency medical crew can be on the environment! Once reaching the turbine, that period. getting as wet as any diver on the ocean employees and clients alike. Position: scene in moments (there is roughly 1 team the team climbs 80 ft to the top of the floor – through long 12 hour shifts and Project Manager/Crew Team Leader for every 60 personnel at full capacity). Transition Piece, ropes the fuel hose to Offshore medical provision is an extremely relentless working conditions in bad weather The future the structure up to the important part of the offshore support systems (if an emergency requires it), the The future aims and objectives of HSSE are Preparation, Preparation, platform, and refuels the structure and the company has grown this ERT is always at the forefront of the medical manifold: the company wishes to maintain Preparation generator; on a good day side of the business to meet the needs of response in the field, and often picks up its growth and strong reputation in the It was the day after the night before - severe (weather-permitting) up to the wind energy industry. smaller essential duties. renewable energy sector. It also continues storms had been battering the south of 1200 litres of fuel can be to provide a high quality service and sharpen England, and in the aftermath I caught delivered to each turbine, Round the clock response Company growth safe working practices. With their sights up with Phil Keating, Crew Team Leader with a maximum of 10 Since deciding to branch out into the field of Hughes Sub Surface Engineering has grown set on North Sea expansion, there could of Hughes Subsurface Engineering’s turbines per day. offshore medical provision, there has been rapidly since its inception in 2005. Based soon be several other HSSE offices at work Emergency Response Team (ERT). five hardworking teams (of three men each) in Bootle, Liverpool in the North-West of across the UK. It seems that in our growing Less Glamorous working twenty four hours around the clock England, the company is in a prime location industry – with many years of life ahead – Aftermath One of the less in response to any emergencies at Gwynt y for the offshore wind sector. Originally Hughes Sub-Surface is a key player which is In the rough seas following the storm, glamorous duties HSSE Mor windfarm in North Wales. working from just one tiny unit on local civil here to stay. Phil and his crew were ‘weathered out’. perform is the cleaning of engineering works (canals and docks), the They wait patiently for an improvement in guano from the nacelles Regardless of complexity or distance, the company acquired several nationwide civils conditions before making the two hour and structures, an ERTs can always be relied upon to reach contracts and began to move into work on journey offshore to the Gwynt Y Mor essential (if overlooked) the site of an incident as quickly as possible power stations and outages, offering both To get a bit more windfarm; these periods of downtime A typical day… task. The biggest culprits of spreading to provide first aid and assistance in an diving and confined space services. information about the real provide opportune moments to undertake if there is such a thing! guano are seagulls and cormorants; emergency. world of working within an thorough equipment checks and run their deposits are extremely destructive Wind industry ERT Crew we follow one of through medical training exercises and drills. To ensures continual cover, shift and corrosive to the turbines, and high HSSE is now hard at work in the renewables HSSE’s crew members… patterns are: pressure hoses and full mask and sector, specialising in wind farms and Each member of the team has a • 0600 hours - 1800 hours protective clothing are required during enjoying a position as an industry leader. The background in either military, fire service • 0900 hours - 2100 hours the cleansing of the area. It is often company is passionate about supporting the or coastguard experience, and each has • 1200 hours - 2400 hours necessary to undertake guano cleaning development of the renewables industry as high level medical qualifications. They have prior to installation of turbines too. a viable energy alternative, and takes great undertaken intensive training, from rope At the start of the shift each team has a pride in providing high quality services to the rescue and confined space training to swift handover, consults the logbook, checks This is just a brief snap shot of the duties sector. water rescue and co-ordination of helicopter work permits and completes another series the ERT perform; when speaking to evacuation, and should the occasion arise of exhaustive and essential checks on Phil his sense of humour, modesty and the team is prepared for any eventuality. equipment. dedication are abundant. I imagine these to be common traits throughout his crew The crew - all necessary to manage their high risk Each crew comprises a team leader, 2 responsibilities and take everything in their medical technicians, the transfer vessel stride skipper and a deck hand. Health & safety of personnel is of the utmost importance, and whilst offshore all personnel are tracked Fliss Chaffer via a database maintained by the Marine Interviewer Controller, in addition to the AIS GPS Wind Energy network system. Click to view more info

= Click to view video

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Age old company offers Servicing the full service support to Humber’s newest industry

needs of the wind As the Humber’s renewable energy sector gathers pace, an age old Hull company is gearing up to take full advantage of energy industry the estuary’s revival. Holistic approach The offshore wind industry has a core Built from robust technology used within the James Fisher and Sons plc While some firms have invested in wind farm support vessels, Rix requirement to improve reliability, harsh marine environment, OWMS™ is a James Fisher and Sons plc, the UK’s Shipping – which can trace its roots on the Humber back 140 safety and efficiency in wind farm comprehensive, web accessible monitoring leading marine services provider, supports years – is taking a more holistic approach to wind farm support The tank was installed to accommodate a growth in boats serving operations whilst reducing costs and and control architecture that covers a full customers in the development, deployment services. the offshore industry from the port, which is used by Siemens and delivering value. range of transfer vessel activities. These and operation of offshore tidal arrays. Centrica. Maritime Bunkering’s barges are also being called upon activities include crew and vessel tracking, Strainstall, a part of James Fisher and In October last year the company launched Rix Sea Shuttle, the to refuel more vessels associated with the wind farm industry in Furthermore, specific challenges facing fuel consumption monitoring, real-time Sons plc, is recognised as a world leader latest company in the J.R. Rix & Sons group, on the back of a the Humber. crew vessel managers and offshore integration of meteorological and wave data, in innovative load measurement and £7.5m order for five crew support vessels to work along the east decision makers include the need to vessel performance monitoring and CCTV. monitoring solutions and has provided coast and in Europe. “The offshore industry is presenting us with a variety of enhance safety during vessel transfers, extensive services to the offshore opportunities across our business,” Mr Doyle said. “Whether that effective planning and monitoring of vessels The OWMS™ supports operator decision renewables industry. Alexandra Dock is shipping, storage or fuel our intention is to unlock the potential and personnel and the management making by providing real-time data from But the firm’s services in Hull extend far beyond that, taking in within the sector by bringing to it all the skills and services that of technicians, crews, major tools and various sources, infield and interfield, to Strainstall fuel provision to port management and storage and warehousing have made this company a success for the past 140 years.” strategic spares. enable interactive, responsive and safe facilities on land close to Alexandra Dock – an area earmarked for assessments to be made. Overall, to redevelopment for businesses in the renewables industry. Rix Shipping Offshore Wind Management ensure that we meet the continued and System relentless drive to reduce costs whilst Complete range Click to view more info In response to these industry needs and retaining value over the lifetime of the asset, “Our intention has always been to develop a complete range of challenges, Strainstall has introduced an we need systems that support practical on and offshore support services,” said James Doyle, Managing integrated marine management system and pragmatic evaluation of options Director of Rix Shipping. covering a broad range of wind farm selected on a real time basis, which is activities, enabling the effective monitoring exactly what the OWMS™ delivers. “We have a long heritage of operating ships and barges on the and management of tool, vessel and Humber, it has been a core service of the Rix Group for more personnel performance whilst ensuring than a century, so it was a natural step for us to enter the wind more cost effective and safe operations. farm vessel sector too.

“J.R. & Sons is a diverse business so we felt there were other things we could bring to the industry. As the offshore industry attracts more companies to the Humber we have created warehousing facilities for those companies. If they need temperature controlled storage, we can supply it. If they need workshops to service or develop technical equipment, again, we can supply it.

“It is about offering support that starts onshore at the port and goes right the way through to when the engineers step off the boat to work on the turbines.”

Wind farm support vessels delivery Currently Rix Sea Shuttle has taken delivery of three wind farm support vessels – the Rix Cheetah, Rix Panther and the Rix Tiger – with a further two to be delivered next year.

Each aluminium vessel is crewed and operated by Rix, can carry up to 12 technicians and is capable of reaching speeds of up to 30 knots. But it is not just in shipping that Rix is looking to conquer the renewables industry. The other major aspect of the business is fuel – ranging from residential heating oil to marine gas oil to commercial diesel and lubricants – and that makes up an important part of the company’s service provision too.

Investment Recently Maritime Bunkering Ltd – another Rix firm – invested £100,000 in installing a second double-skinned 100 m3 fuel tank on the Port of Grimsby East, in a joint venture with Grimsby Fish Dock Enterprises. 84 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 85 Offshore Support Services feature sponsor feature sponsor Offshore Support Services

The whole process is carried out in a closed Partnerships Approaching 20 years of wind loop system, which allows the company to Achieving so much Seajacks has also partnered with other guarantee their work is meeting the DIN ISO industry leaders to provide a range of end- turbine oil changes 4406 standard for oil cleanliness at point of to-end services to its client, including the fill regardless of oil type or manufacturer. in such a short time installation of scour protection and noise As the first company in the world to Huge industry benefit mitigation measures. These measures carry out wind turbine oil changes This self-contained method will prove to be World first Since 2009, Seajacks vessels have ‘Seajacks Scylla’, due for delivery 2014 and ensured the company could install the over 19 years ago via their specialised of huge benefit to the industry as the system In early August Peter Lonsdorfer became installed more than 260 wind turbine 2015 respectively. components efficiently with the least impact truck mounted oil pumping system and has been proven to be much safer and less the first company worldwide to complete generators, which provides more than on the local marine environment. now Europe’s leading provider of on- time consuming than the traditional method, this offshore wind turbine combined gear 800MW to the grid, and in that time they Current project shore wind turbine oil changes, Peter as there is no longer any need for winching and hydraulic oil change, and since then have developed experienced offshore Currently, Seajacks is acting as Main Lifting services Lonsdorfer are delighted to be at the 20 litre drums up and down from a vessel to they have continued to do so day on day marine crews and engineering teams. Installation Contractor for WindMW’s An all-encompassing strategy of lifting the turbine nacelle to drain and will be working right through the winter services throughout the project was delivered. and fill gear and hydraulic months for their customers moving on one This strategy included the production of systems by hand, as offshore wind farm site after another to lift plans, onsite management for lifting well as eliminating the ensure a safe, clean and the time critical operations, project guidance and advice chances of contamination service process is met. at the pre-engineering, engineering and by carrying out the oil execution stages, project method statements exchanges in a closed Versatility and procedures, risk assessment for all types loop system from vessel The company’s modular fully enclosed of lifting and project operations, onshore and to turbine. and bunded offshore oil change units can offshore site audits and report. be fitted to any vessel, and can be used Time savings for single day trips from port to turbine for Vital experience While in many cases on complete oil changes, or are also able to Working at Meerwind has provided the the larger offshore wind facilitate 24 hour operations on a 12 hour company with vital experience for technically turbines the gear oil shift rota for as much as four weeks at a challenging future projects. With an changing process alone time at sea without the need for the vessel to expected completion date of February 2014, can take up to three days return to port to be replenished with new oil. this eighty 3.6MW Siemens turbine project is by hand, the company’s well on track. average completion time They see this process now being on these same large demanded by most wind turbine Using this experience, Seajacks is dedicated offshore wind turbines manufacturers and owners, and will be an to becoming the leading service provider is less than eight hours essential part of the offshore wind industry for the installation, maintenance, repair, for the combined gear for years to come. hook-up and commissioning of offshore and hydraulic system oil wind farms in Europe. changes. Peter Lonsdorfer 5 vessels by 2015 Meerwind Offshore Wind Park in the forefront of the wind industry yet again Seajacks currently owns and operates 3 German Bight, supplying Seajacks Leviathan Seajacks by being the first company to carry out Unlike the traditional method, their unique Click to view more info self-propelled jack-up vessels, ‘Seajacks and Seajacks Zaratan to work together in a vessel mounted combined gear and pumping system allows them to offline Kraken’, ‘Seajacks Leviathan’ and ‘Seajacks tandem installing all 80 monopiles, transition hydraulic oil change on an offshore preheat and filter the new oil in their purpose Zaratan’ and have commissioned two pieces and WTGs at the site. wind turbine, using their specialised built Stainless Steel tanks, which prevents = Click to view video additional vessels, ‘Seajacks Hydra’ and vessel mounted pumping system. it being damaged or degraded in any way.

15.3m catamaran ‘MV Lia’ in 2004, and the New survey vessel for Osiris Projects aforementioned ‘MV Bibby Tethra’ in 2011. The success of Bibby Tethra, particularly Specialist seabed mapping company Equipment Lifting winch in challenging sea conditions, has led the Osiris Projects recently launched the The vessel is equipped with high grade A separate hydraulic lifting winch enables company to pursue the build of a sister 5th vessel in their fleet, the 14.0m GRP positioning systems including an Inertial oceanographic and benthic survey equipment ship to be built to the same fundamental catamaran MV Proteus. Navigation System (INS) and acoustic Ultra to be launched and recovered from the design with a number of minimal alterations Short Baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning vessel including small inspection class ROV/ scheduled for launch in January 2015. Specification system for towfish tracking. The large back drop down camera, various grab sampling Designed to provide an excellent working deck features a moon pool fitted with a equipment and benthic trawls. Additional Both Lia and Freja have also proven highly platform for coastal survey operations, MV hydraulic retractable hydrodynamic gondola custom designed over side mounts and davits effective in coastal environments, and Proteus can work up to 60 miles from a designed to house a high grade multibeam allows for the vessel to be configured for a have completed over 200 marine survey safe haven under MCA Category 2 and has echo sounder systems. range of client requirements. This capability contracts for marine renewables and oil and a maximum speed of 24 knots. The vessel optimises consistency between datasets gas clients alone. benefits from a shallow draft of just 1.0m Proteus is permanently mobilised with an acquired by Proteus and Osiris Projects’ making her ideal for inshore operations, AGO-CSW7 electric sonar winch which 24hr vessels; 27.5m DP1 flagship ‘MV Bibby Osiris Projects while the hull design ensures exceptional when combined with the hydraulic A-Frame, Tethra’ and 26.5m ‘MV Chartwell’. manoeuvrability at both low and high allows for the safe launch and recovery of Click to view more info speeds and incorporates a low drag profile geophysical equipment including side scan Sister vessels providing excellent fuel economy. sonar, sub bottom profilers and marine Proteus is the 4th custom build project magnetometers. undertaken by Osiris Projects, following the launch of 12.0m ‘MV Freja’ in 2002,

86 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 87 Offshore Support Services feature sponsor feature sponsor Offshore Support Services Triple vessel Bespoke equipment contract success for offshore projects Tidal Transit has announced that the enabled this young North Norfolk company company have been awarded its third to commission the construction of a fourth Tyne and Wear Marine ltd (TWM) is a Because the MPPTS is completely road TWM has an extensive range of equipment 18-month vessel charter contract by vessel with Spanish boat builder Mercurio North East of England based business transportable it can be taken almost to support the activities in the Offshore Scira Offshore Energy Limited. This will Plastics. and has been involved in supporting anywhere without the need for a good Industry and has available for hire the see the Eden Rose working alongside the offshore sector by utilising a range weather window. modular pushing tug system, stand- off its sister vessels Ginny Louise and Kitty Petra of bespoke equipment which they have pontoons and a variety of fenders. Tia Elizabeth transporting turbine Kitty Petra will be constructed to the same designed having anticipated the need of Recent projects include… technicians from the Outer Harbour in specification as her three sister vessels, clients operating in the offshore industry. • transporting a 96 ton Liebherr Crane – Over recent months there has been an Wells-next-the-Sea to the Sheringham and she is expected to arrive in the UK in this 96 ton crane was transported from increase in offshore support services Shoal Offshore Wind Farm to carry out early Spring 2014. Modular Pontoon Pushing Tug the Liebherr factory in Sunderland, resulting in extending their range of planned maintenance. System (MPPTS) Deptford area to Corporation Quay to equipment to serve the needs of the industry In confirming this latest vessel construction will go straight to work when she arrives TWM’s MPPTS consisting of 8 pontoons continue its journey by ship to Hartlepool and have recently transported equipment to Long term business relationship contract, Leo commented, “Activity in the UK next year.” with a unique dovetail locking system, and for delivery to a gas platform for the the River Tees and Blyth. Leo Hambro, Tidal Transit’s Commercial associated with offshore wind farms in twin engines of 180hp, enables moving large Cygnus Project. Director said, “We are delighted with this the waters surrounding the UK is frenetic. And concluded, “The majority of offshore pieces of equipment with more ease and Tyne and Wear Marine latest contract. Our vessels are supremely A number of wind farms are already in wind farm operators have a 50 year cost effectiveness. The limited water depth of the River Wear suited to the job they do in the sometimes operation and we are delighted that Tidal licence from the Crown Estate, so daily which is due to lack of dredging because Click to view more info unreliable conditions of the North Sea. We Transit’s existing fleet of three rugged, high routine maintenance is going to play The benefits of using this equipment for of the declining ship industry, makes the were part of Scira’s operation during the specification PTVs has been chosen to a huge role in the output efficiency of clients are (a) it enables large pieces of shallow draft of TWM’s modular pontoon building stage, and it is a huge testament provide daily 12-hour charter transport for all offshore wind farms. Transporting equipment to be moved in one piece and system ideal for projects of this nature. to the vessels and to the company, that the turbine technicians who maintain the technicians to the wind farms to (b) the equipment can be transported 4 of these large cranes are currently now, with all three vessels under contract, Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm.” undertake that work will therefore create a by water. This removes the need and programmed in for the immediate future and we are playing an even greater role in the high demand for safe, reliable vessels for associated costs in these types of projects require transporting, resulting in savings in planned operation and maintenance of the Lincolnshire and East Anglia many years to come.” in having to dismantle the equipment after time and costs. Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm.” Leo continued, “Construction is building in order to transport it by road, then scheduled to commence on at least Tidal Transit rebuilding and testing it once it has reached • transporting two 43 ton Cable Further investment – vessel five other major offshore wind energy its destination. spooling Manipulators – these Cable number 4 power plants off the coast of Lincolnshire Click to view more info spooling Manipulators were transported The company has also made a further and East Anglia over the next 18/24 from A & P Tyne in Hebburn, where they investment in expanding its offshore wind months, and there is already a demand were constructed, to Shepherds farm personnel vessel fleet. for suitable vessels to support these = Click to view video 1 offshore Technology Park for Duco projects for tasks including seabed in Wallsend Tyne and Wear once again, The charter demand for the latest generation surveys and met-mast installation and = Click to view video 2 savings in time and costs. of offshore wind farm Personnel Transport maintenance. I have every confidence Vessels [PTVs] from Tidal Transit Limited has that, like her sister vessels, Kitty Petra

88 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 89 QUO VADIS CONFERENCE QUO VADIS CONFERENCE

With many of the delegates being regular Networking and Exhibition attendees at Quo Vadis this has created Quo Vadis followed again the successful a real feeling of community at the annual format of previous years with short gatherings. This reflects the nature of our presentations and Q&A sessions and long conference and speakers industry which is young and closely knit. breaks for networking in the adjoining Quo Vadis Kevin Donovan used this platform to Indeed, the presentation from Chris Smith exhibition area where the host (GWA announce a major change to his company (RES) highlighted the development that Supplies) and co-host (SKF) as well as the Windpower Renewable Solutions (WRS): our industry is undergoing – from its early other main sponsors showed their products Conference This event was to be the official launch of pioneering, non-conformist beginnings, to and services: GL Garrad Hassan (now DNV the new venture GWA Supplies with WRS an industry that is maturing with improved GL), GasTOPS Canada, Hove A/S, KK becoming fully integrated into the new capabilities but also increasing challenges Electronics, Morgan A&M, Winergy, and company. Kevin also introduced his partner to incorporate professional standards and ZF. David Morgan, Business Manager Wind Berlin 2013 in GWA Supplies, Clifford McSpadden. practices into everyday business. Service from ZF Services UK Ltd was again very pleased with Quo Vadis and voiced his opinion: “It is a fantastic opportunity for us to meet our customers, some of whom Quo Vadis Conference, the we haven’t seen in a while. As mentioned annual convention for wind before ZF Services think this is a very farm owners and operators worthwhile conference and we will continue hosted by Kevin and Sigrid The to support it through sponsorship in 2014.” Donovan of GWA Supplies, was held in Berlin this year. By invitation only conference Now in its 7th year, this by-invitation-only conference has grown to become a key event for the industry and an attraction for regular attendees. 86 delegates came to Berlin, including some 40 representatives from 23 utility companies. GWA Supplies are members of the Global Wind Alliance which was well represented with 7 member companies attending, and with Clifford McSpadden who is Chairman of the GWA, moderating the conference as he has done for the past few years. Chairman Clifford McSpadden ensures the conference delegates are awake!

The pre event dinner goes The conference was then officially opened official Sky High by Daniel Rutstein, Director General of UK conference Quo Vadis is so much more than just a Trade & Investment based in Berlin. hall of fame conference. The two day event began with This was followed by a number of The sense of a tour of Berlin with a very knowledgeable, professional presentations from leaders in community was enthusiastic and amusing tour guide. For their field and from executives of the major reinforced with the evening meal everybody had high utility companies… the introduction of the ‘Hall of Fame’. Sigrid Summary worth their while. This year we have set a expectations, even more so as they were Donovan inducted three people into this Feedback has been excellent with many new milestone with 3 delegates travelling dining 207m above the Berlin skyline in • Paul Meaney, SKF – Upgrading Versus place of honour for having attended every delegates choosing Quo Vadis Conference all the way from New Zealand. We are the rotating restaurant of the 220m high Replacing one of the 7 Quo Vadis Conferences. They as their number one event in the year. Kevin fortunate that our loyal sponsors and new TV Tower. This all provided a relaxed • thomas Stalin, Vattenfall – Converter are Huw Smallwood (Tegni), Jon Beresford Donovan commented: “As always, we have ones help us to finance the event as this is environment to network within the group. So Failures (E.ON), and Steve Higman (REG). As well tried to make everything as interesting and will always be for invited guests only.” by the time the conference started on day • Chis Smith, RES – Adding Value to Wind as getting their faces up on the screen – for and special as we can. This industry is two, there was already a strong sense of O&M which they will or will not be eternally grateful unique and the people involved are equally Global Wind Alliance community. • Brian Darnell, GL Garrad Hassan – – they received a silver plated model wind unique. As more and more people come Performance Monitoring turbine. Michael Bermingham (ESB) and and spend two days of their precious time • olivier Gaget, Offshore Wind Power Steve Clarke (devCo) were appointed to the with us we have to deliver and make it Consulting – From Offshore Wind Farm Anteroom of Fame for participating in 6 of Construction to O&M the 7 Quo Vadis Conferences. • stephan Diedrich, KK Electronics – How to Increase the Energy Output of Older Wind Turbines

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The project office, processing plant and A Transparent And Practical And Finally... fabrication facilities are based around Approach During our conversation it is abundantly Richmond, North Yorkshire, which benefit Philip likens their mantra to ‘the company clear that Philip and his team have the The Inside from electricity generated from its own does what it says on the tin’ providing energy, drive, enthusiasm and dynamism turbine, biomass heating and to boot a solutions to very challenging situations! to grow and succeed in this innovative ‘right rural’ view of a large lake! and fast moving industry. The company Another such project they completed was certainly does seem to have ‘the bit Cable Protection Solutions for another offshore wind farm requiring between their teeth.’ Subsea Energy Solution provide a full suite the creation of equipment at the base of Story of solutions for subsea cable protection the monopile. At times the glacier sea bed The companies ingrained ethics, morals, When we speak to business leaders on our travels to conferences and exhibitions and have on many occasions been at makes piling challenging and difficult to drill, integrity, fairness and honesty, I found we often discuss their success in growing their companies. The dynamic nature the drawing board producing prototypes, this is known as ‘piling refusal’. simply astonishing and incredibly refreshing of the industry lends itself very well to small start-up companies which become performing system integration trials, and Wind Energy Network wish Subsea SME’s within sometimes an astonishingly short period of time. producing pre-production units, performing In such circumstances the jack hammer Energy Solutions every success for the factory acceptance trails (also liaising with has to be removed and a very large drill future. When Fliss, our intrepid interviewer, arrived Control Of Your Own Destiny university’s and testing innovative ideas) dropped inserted within the centre of the back in the office from her latest assignment The ethos behind Subsea Energy Solutions leading to full-scale production units. monopile. The challenge was to seal the Fliss Chaffer she suggested that due to the nature of her was simply to be in control of their own 45 degree elliptical cable entry hole. Interviewer meeting with Philip Stanyon from Subsea destiny. The company is thankful for all past Since the company’s inception I’m Divers oversaw the procedure to ensure Wind Energy Network Energy Solutions she highly recommended experiences good & bad that have let to personally aware the Directors have the resulting seabed slush and sediment that we introduce a new feature, so here is the creation of Subsea Energy Solutions. developed very strong relationships with escaping was effectively controlled Click to view more info the very first ‘Inside Story’. The company Director’s have long all their clients and have undertaken and thus pumped away in the correct bespoke design work right through to the environmental manner. Please feel free to contact us if you manufacture and installation of numerous would like to be featured in a future projects. Various design of sealing units were edition and we will do the rest. required by the project and divers to suit Other bespoke solutions have now also various project parameters. Again, this New Beginnings been installed on RWE Npower offshore demonstrates pure bespoke solutions and As Subsea Energy Solutions has wind farms, E.on offshore wind farms and delivering on a strict schedule. only been established since March Vattenfall offshore wind farms. All projects 2012 as a direct consequence have represented ‘pure & bespoke design’, The company offered the client design, to industry demand, it is worthy i.e. never ever having been undertaken testing, 3D animations and technical / of a massive pat on the back to before within the industry. installation specifications informing divers those involved for having gained what to do using a step-by-step guide such a reliable, trustworthy and Philip continues that in many instances followed to the letter. The first unit took only dependable reputation in such a companies come to them simply out of 45 minutes to install and was considered a short space of time. delivery schedule necessity, ‘a don’t know text book operation. where to turn next’ scenario, which is just However, complacency certainly the challenge the highly flexible company With all enquiries Subsea Energy Solutions does not feature in Sales Director relishes and thrives upon. ensure a 24 hour response. Philip Stanyon’s vocabulary ‘dynamic not static’ ever evolving to Case Study SUBFLEX™ meet the consistently altering demands and desired to take client service to another One of their clients came to them with one Philip goes on to say their unique cable requirements of their customers to provide level, beyond they feel the reach of most such challenge for an offshore wind farm, protection system SUBFLEX™ is now going an ongoing professional, competitive, companies. Collectively, Philip, the partners needing to be mobilised and within two and from strength to strength offering clients cost-effective, fully bespoke and most and employees have well over 100 years half weeks. The requirement was to replace not only extremely cost effective, enhanced importantly a personal service. experience and shall bring every year of and protect an export cable. Subsea cable protection, rapid installation but also experience to bear. Energy Solutions set to and sketched a fully eliminating maintenance requirements. Offering design, manufacture, testing and design which was approved and custom- SUBFLEX™ is likened to a human spine, supply of cable protection solutions and Employing 15 plus personnel, the company made. An extremely high risk project, the central cable is protected by a sheath subsea equipment to ISO 9001:2008 contains skill sets of design, project however clarification was received from of flexible polyurethane which enhances standards for the offshore sector; management, documentation, machining, offshore that the project was seamless, strength and extends the design life of array renewable and oil and gas, I was certainly welding, fabrication and polyurethane setting a precedent within the industry. & export cables. keen to find out a lot more about this highly processing coupled with highly trained dynamic multi-million pound turnover Lloyds Registered coded welders also The Future company. providing aluminium welding. Contracts have now been signed to relocate to a brand new factory and Already acquiring a plethora of blue chip consolidate the project office and all clients the Directors pledge to maintain this manufacturing facilities allowing for even vein with a ‘can always do attitude’ and increased efficiencies and to maintain and insist in continuing the direct impact within secure more major offshore contracts. the industry.

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Partnership benefits not require a j-tube and utilises a remote GES Group Managing Director, David Tekmar wins Dong Energy’s installation method. This provides enhanced Preventive and predictive Moore, said, “In the past, prior to our cable life and resilience – reducing the partnership with Avex Cable Jointing, test Westermost Rough Contract risk of damage and requirement for maintenance programmes procedures were systematic, timely and maintenance and expensive due to the traditional methods The world’s leading cable protection cost saving on Northern Ireland based Electrical and frequency of the output can also be reduced and technology used by the industry as company for the offshore wind foundation. Mechanical Engineering Company allowing even larger capacitance loads standard. Now we can pin-point cable industry, Tekmar Energy, has been makes a considerable investment in to be tested. At 0.02Hz, approx. 50,000 failures of various categories and lengths awarded a cable protection contract Tried and new and innovative testing technology. ft./15,000m of cable can be tested. within a few hours of arriving on site. This by DONG Energy for the Westermost tested Grants Electrical Services Ltd (GES is a major step forward for GES and for Rough Offshore Wind Farm. Over the past five Group) aims to provide the best in Investment the industry. Down-time results in major years Tekmar preventive and predictive maintenance The recent £40,000 investment also costs and losses of revenue so we are Situated eight kilometres off the coast of has installed programmes by building powerful included the purchase of the MFM10 Sheath very pleased that technological investment Hull, Westermost Rough windfarm will more than 2,000 partnerships with their clients Tester and Fault Locator. Cable sheath and our partnership will play a major cover an area of 35 sq km, generating cable protection through investment, innovation and testing is vital in preventative maintenance proactive role in preventative trend analysis 210MW of electricity – enough to supply systems and collaboration with their key strategic of electricity supply to low and high voltage to many network owners, while providing 200,000 homes. The scheme is part of the has a further partners. Working closely with their cable networks. confidence that we are available to react UK’s Round 2 of wind farm projects. Once 1,000 in design HV cable jointing partner, Avex Cable should the unfortunate occurrence of complete, the Westermost Rough OWF will or manufacture Jointing Ltd, the company are the first The MFM10 incorporates pre-location cable failures exist.” be the first wind farm in the world to use for the 26 in Northern Ireland to use some of to speed-up fault location on large cable Siemens 6MW turbines on a commercial windfarms it has the most advanced HV test systems runs. An intact polymeric cable sheath is a Grants Electrical Services Ltd scale. been involved in available on the market. prerequisite for across Europe. the avoidance Bespoke cable coverings VLF testing of water ingress Tekmar Energy, headquartered in Newton Founded in GES Group and Avex provide VLF testing on and subsequent Aycliffe, County Durham, will provide bespoke “This is a significant project for us to be 1985, the firm initially specialised in oil and newly installed high voltage cables on wind cable faults in low coverings to protect the infield and export involved in and the fifth time we have gas before moving into the expanding turbines and solar farms using the HVA60 and high voltage cables from exposure to loads, deformations worked with DONG Energy. We will offshore renewables industry when it VLF test set - the lightest, most compact cable networks and fatigue during installation and over the be supplying Westermost Rough OWF developed bespoke cable protection instrument of its type on the market that the pre-location 35-turbine windfarm’s service life. with our Teklink cable protection system systems for cables connecting wind has the highest power to weight ratio of any and pinpointing which brings a range of benefits when turbines. comparable device. of cable sheath Chief Executive James Richie said: “The compared to more traditional cable, faults prevent Westermost Rough project will play an installation and protection.” Tekmar is fully QHSE compliant and has Specifications ageing, faults and important role in reducing CO2 emissions obtained ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 The HVA60 is capable of testing capacitive stresses that are and contribute towards the UK achieving No j-tube requirement accreditations. loads up to 1µF (approx.10,000 ft. / 3000m a consequence its targets of electricity generation from In comparison with other subsea cable of cable) at 0.1Hz and 60kV peak and the of water ingress. renewable energy schemes. installations, Tekmar’s Teklink system does Tekmar

EA Technology unveils the introduction of the “The CableData Collector CableData Collector, provides a solution to the new system to identify testing for PD in cables damaging potential issue of becomes far easier and power outage resulting from partial discharge in more cost efficient. PD and is a non-intrusive and low-cost way to maintain live cables “PD can be a major factor assets.” in substation failures CableData Collector supplies insulated cables and is caused by a CableData Analysis intelligence without disrupting supply up to several miles number of cable defects, Studio software by detecting high including insulation The CableData Collector is able An innovative new piece of equipment to frequency pulses deterioration, faulty joints, to record PD activity through the detect Partial Discharge (PD) in live electrical generated by PD poor terminations and use of the CableData Analysis cables before they fail has been unveiled by events within the mechanical damage. Studio. Sold separately, the power engineering specialist EA Technology. cable. Detecting PD early can software produces reports help achieve major savings showing the severity of PD Developed by the North West-based firm, Portable, robust for Network Operators by activity and supplies information the CableData Collector will enable electrical and lightweight, enabling them to make on the condition of assets engineers to identify PD in cables that are the CableData Collector detects and Easier and more cost efficient more informed decisions on which to base failure risk online, avoiding potential disruption. records PD activity. Through CableData Siôn Hughes, Development Engineer about managing their assessment and decisions on Analysis Studio software, a report can at EA Technology, said: “For Network assets, whether through remedial action or replacement. Pioneering new equipment be produced to assess the condition of Operators, it is of the utmost importance replacement or smarter The pioneering new equipment can cables and the likelihood of failure and to keep any power outages on their maintenance. EA Technology identify potential issues in most types of outages in power lines. network to an absolute minimum; with

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much of what are now industry standard Delivering great things Cable Protection Subsea trenching means of burying cables and launching Robbie continues, “We care a lot about and recovering trenching assets. our culture at OP, about creating an Systems and the right tools environment where engineers are for the job “Trenching jobs are by their nature rather empowered to deliver great things. We their importance diverse, as soil conditions, water depths, maintain an open, communicative and Effective cable installation and products, sea conditions, vessels and mutually supportive environment where for offshore protection for offshore wind projects environmental constraints all vary from our engineers operate to lean systems remains a challenge and is one of the project to project. Contractors need to be and processes and without demarcated installations key risks in constructing a project. The increasingly flexible to be able to bid for departments, allowing us to meet our suitability of a project’s burial tools, and carry out a wide variety of potential clients commercial requirements without Cable Protection systems may only be a small portion of deployment means and cable handling jobs. Often projects call for subtle compromising our industry leading safety the CAPEX of an Offshore Wind Farm. However, it provides operations to the particular product modifications to clients’ assets to handle standards. a critical element in ensuring the reliability of all important and site, is vital in order to ensure an and bury a specific cable at a specific site cable which transmits the generated power back to land. export or inter array cable installation more effectively. “This flexible structure allows us to project is successful. move fast and respond dynamically to BPP Cables and Tekmar collaboration “At OP we have a uniquely broad customers’ evolving requirements, whilst BPP Cables have supported Tekmar, a leading manufacturer Reputation experience base covering many existing at all times maintaining engineering of cable protection systems for a number of years, by providing North East based engineering specialist trenching assets, be these ploughs, jetting rigour and control of quality. Engineering, reliable engineering analysis on their market-leading Teklink OSBIT Power, well known for its MaXccess ROVs or mechanical trenchers. Because particularly offshore engineering, is a system. This value-adding verification provides reassurance to offshore access systems, has developed a of this we are able to quickly understand creative and highly rewarding vocation clients – usually developers and installation contractors – that the reputation for fast and effective equipment client requirements and develop these and we encourage passion for what we cable protection solution selected will provide reliable service for upgrade and modification projects to into elegant, efficient and robust solutions do throughout the team; I believe that this the expected life of the wind farm. enable the industries trenching contractors often in very short time frames (typically passion and pride comes through in all the to complete their projects on spec, budget 16 weeks down to days).” projects we deliver.” Considerations and in time. Amongst the many factors to be considered when selecting a Projects OP continues to deliver modification and cable protection system are the existing environment and the Heritage OP’s trenching projects, like their clients, upgrade projects to a range of clients, potential changes over time, such as scour. Vibration and the Robbie Blakeman, OP Director, comments span both offshore wind, oil and gas and with the winter period being a traditionally inevitable marine growth also need to be considered. It is common on the company’s trenching heritage and subsea telecoms developments. Over busy time preparing assets for the coming within a windfarm array for there to be considerable variation of the needs of their clients, “OP’s Engineers the past two years OP has completed 12 installation season. operating depths and a “one-size-fits-all” product is rarely the and Directors have long and successful trenching related design and modification answer. track records in the offshore industry, with projects for clients such as Technip, OSBIT Power many having been instrumental in creating DeepOcean, Canyon and Modus. Experience Click to view more info With an extensive track record of manufacturing and installing cable protection systems, Tekmar is ideally placed to build on their success and have an investment R&D programme lead the market in product innovation.

BPP Cables, a subsidiary of BPP-TECH, a long-established energy sector engineering consultancy, provides high quality support to cables-related engineering. This ranges from our proprietary HV dynamic cable designs, through analysis and product development, to forensic analysis. Through the close working relationship between BPP Cables and Tekmar the team understands the technical requirements of the developers and full range of challenges new projects serve up.

Combined strengths Joined-up thinking The cooperation draws from the combined strengths to deliver The offshore wind supply chain is still relatively immature but by a well-designed, quality manufactured and executed CPS – is of working closer, with joined-up thinking, will assist in reducing greater value than the sum of the parts. costs and the industry becoming more competitive. The criticality of cables and their integrity has often been underestimated, but Clients are better informed of the challenges that cables face when recently there appears to be a growing desire to engineer out-risk installed offshore and the value of well designed cable protection at an early stage in the life cycle of projects. systems. This often means cable protection engineers are engaged at an early stage to address the specific areas of risk. BPP Cables

Through strong collaboration, BPP Cables and Tekmar are well Click to view more info placed to address the major industry concerns, with practical engineering analysis e.g. cable vibration in a monopile. This pioneering analysis by BPP Cables almost two years ago = Click to view video enabled specific vibration studies for a number of clients, all of whom have benefited from the results – based upon very robust methodologies – which BPP Cables delivered. Tekmar

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Dave Moss Dave Moss has been with Moventas for the last 5 years, based at the head office in aboutFinland. Over those years it became clear for Now that it is in the public domain the happy the need to have a presence in the UK. union of Moventas acquiring David Brown Wind gearbox business, I met with two men Previously, clients from Germany, Spain;, in the know, to find out in more detail what Portugal and Italy were being serviced from this means for the future and how it will Finland, which as a ‘green industry’ was benefit and impact on the wind industry. somewhat of a paradox, logistically and restraining time-wise. Dave Moss, Service Sales Manager of it!!! Moventas and James Clegg, now Service DB Wind UK (a Moventas Group Sales Manager of DB Wind UK formerly of Company) – Fliss Chaffer our intrepid David Brown Gears, educated me further... interviewer caught up with two of the company’s movers and shakers… The same vision From meeting these two gentlemen it In the meantime they continued to look into was abundantly clear that they both had several other companies, but there was to the ferocious enthusiasm and passion for be no signing on the dotted line. Alas, in what their now joined forces can offer the 2011 Moventas OY went into bankruptcy, industry, it was like having a although the Industrial Gear, Wind Gear conversation in Dolby stereo! and Service Business’ continued to operate succesfully. This is when Clyde Blowers Two peas from the same pod with the threw a life line, a leviathan within the same vision! Collectively this means engineering world who acquired Moventas, that the newly christened DB Wind UK Business history with the entrepreneurial Jim McColl at the will become a formidable global offshore Historically Moventas and David Brown helm bringing with it huge weight within the wind drivetrain force within engineering, Gears have always enjoyed a healthy and industry. manufacturing and the supply chain. competitive business relationship. Dave Moss mentions that for 3 years Moventas Working closely together, and having were looking for suitable partner companies mutual customers and with a combined for wind gearbox service in the UK, of expertise and experience, Moventas which David Brown was initially a serious having over 70 years of experience and in contender. However, at that time it was particular over 30 years in the wind industry thought their businesses models were too and David Brown an 150 years heritage it close and too competitive. was a foregone conclusion that this would be a successful union.

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Moventas has existing offshore gearbox technology for Areva with their 5MW turbine and the FusionDrive gear and generator combination for DeWind Developed and successfully tested in cooperation with The Switch another Finnish company. James Clegg James mentioned H.A.L.T (Highly Accelerated Lifetime Tests) which will be facilitated/ implemented at Narec where the full drive train (Nacelle) can undergo testing. Dave also mentioned, for their existing customer AREVA, who have had a Moventas 5MW gearbox in the nacelle for over a year, this has proven to be the one of the most successful tests ever, with no design changes required - which is a major Logistics and servicing coup and no mean feat! Dave Moss I was intrigued to learn the process undertaken when the gearboxes arrive for UK, Ireland & Europe service and repair and was duly educated. When asked what they would be The gearbox is stripped, inspected and focusing on over the coming months, initial reports are made in one area. Further both gentlemen were keen to implement more detailed inspection of components guarantees and unsurpassed service to is carried out in an inspection bay. Re- their customers. assembly of the gearboxes takes place in a Co-operation/collaboration clean build area. Though not there yet the goal is a service Marko Sormunen, from Moventas in guarantee to be in place in 2014 which Finland has already spent six months Access to the clean build area is through a is to undertake to complete any servicing in the Huddersfield service centre now double door system and air lock somewhat in less than 6 weeks, to respond to the providing technical support, working with the design and implementation of their own STAR TREK style. Currently re-assembled customer within 8 hours and a technician the existing David Brown team, establishing tooling used in up-tower processes not gears are spin tested and the oil during on site within 24 hours and also to assess and fine tuning workshop processes and previously thought possible. the spin test is continuously filtered and the situation, components/replacements procedures to bring them in line with other monitored. The oil filtration is carried out to gearbox within 72 hours Moventas Service Centres around the James Clegg states “With the acquisition ISO4406 15-12 standard this ensures all Dynamic duo world. The initial process was to provide of DB Wind UK the process continues – serviced gearboxes fully flushed and their Now in a position with the UK facility Not surprisingly it is a frenetic time and Moventas with a trusted partner in the UK ever increasing the quality and services internal components cleaned. to store gearboxes, which is salient to with this collaboration the ‘dynamic duo’ of that was certified as a service partner for offered.” strategic planning, they can now be Dave Moss and James Clegg plan to meet Moventas products and to support them. Craneage capacity in the service What does the future hold? waiting in abeyance, thus reducing down with and cooperate with existing customers Test rig workshops is up to 40 tonne capable There are currently thousands of turbines time for customers during servicing and to explain the situation and establish future The object of that exercise was better There will be a major impact in 2014 with of handling multi MW class gears of all installed already in the UK and Ireland plus maintenance. infrastructure. support for the customer base in the UK the installation of the 3.6 MW test rig in the design and manufacture. The installation other exciting projects nearing fruition. and Ireland. Now that David Brown Wind Huddersfield service centre, which is the of the new gear wash tank which has the The future looks positive, both for new Conclusion UK team are a Moventas Group Company Marko only test rig of its kind in the UK – capable ability to accommodate a complete 3 MW build gearbox projects and service to the James and Dave concluded, “This union James Clegg goes on to say that the team at will return to Huddersfield for a further 12 of providing full load test for serviced gears. gearbox within its 3 metre cube capacity installed base. Being pro-active, innovative gives us the ability to be able to support the Huddersfield site viewed this acquisition months to continue the excellent work This is of particular importance for MW or major components from the 7MW Off- and working in ever closer cooperation the OEM more than ever before and initially with some trepidation, which has already done, build on the success so far class gears and is quite a coup. James shore wind turbine gearbox for Samsung, with their customers they strive to operate where the opportunity exists the major rapidly changed and developed into and strengthen the Huddersfield team. goes on to discuss the site in Huddersfield manufactured in Huddersfield is another and evolve in an efficient cohesive manner. utilities and turbine owners– making us enthusiasm and excitement for the future. which in total is 17 acres, 6 acres of which major investment and step forward. It is Complacency is not an option for Dave and the strongest leader in this industry.” It is Moventas’ concept to continue to is dedicated to the wind business. believed this is the largest wash facility of its James as they continue their drive to be at A team of HR professionals from the provide a global service and to standardise kind used for wind gears in the UK. the forefront of a formidable industry leader. In all, this is a healthy professional Moventas office in Germany have been all the processes, which will allow for far relationship and one with a very optimistic over to meet with the personnel and greater flexibility in the service offering for As the companies have joined forces they exciting future. spoken with them all individually to ensure their European customers. continue with the 7MW offshore turbine all know what is planned and to allay any drivetrain development with Samsung Moventas concerns they may have had. This now This localised service provision and flexibility Heavy Industries, the first of which will be means that responsibilities can be divided now allows the team to perform more going live in December 2013 in Scotland. Click to view more info for the UK service market. extensive ‘up-tower’ work, changing shafts/ The new company will be manufacturing bearing and in some cases the complete the 7MW gearboxes for Samsung, from the helical stage for gearboxes up to 2 MW. UK with support from Finland. = Click to view video 1 This union also provides the opportunity for cross fertilisation of innovative ideas in = Click to view video 2

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Monitoring It is critical to ensure consistency that oil samples should always Viscosity Retention as an Indicator of Film Strength be taken in the same manner and from the same sampling point. Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow and most used There are various system points where oil samples can be taken. oil analysis laboratories report it as kinematic viscosity at either 40°C wind turbine Fixed sample points such as on filter units (prior to filtration) are or 100°C. ExxonMobil found that there was no oxidative thickening common. If no sample points exist then consider fitting a sampling or shear over time, suggesting the lubricant stayed in viscosity grade point. Oil samples can also be taken using a vacuum pump and throughout the reported service (Figure 2). This is an important performance tubing but take care to use the same length of tubing so that the finding as it confirms that the oil is able to maintain film strength and oil ample is drawn from the same depth each time, which should provide excellent wear protection throughout its service life. through used be approximately midway of the oil level. The tubing is disregarded each time it has been used. Service Water Levels and Wear Potential oil analysis To identify the most appropriate sample point, it is imperative to Water as a contaminant is most relevant as its presence may cause consult with your oil analysis provider and machine manufacturer for additive depletion, viscosity drop and corrosion of components. Modern offshore wind turbines are sophisticated machines, application-specific advice. Once the location has been identified, it Figure 4 shows the water concentration in the oil over time, with operating in demanding environments. Unscheduled should be noted in the maintenance records so samples can always exceedingly low levels of water in the oil, ensuring no free water downtime caused by equipment failure can have a significant be taken from the same place. and thus protecting against potential corrosive wear. This indicates impact on the operator’s bottom line and, in more severe that certain high performance synthetic lubricants can help reduce climates where ambient temperatures can reach as low as Also, do not sample a turbine immediately after an oil change or downtime and help prolong service performance. -40°C, result in substantial delays to restarts. In order to after a large amount of make-up oil has been recently added unless keep wind turbines operating at full capacity, and to avoid the purpose is to just to confirm the oil cleanliness, which can the expense of unplanned maintenance, it is important to indicate if the oil change has been carried out in a clean manner. select the right lubricant. Putting oil to the test Innovative testing For many years ExxonMobil has been tracking their advanced By using innovative tests to monitor the in-service performance synthetic gear oil in the main gearboxes of a wide variety of wind of selected lubricants, maintenance professionals will gain the turbines, including different models, sizes and those exposed to Figure 2 – Kinematic Viscosity Over Time insight needed to optimise wind turbine operation and minimise many different challenging environments. From January 2000 unscheduled downtime. This article explores how a sophisticated oil to August 2013 data on approximately 46,700 oil samples was analysis program can help address the challenges in wind turbine reviewed. When characterising the performance of the lubricant, Oil Oxidation as Determined by Total Acid Number lubrication, looking specifically at the use of advanced synthetic gear an in-depth test slate is usually run. However, in this review the As oils oxidise over time, chemical change occurs and acid number oils in the main wind turbine gearbox. focus was on system wear, oil oxidation stability, viscosity retention of the lubricant can rise indicating the lubricant starts to break down. and water contamination – the most relevant tests for determining The Total Acid Number (TAN) is the amount of potassium hydroxide Used oil analysis proper gearbox operation. The used oil tests listed below trace the in milligrams that is needed to neutralise the acids in one gram of oil One of the most popular maintenance programmes being results of using ExxonMobil’s advanced synthetic gear oil, Mobilgear and is used as one of the indicators that a lubricant needs changing. implemented is Used Oil Analysis, a series of laboratory tests that SHC™ XMP 320, in the main wind turbine gearbox. As the TAN value of the oil increases, viscosity rises and the can determine the condition of equipment components and the lubricating potential of the oil is compromised, leading to increased Figure 4 – Water Concentration Over Time condition of the in-service lubricant. Alongside the use of high quality Wear as Indicated by the Presence of Iron and other wear. In addition, the corrosive tendencies of the oil will increase, lubricants, oil analysis helps maintenance professionals extend metals further exacerbating component wear. Long-term success equipment component and lubricant life, provide early warning signs Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy is used to determine the By following the recommendations and some of the key in-service of contamination, and minimise unscheduled maintenance. presence and concentration of wear metals in oil. Iron, copper, oil analysis tests detailed in this article, maintenance professionals chrome, aluminium, lead and tin define this category, with iron can benefit from optimised equipment performance, minimised In order for O&M managers/engineers to improve productivity and the predominant wear metal in wind turbine reducers. As shown maintenance and improve turbine availability. Selecting an oil potentially increase profitability through oil and equipment monitoring in Figure 1, ExxonMobil examined the iron content of 32,000* analysis provider that has application-specific expertise, intimate there are a number of elements to be considered. samples, showing no trend for iron content increase with the used relationships with OEMs and a comprehensive online oil analysis age of the oil, thus verifying the excellent long-term wear protection offering will also help maintenance professionals achieve their Start off with the basics provided by the lubricant. company’s productivity goals as well as their own. There is a certain protocol that should be followed to help ensure the accuracy of oil analysis results. First, maintenance professionals * 32,000 samples with stated running hours should always use a clean, dry container to draw oil samples to ensure an accurate result. Most oil analysis companies will provide Robert Pears the sample bottles for the oil samples to be collected. Usually only Wind Energy Sector Specialist 100 ml is sufficient for a standard test suite. ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants

Wind turbine maintenance engineers should where possible Click to view more info draw the oil sample from the appropriate system (main gearbox or hydraulic system) whilst the oil is circulating. Where this is not possible the oil sample should be taken as soon as possible after Figure 3 – Total Acid Number over Time = Click to view video the system has been shut down, ideally within 30 minutes. In Figure 3, ExxonMobil examined the results of the samples, demonstrating that over the extended lifetime of the product (3-5 years) TAN shows very little increase over the new product value of 0.9 mgKOH/g (some scatter is evident due to test variability). This means that the life of the advanced synthetic lubricant was not Figure 1 – Iron Content Vs Oil Age impacted by turbine gearbox operation.

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New tests look at Extending wind turbine life with how wind turbine condition based lubrication Actively combining Lubrication and SKF Condition Based Lubrication allows bearing grease helps Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS), the CMS system to monitor lubrication SKF Condition Based Lubrication pumps and components, including pump to avoid wear failure automatically adds additional lubricant status and grease levels. If failures such to wind turbine bearings, extending as empty or blocked pumps or torn feed Ensuring wind turbines are effectively lubricated is their life. lines are detected, operators are notified challenging - not only because of the remoteness of the immediately. wind farms, but the ambient conditions in which they The system enables remote and automatic operate and the loads and vibrations to which components lubrication of a wind turbine’s hard to Add-on are exposed. access bearing system, eliminating the “As an inclusion to an already planned need for an on-site service engineer to investment in lubrication systems and Selecting greases for wind turbine bearing lubrication requires a perform extra manual lubrication. CMS, our Condition Based Lubrication is deep understanding of the blade bearing application, design and a very cost effective add-on,” says Harry typical failure modes for the bearings and servicing frequency, to Interface Timmerman, Product Manager. name a few. The system is an interface enabling “As such it brings the two systems a connection between the Condition together to create new and unique The blade bearing application involves not only significant vibration, Monitoring (SKF WindCon) and SKF or features, allowing the lubrication regime but also minimal rotation for the bearing members. A common Lincoln Lubrication systems. Reacting to react to the SKF WindCon CMS’s which is particularly important for offshore failure of blade bearings is that of fretting wear or false brinelling to the problems detected by the CMS, measurements.” applications. It will also save on downtime but this wear can be addressed through careful grease choice. SKF Condition Based Lubrication allows and loss of production while waiting for a lubrication pump to initiate additional Unnecessary operations savings intervention, lengthen the wind turbine’s Ripple & corrosion test lubrication cycles to the existing time-based This early detection of lubrication failures life time, and reduce the risk of cascading One of the world’s leading manufacturers of blade bearings for cycle. A condition monitoring specialist working in combination with automatic failures. wind turbines, Rothe Erde, specifies that greases for use in their can set the proper alarm settings to trigger lubrication will naturally avoid unnecessary blade bearings must pass a specifically designed test called additional lubrication cycles. and inconvenient maintenance operations, SKF the Rothe Erde/IME Ripple & Corrosion Test. This test was developed specifically by the Institut Fuer Maschinenelemente und Maschinengestaltung at Aachen University in Germany to evaluate the performance of blade bearing greases and their tendency to Vestas & Castrol prevent false brinelling due to oscillation and wear. Vestas’ circa 50,000 wind turbines worldwide As part of the test, grease is packed into a four point contact roller sign global 3 year deal Vestas is dedicated exclusively to wind energy bearing through which 1% NaCl solution is passed, and the bearing Enhanced wear protection Global lubricants specialist Castrol has signed a global three year deal with and one of the clear leaders in its development. is then cycled through 1 million cycles of alternating 70 kN axial The Shell Gadus range has been developed to deliver best value Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s leading wind turbine It delivers cost-effective wind technologies, load. At the end of the testing cycles, the bearings are removed through enhanced wear protection, long grease life and system manufacturer, to deliver first and service fills for all of its new builds and existing products and services with almost 50,000 and the ripple depth on the bearing raceway measured. Further efficiency. Shell Gadus S5 V110KP 1.5 blade bearing grease has turbines with more than 57 GW of installed capacity worldwide. wind turbines installed worldwide. visual assessment of the degree of corrosion is conducted with a also been run through a number of other industry standard tests to rating on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best and last corrosion demonstrate its advanced performance in the area of resistance to 1.5 million litres a year and 5 the worst and highest level of corrosion. At Shell we were wear in oscillating and fretting wear type conditions. It is projected that Castrol will deliver in excess pleased to find that our Shell Gadus S5 V110KP 1.5 blade bearing of 1.5 million litres a year under this deal. grease gives a corrosion rating of 1 and ripple depth maximum Felix Guerzoni The agreement follows the full product of 2mm and mean ripple depth of <1mm respectively showing Lubricants Product Application Specialist approval for global use, which came after a excellent protection against this wear mechanism. Shell three-year trial.

Close collaboration John Carey, Vice-President, Castrol Lubricants business for Aviation, Industrial, Marine and Energy said: “This agreement is the result of a close collaboration with Vestas using our extensive expertise to deliver the best result for the company. At Castrol, working alongside our customers is key to developing solutions that are able to meet their needs, and Castrol Optigear Synthetic CT gear oil has been formulated specifically for use in wind turbine gear box applications. Designed to perform in some of the most challenging environments suitable for operations in a wide range Castrol and with a very good thermal stability, of temperatures. Castrol global footprint Castrol Optigear Synthetic CT gear oil allows us to work with the Vestas team and high viscosity index makes the product support them worldwide.”

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Mid Hill II Wind Farm Fred. Olsen Renewables (FOR) announced recently that Mid Hill II Wind Farm has been granted consent.

Operation When complete, this will allow the site to fully utilise the 75 MW grid connection and generate enough electricity to power over 38,500 homes. & maintenance Existing wind farm The existing 25 turbine Mid Hill Wind Farm is located mainly on forestry land in Fetteresso Forest, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. Mid Hill II will be located adjacent to this site and will consist of up to 9 strategies x 2.3MW Siemens turbines. The operational life of wind turbines is becoming more and more under the Current portfolio spotlight as the average life of wind assets is increasing and new approaches to Fred. Olsen Renewables currently has an onshore wind operational O&M strategies characterise this phase of the wind energy market. portfolio of over 428MW, of which 357 MW is in Scotland equivalent to 8% of the country’s total onshore installed wind capacity or 5% of Commissioning and in-service Independent inspections the UK’s total onshore installed wind capacity. A further 112MW of inspections The impartiality of an independent onshore wind plant is either under construction or due to shortly enter Independent technical inspections play a technical inspection is its main added construction in the UK. key-role in the value chain of the operation value, combined to the assurance of life of a wind turbine. A considerate consistent, high quality standards and approach starts at the beginning of the the implementation of a large range of operational phase with a full commissioning inspection techniques. inspection, followed by regular in-service inspections in order to avoid potential Although main components are designed unexpected failure of major components to last for the certified life of a wind turbine, and subsequent long down-time. they often fail earlier than anticipated causing unexpected downtime, bringing down the Technical inspections are vital any time overall availability and therefore dramatically the real conditions of wind assets have to hitting the cash-flow generated by the wind be assessed and linked to the contractual farm. aspects or to implement an effective risk management strategy. Proactive maintenance approach A proactive maintenance approach is definitely a must in order to increase the profitability of wind assets as well as to improve their performance throughout the Overall strategy whole lifetime. Bureau Veritas agrees that The company’s overall strategy is to participate in projects from an periodic in-service inspections of main early stage. The company is involved in site selection, planning and components and structures, combined with construction and aims to operate the projects over their lifetime. careful monitoring of all data available from The approach is based on a successfully demonstrated full lifecycle a wind turbine, considerably reduces down- principle. time and the likelihood of catastrophic failures. David Brunt, CEO at Fred. Olsen Renewables, said: “We are very Bureau Veritas wind turbine inspection pleased to confirm that Mid Hill II Wind Farm has been successfully services are designed to support owner, consented. Mid Hill and Mid Hill II provide a combined installed operators and manufacturers to fully cope capacity of over 75 MW, helping to meet the Scotland’s ambitious with the challenges of operational life of renewable energy targets. This brings the combined capacity of wind turbines and all the O&M contractual projects developed by Fred. Olsen Renewables in the north-east milestones. of Scotland to over 230 MW and affirms our position as the UK’s leading independent renewable power producer. We look forward Bureau Veritas to working with stakeholders and local communities to ensure that the benefits associated with these projects have a positive impact through mechanisms such as the already established community benefit funds.”

Fred. Olsen Renewables

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turbines has improved. The last quarter we hit 99.6% availability, which big wind “However the trade body RenewableUK farms would dream off! As we get more has recognised this as a growing issue of our own turbines in the ground and with and their small and medium wind strategy Distributed Wind an increase in installations across the UK, group, chaired by ICE Renewables, are “Understand how you want to finance it made sense to offer our service and our committed to setting MSC approved your project so you don’t get consent ICE Renewables continue to support our publication by expertise to a wider selection of turbines in medium wind turbine standards by 2014, for a turbine you can’t afford to sponsoring our Distributed Wind feature. Julian Martin (CEO) our wind sector.” on site approval and importantly installation build: Banks and developers will be has contributed some very interesting and helpful advice to this and operations and maintenance, so only more cautious wanting to make sure particular sector within the industry on a regular basis. QUESTION: qualifying accredited companies can offer the project is financially viable, with Why is Operations & Maintenance so QUESTION: an approved level of service. paybacks in an acceptable timeframe We now turn our attention to the company’s Director of Operations, important to the lifetime of a turbine? There is an ongoing debate about with a good return of investments (ROI). Michael Hickey to give us his thoughts… UK standards within the small and “It is expected that this will be shortly Banks will look at debt coverage whilst “On a practical level you can’t just put a medium wind industry. What are your followed by the IEC 64100-1 standard on developers will be looking for higher wind turbine up and expect it to run for thoughts on this in relation to planned wind turbine design. Julian Martin our wind speeds. Michael’s role Michael is accountable for the development twenty years without looking after it. It and unplanned services? CEO currently chairs the RenewableUK at ICE Renewables of the internal operations and maintenance is the same principle as running a car. If small and medium wind strategy group “The reliability of your turbine starts Michael has worked for ICE since team and function. He brings to ICE you look after it and service it regularly it “At present there are no uniform which is tasked with setting these at the design phase so work with April 2012; he is responsible for 7 years of experience from previously will run more efficiency and last longer. standards for the medium wind sector standards. As a company we feed back companies who really know what project construction and delivery, working within the renewable sector with Customer’s warranties are also tied in that companies must adhere to, which the issues we face and the solutions we they are doing, so that when it comes turbine installation and fleet Vestas at a senior management level, with regular operations and maintenance could damage what is a new but exciting have found, feeding back what expected to erect your turbine it’s on solid operations and maintenance, primarily in manufacturing, supply chain routines and will be void if you don’t look industry. This is especially so for standards all O&M providers should foundations. strategy development and onshore/offshore project management and after them. operations and maintenance which can deliver, to ensure customers get what they implementation. development. really impact on the financial returns of a should expect out of their wind projects. “A good operations and maintenance “If you have financing on the turbine then it turbine. regime will extend the life of your He also has is likely that you will also be legally required “These are real issues facing the industry turbine, reduce costs and increase is experience within to have an O&M regime. On a more basic “We hear stories about customers being and ICE Renewables has set out to availability. A bad regime can leave the retail logistics, level, a working, efficient turbine will extend left with turbines not working, no proper improve medium wind standards and offer customers dealing with expensive manufacturing its lifetime, reduce costs and increase its operations and maintenance contracts, a a quality assured service across the UK.” downtime due to out-of-action parts supply chain and availability, offsetting more energy and lack of turbine parts, installers who have and system failures which will have a contract logistics hitting or exceeding expected income walked away or manufacturers not set up QUESTION: big impact on the financial payback fields with globally revenues.” to deal with the maintenance of their fleets. What are the main challenges with of a turbine, so it is crucial that a recognised wind projects and how can customers quality assured service is offered to companies, QUESTION: “We need to make sure that for customers, avoid these? customers.” bringing to ICE a What should customers be looking for manufacturers and the industry, that there strong commercial from a potential wind turbine provider are a set of standards for all aspects of “Wind projects are split into different QUESTION: leadership and and maintenance team? a wind turbine project - especially for phases and each one has its own What would your top 5 tips to a strategic view operations and maintenance which can challenges: customers to ensure the best towards the “We hold regular wind turbine owners’ really improve the finances. Choose the right turbine for your wind possible financial return from their company. club meetings and are always listening to project – wind turbines come in all sorts wind project? our customers to understand what we are QUESTION: of different shapes and sizes to suit Specialised doing right and how we can improve our How is ICE working to set and conditions, budgets, planning restriction • An appropriate, well sited turbine Operations & services. maintain these standards in the UK? and constraints on site. A specialist • A good O&M strategy Maintenance company will be able to advise on the • A good O&M strategy service “What is clear is that they want good “As a company we work to the highest most appropriate turbine to meet your • A good O&M strategy communication, fast response time, to standards. At present there are no defined needs and your site’s conditions. • A good O&M strategy! QUESTION: minimise their turbine’s down time, well rules or standards for installers or O&M You have recently launched a trained engineers who have the experience companies to work to, so the quality of “Getting a turbine through planning can specialised Operations & Maintenance to deal with issues on site, good parts services varies across the UK. be a difficult process and you shouldn’t michael Hickey service – why has ICE decided to availability, a good relationship with the embark on this unless you know that ICE Renewables extend this service to manufacturers, manufacturer and a set of complementary you have a project that they will accept – developers and customers in the added value services such as high voltage speaking to specialist wind planners and Click to view more info medium and MW wind sector? maintenance work and blade repair, so doing pre-planning work including grid that they do not have gaps in the service of connection limitations, is essential so that “ICE currently operate and maintain their their turbine.” it saves you time and money in the long = Click to view video own wind turbine installations and have run and ensures your project has a better 12 turbines from Cornwall to Scotland. chance of success. We brought the maintenance in house because we were not happy with the quality of the O&M work being contracted out and since then our customers are happier and the performance of the

108 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 109 DISTRIBUTED WIND feature sponsor feature sponsor DISTRIBUTED WIND Evance turbines French Wind Turbine Bowler Energy Bowler Energy has in-house planning, to power Scottish Manufacturer Vergnet and construction and financial teams with significant experience across the Water treatment Derbyshire’s Bowler Energy renewables industry and a proven track record in wind and solar project works on Isles of Announce GB Partnership management. Skye and Raasay As the medium wind sector continues common values of innovation, quality and Vergnet to grow Vergnet, a global leader in the customer care. The John Bowler Group Vergnet has a growing track record in the Evance small wind turbines to generate nearly 50% of wind energy industry and manufacturer has a very strong reputation in the farming UK with a total of 23 medium scale wind power needed for supplying water service. of medium scale wind turbines, sector and like Vergnet, has a very solid turbines to date on farms in Cornwall, recently announced its partnership business track record spanning 33 years Leicester, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Evance will be commissioning three R9000 small wind turbines at with Bowler Energy, covering England, and a reputation for delivering successful Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, Scottish Water’s waste water treatment works at Broadford, on Scotland and Wales. projects for customers and developers.” Scotland and Northern Ireland. the Isle of Skye and another three at the water treatment works on Raasay. Collective strengths The partnership between the France- headquartered manufacturer and Derbyshire-based Bowler Energy, which is part of the John Bowler Group, draws on collective strengths and a significant track record of success in the renewable energy, engineering and agricultural sectors.

Over the past 25 years, Vergnet has worked with developers worldwide with a track record of over 830 wind turbines, including 23 in the UK. The John Bowler Group has been trading in the agricultural sector for 33 years, initially providing a full turnkey operation to anyone wishing to enter the world of free range egg production and more recently expanding to include renewables with Bowler Energy.

Momentum The partnership comes as momentum grows within this sector of the UK wind Reducing energy costs energy market, almost doubling in size These turbines will harness the natural wind resource to reduce the over in 2012, according to a recent report energy costs of operating these vital services for the community from RenewableUK, with the UK small and and next month three turbines will be installed at the Portree medium wind industry market is now worth waste water treatment works to support its operation. “These over £100 million to the British economy. nine Evance turbines will make a significant difference to the running cost of the water treatment works as they will generate The partnership enables the two nearly 50% of the electricity needed to operate these services,” companies to develop turnkey medium commented Tim Sammon, Director of Evance Wind Turbines. wind energy projects including site feasibility, planning, finance, installation, “Scottish Water is looking to take advantage of natural wind commissioning, FiT (Feed-in Tariff) resources at some of our sites to reduce our energy bill and in registration and a full package of warranties Lucie Bowler from Bowler Energy The company invests significantly in turn, the cost of providing essential services to our customers and after sales service. In addition, commented: “We are a family company, research and development with 70% of its in Scotland. The commissioning of the turbines on Skye and Bowler Energy will work with Vergnet to with a proud heritage, passionately workforce employed in design, engineering Raasay follow similar schemes in the Western Isles and Orkney,” develop its own wind energy projects and committed to excellence through and operations and maintenance. The said Eddie Johnstone, Project Manager with Scottish Water’s developments on behalf of wind energy professional, long term relationships with company’s medium scale wind turbines Energy Team. investors. customers, suppliers and employees. (GEV MP) are amongst the best performing We’ve been very impressed by Vergnet in the sector in terms of yield production/ Going forward Shared common values from the outset and it is a partnership that price ratio. Tim Sammon concluded “We are working with Scottish Water Diana Popa, UK spokesperson and delivers on our core values of honesty, on further projects, as they continue to work towards a more European Sales Manager for Vergnet integrity, efficiency, innovation and Vergnet sustainable public service.” commented: “We are delighted to commitment. We have a number of UK announce our partnership with Bowler projects in the pipeline and look forward Evance Wind Turbines Energy, which is based on shared to announcing these in due course.”

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UK’s first Endurance X29 turbine installed on Cornish farm

The UK’s first Endurance X29 wind Efficient generation Medium wind market turbine has been installed on a farm “The X29 is modest in size, requiring only A report on the small and medium wind at Liskeard in Cornwall where it will a 30m mast which makes it a great option market published last week by Renewable generate the equivalent electricity for farms with high power requirements,” UK shows that the industry doubled in size used by almost 150 homes. said Steve Milner, Managing Director of last year and the technology is injecting Earthmill. “It has a very efficient generator over £100m into the rural economy. The installation was carried out by Earthmill, which operates at a low level resistance, one of the UK’s only specialist farm-scale allowing the turbine to start producing “The report shows the vital role that farm wind turbine installers and suppliers. It is energy at a wind speed of just four metres wind is playing in supporting the cash also one of the few authorised suppliers per second, just a light breeze.” strapped rural economy, with 86 per cent than can install the Endurance X29. of small-scale turbines installed in rural He added: “The financial benefits of wind areas,” said Endurance UK Managing 500,000 kWh per year turbines for farms are becoming widely Director Dave Rankin. The 225kW unit, which was built by known, with farmers turning to them as an Endurance Wind Power at its new factory additional source of revenue in the wake Endurance in Hartlebury, West Midlands, is already of a dramatic fall in income, coupled with generating clean energy on Matthew rising energy costs.” Rowe’s Great Tredinnick Dairy Farm. It will generate power for the dairy farm, up to Investment 500,000 kWh per year. Endurance’s investment in new manufacturing facilities is evidence of the boom in the farm wind market. The plant is creating up to 100 new green jobs and will eventually build 100 turbines a year.

Deadlines New turbines need to be pre-registered with regulator Ofgem by 31st December and hundreds of farmers are now working to beat the end of year deadline and benefit from the maximum available revenues.

There are now over 500 planning applications being considered by councils across the UK and figures from the leading turbine suppliers show that over 200 farm scale turbines could be connected to the National Grid ahead of the looming energy regulator deadlines.

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