The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Student Name
Institution Name
Date

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Executive Summary
The purpose of this study is to highlight the developments that have occurred in the Offshore
Wind Power Technology in the United Kingdom. Worldwide the wind power technology has
developed rapidly within a short span of time. in the earlier stages Denmark, China and US
were the main nations at the centre of this revolution. The past 10 years though have seen
Britain rise to take the lead as the world largest generator of offshore wind power. The nature
of the offshore environment made it hard to directly apply the onshore technologies in the
offshore sector. The UK government support, large coastline as well as a friendly political
environment are some reasons for the success of the offshore technology in Britain. The
country though faces some setbacks that will need to be addressed before the industry can be
expanded further; the limited turbine supply, vessel contraction and limited access to
adequate capital leading the way. Tackling of these issues successfully will create room for
massive improvements in the sector.

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................2
Contents.................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
The Current state of offshore wind power technology...........................................................................4
Globally.............................................................................................................................................4
In Britain...........................................................................................................................................5
Impact of the Offshore wind energy in the UK energy system..............................................................6
Current and Future technical development............................................................................................7
Foundations.......................................................................................................................................7
Towers...............................................................................................................................................8
Blades................................................................................................................................................8
Drivetrain..........................................................................................................................................8
Grid and substation............................................................................................................................9
Barriers and Opportunities.....................................................................................................................9
Opportunities.....................................................................................................................................9
Landscape......................................................................................................................................9
Growing capacity of the supply chain............................................................................................9
Stable regime.................................................................................................................................9
Barriers............................................................................................................................................10
Turbines supply chain..................................................................................................................10
Vessel Contacting........................................................................................................................10
Access to adequate finance..........................................................................................................10
Personalised opinion on the offshore wind technology........................................................................11
Conclusions.........................................................................................................................................11
References...........................................................................................................................................12

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Introduction
The concept low of low carbon energy has been applied to refer to energy originating from
technologies that produce power with a lower carbon output than is currently being emitted
by the fossil fuels (Haggett, 2008). Currently several technologies exist from which the low
carbon energy can be derived. Hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, wind power and solar
energy leading the way.
For the past 30 years several nations and environmentalist organisations have propelled the
global warming debate. Their argument has been based on several scientific findings which
have put fossil fuels at the centre of the global warming menace (DECC, 2009).
As a way of fulfilling its responsibility to the globe the United Kingdom government
identifies wind power as a potential area to generate alternative energy to replace the
overdependency on fossil fuels. In this research the task will be to review the current as well
as the projected state of the offshore wind energy development in the country. This will entail
highlighting the current challenges facing the sector as well as avenues through which Britain
can expand its energy generation (Fried, Sawyer and Shukla, 2013)..
The Current state of offshore wind power technology
Globally
By the end of 2011 the entire globe had over 200,000 fully operating wind turbines installed.
This had the capacity to generate around 238,351 MW of energy. This was developed further
when the entire European Union commissioned an extra 100,000 MW nameplate capacity
(UPI, 2012). Later on the development was further supported by the United States when it
passed 50000 MW in 2012 August, this same month saw China contributing about 50000
MW (ChinaDaily, 2012). Between 2000 and 2006 the global energy generation capacity
nearly quadrupled. The wind energy revolution currently being experienced was pioneered by
the US in the 1980’s when it was the leading installer of wind power energy. This list was
soon joined by Germany and China with the latter approving to be a great contributor of the
technology when they surpassed the US at the top producers of wind power in 2010. Most of
the developed nations have managed to achieve a significant level of the wind energy
penetration as at 2011. Some examples being: Denmark 28%, Portugal 19% Spain 16% with
Germany having 8% penetrations.
This data can be summarised in the table below

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
In Britain
Based in the strategies put in place by the UK government, one of the avenues for propelling
the European Union 2020 renewable energy target which is aimed at minimising the global
carbon emissions is the pursuit of offshore wind power energy.
Despite having an installed capacity of over 5 GW globally the offshore wind industry is still
termed as an infant sector. The last 10 years saw heavy equipment’s developers investing
massively in the offshore wind turbines’ research despite the biting economic crisis. The
government of Britain through the formulation of friendly policies and the introduction of
feed-tariffs have been at its best in ensuring more and more investors are attracted to the
sector.
The year 2017 alone saw Britain take pride in establishing around half of the newly installed
wind power capacity in the entire continent of Europe. This was enough for the country to set
a record and storm the globe as the leader of the offshore wind power technology. From the
3.15 GW of newly installed capacity across Europe over 52% is attributable to the United
Kingdom. From this we can have a glimpse of the extent the country is willing to go to make
the offshore energy generation a success (Vaughan, 2018).

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
The recent deployment of bigger turbines by the developers have led to a reduction in the cost
of the energy generation. Currently several developers are working on the 8 MW-9 MW, this
is predicted to go up to 13 MW-15MW by the end of 20124. At the present the nation’s
cumulative capacity is over 15.78 GW of offshore wind. With the increasing investment in
the sector the value is projected to be at 25 GW by 2020.
From a report in June it was suggested that the UK can expand its offshore energy generation
up to five times of its current capacity by the end of 2030. This is possible if the country
explores its attractive offshore wind resources (renewableUK, 2017).
Impact of the Offshore wind energy in the UK energy system
Out of the total British energy output in 2017, up to 6.2% was attributed to offshore wind
power. The objective of the nation is to reach 10% by 2020. As at 2017, UK has 33 fully
commissioned wind parks in place. These can generate up to 5.83 GW of energy. To add to
this list the nation had 8 plants being constructed which are expected to add up to 4.58 GW
more into the grid. With this the country will be able to cater for the energy demands of
around 5.3 million homes. It will further reduce the carbon emission by 8.6 million tonnes. In
2017 the nation managed to put to service 7 offshore wind farms of which 4 went ahead to
undergo full commissioning.
In total the UK derived around 29.4% of its energy from the renewable sources out of which
6.2% comes from the offshore energy generation (The Crown Estate, 2018).
The wind farms’ energy generated by the UK in 2017 surpassed that of coal in at least 75% of
the days. Apparently, coal is responsible for around 7% of the overall UK energy demands.
This can be analysed as a sign that the focus on seeing off the use of energy derived from
coal is on the right track (Higgins and Foley, 2014).
From 2005 to 2012 the nation recorded a drop in the use of gas by up to a fifth. This resulted
from the improvement of the energy efficiency as well as encouraging adoption of green
energy.
From the target set by European Union Britain needs to produce 15% of its energy from low
carbon sources by 2020. Based on the data from the National Statistics the nation produced
15% of its energy from the renewable sector in 2013.
The use of fuel in the transport sector is still very high hence hindering the efforts being made
to cut carbon emissions, this is as per the report of the trade association concerned with the

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
development of wind power (Renewable UK) being that a combination of the energy
generated from the onshore and offshore wind farms have been able to cater for over half of
the renewable energy generation in UK, the nation needs to do more so as to assist the
technology to penetrate the transport sector. The idea of introducing electric cars currently
being debated in the UK will really help alleviate this issue. With further development of the
onshore and offshore energy generation sector then the path to converting to green energy is
now becoming clearer (Harvey, 2015).
Current and Future technical development
The past ability to share knowledge and technology between the offshore and onshore area
made it possible to minimise the costs and the time needed to develop the offshore wind
generation sector (European Wind Energy Association, 2013). As the offshore technology
continues to undergo maturity it continues to experience complexities when it comes to
adopting the onshore technologies.
Even though the developers of the offshore turbines do vary, most of the designs are
composed of similar features: tower, drivetrain, blades. Foundation and substation
Foundations
Majority of the offshore wind farms currently commissioned in Britain are located at a water
depth of up to 30m. To improve the generation capacity of the offshores the country need to
investigate ways of commissioning more turbines deeper into the sea. This calls for research
in foundations. Apparently five different foundations do exist: jacket, tripod, floating,
monopile and gravity.
The monopile is very effective for depths up to 30m, it therefore the most used foundation in
most of the installed turbines. The use of monopiles characterises up to 96% of the existing
turbines with jacket foundations being responsible for the remaining 4%. Of the 3.3 GW of
the offshore winds currently under development only the Fife park and 2-B energy test sits
lack monopile foundations.
The natural frequency of the monopiles do go down as the water depth increases and from the
30m point the rotor speed and the blade pass make it excited. From the 30 m depth the
monopile’s structure becomes limited and the installation equipment losses practicality.
The gravity foundations possess lower structural limits when compared to the monopile
foundations. Their major limitation is the rapid increase in cost as the water depth increases.

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
The jacket and tripod foundations are most effective because of their wider substructure
which is effective in neutralising the overturning water forces. Statoil managed to install the
first full-scale floating turbine at a depth of 220m in 2009 this encouraged the UK to persue
the idea further.
Towers
The towers used in the offshore turbines have evolved with time. Currently they include
specially coated materials which are designed to repel the corrosive nature of the sea
environment. Since the corrosive nature of the sea does vary, the coating’s thickness depends
on the area of the tower and the water level.
As the wind turbine capacity increases, stronger and taller towers are demanded which brings
with it a transportation problem. With this there is an urgent need to expand the vessel
capacity. For example, the capacity improved from 1500 m2 in 2003 to around 3500 m2 as at
2014.
Blades
When the cost of the 5 MW turbine was broken down, the major component was realised to
be the blade. The three firms have been constantly working to find ways of cutting the cost of
producing the blades. In the latest development the focus has been on manufacturing self-
healing composited and Nanofillers. With this the life cycle and the stiffness of the blades are
intended to be improved.
Furthermore, the General Electric firm has joined the list of farms aiming to cut the cost of
the blades. The company is undertaking a research to identify means of developing lighter
blades that can be fabricated faster. With this the blade design can exceed 120m which will
go in handy in reducing the transport issue.
Drivetrain
Siemens and Vestas are two of the most active investors in the offshore wind turbines in
Britain. The turbines made by Siemens are composed of a synchronous generator on the other
hand the Vestas turbines possess high speed doubly fed induction generators (DFIG). The
DFIG is a bit lighter though less reliable compared to the direct driven generator.
Being that researchers have identified gear failure to be at the centre of the operational
deficiencies, doing away with the gearbox seems to be an appropriate step to cut the

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
maintenance cost associated with the turbines. Currently the offshore sector is still working
on the appropriate technology and is yet to identify the drivetrain of choice.
Grid and substation
By early 2000, windfarms grid connection was around 33kV medium voltage of alternating
current. As the wind farms moved further away from the shore and the generating capacity
expanded the need to regulate the flow of voltage cropped up. This triggered the development
of substations. In Britain the first substation was constructed at the Barrow wind farm in the
year 2006 by the Centrica and Dong, the wind farms constructed afterwards have been
accompanied by one or two substations. The introduction of substations made upgrading of
the grids more expensive hence presenting another challenge that needs to be solved (Zhang,
Verma and Kusiak, 2012).
Barriers and Opportunities
Opportunities
The development of offshore wind technology in Britain has been supported by several
advantageous features that exist within the United Kingdom. Some of this area can still be
pursued further to expand on the technology in a bid to assist Britain to meet the 2020 EU
targets. Some of the opportunities are:
Landscape
The country has a large offshore wind portfolio that can be readily utilised to expand the
number of turbines deployed for energy generation (Tavner, 2012).
Growing capacity of the supply chain
The Britain government in collaboration with the private sector is working to ensure that the
turbine supply chain remains innovative and competitive. Companies in Britain have taken
the role of developing, innovating and constructing the offshore sector very positively and are
ranked among the greatest contributors to the offshore power generation. With suppliers such
as Siemens locating the UK as a potential for establishment of a world-class manufacturing
centre, the opportunities to expand the Britain supply chain appears to be growing wide.
Stable regime
UK government have a reputation for being stable when it comes to policy implementations
and development, Such an environment is crucial for attracting more investors into the
country.

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Barriers
Even though the country possesses massive potential that can be utilised to produce clean
energy, the offshore wind sector in being curtailed by several barriers that have regulated its
penetration.
To control the projects ballooning operational costs as well as establish acceptable project
economics, there is need to restructure the current supply, vessel contacting as well as
enhance access to capital will.
Turbines supply chain
Should UK government decide to construct all the planned offshore wind projects from 2015
to 2022 then this will mean constructing one turbine every day. The current turbine
manufacturing capacity cannot sustain this.
Considering that the Asian countries, the US and other countries within Europe are all
expected to expand their offshore wind constructions the manufacture and the supply of the
turbines will have to transform drastically if it is to sustain the impending developments
Vessel Contacting
Most of the vessels which have been contacted for use in the offshore sector have been
borrowed from the oil and gas sector. Installation of turbines takes several phases of which
each needs the use of specific vessels. Currently up to 675 vessels utilised in the offshore
wind energy production have been derived from the oil and gas industry. Due to the cropping
unique characteristics of the offshore sector, there is need to manufacture specific vessels to
fasten the speed of wind power generation development.
Access to adequate finance
The exorbitant cost of the projects is curtailing their competitiveness.
The sea environment is highly corrosive. This means an extra finance is consumed
researching and developing the efficiency of coated materials to sustain this field. In addition
to this the sea undergoes very strong tidal forces meaning the equipment must be very strong
(Greenacre, Gross and Heptonstall, 2010). To propel the offshore technology innovations are
needed to assist come up with appropriate instruments which will be able to fulfill the
demands of the sector while at the same time lowering the capital needed (Krohn, Morthorst
and Awerbuch, 2009).

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
Personalised opinion on the offshore wind technology
The global energy demand has been effectively catered for by the fossil sources despite
several challenges in between. The problem mushroomed when the global temperature began
to shoot, and special species disappear from the earth’s surface. With all the menace
associated with the global warming including the unpredictable weather situations
environmentalists, scientists as well as intergovernmental bodies have come to an agreement
that there is need to start planning for alternative energy sources. Even though several areas
can be pursued under this sector just like Britain I support the use of offshore winds as a
solution to the non-renewable energy crisis (MacDonald, 2011).
The persuasion of the offshore wind energy generation has the potentiality to greatly
transform the energy sector. The UK for example by expanding its offshore technologies
have been able to be in line to meet the EU carbon emission reduction targets. To harness
wind power a spacious environment is needed which makes the use of offshore wind
technology to be more effective (BWEA and Hassan, 2009). By channeling appropriate
resources into the offshore sector, there is a potentiality of deriving adequate energy to
sustain the energy demand that will set in once the use of fossil fuels are done away with
(Karyotakis, 2011).
Conclusions
The massive support from the UK public sector has led to rapid development in the industry
in the UK. The offshore sector is being fronted to offer competition as well as assist eradicate
the use of coal and gas for energy generation. To achieve this then the economics of the
project will have to be improved to cut the project development cost by over a half. This can
only be possible when capital access is improved vessel contracting is enhanced and the
turbine supply chain developed so s to accommodate the expected rise in turbine demand.
Even though the UK apparently boast to be one of the leading producers of offshore wind
power, the nation still relies heavily on petroleum products to support its transport sector.
This will need greater efforts to be done with. Currently the nation plans to replace the diesel
cars with electric automobiles a step which will instantly raise the nation’s energy demand.
This calls for intensive research to fully realise the green energy revolution plan.

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
References
accenture, 2013. Changing the Scale of Offshore Wind: Examining Mega-Projects in the
United Kingdom. [Online]
Available at:
https://www.accenture.com/t00010101T000000Z__w__/gb-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/
Conversion-Assets/DotCom/Documents/Global/PDF/Industries_10/Accenture-Changing-
Scale-Offshore-Wind.ashxla=en-GB#zoom=50
[Accessed 8 May 2018].
BWEA and Hassan, G., 2009. Charting the right course: Scenarios for offshore capital costs
for the next five years, London: British Wind Energy Association.
ChinaDaily.com.cn, 2012. China's on-grid wind power capacity grows. [Online]
Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2012-08/16/content_15680451.htm
[Accessed 07 May 2018].
DECC, 2009. Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, a national statistics publication,
London: DECC.
European Wind Energy Association, 2013. The European offshore wind industry—key trends
and statistics 2012. [Online]
Available at: http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/library/publications/statistics/
European_offshore_statistics_2012 pdf
[Accessed 7 May 2018].
Fried, L., Sawyer, S. and Shukla, S., 2013. Global Wind Report Annual Market Update, s.l.:
GWEC2014.
Greenacre, P., Gross, R. and Heptonstall, P., 2010. Great expectations: The cost of offshore
wind in UK waters, London: UK Energy Research Centre.
Haggett, C., 2008. Over the sea and far away? A consideration of the planning, politics and
public perceptions of offshore wind farms. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning,
10(3), pp. 289-306.
Harvey, F., 2015. UK on track to meet its renewable energy targets. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/20/uk-on-track-to-meet-

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
its-renewable-energy-targets
[Accessed 7 May 2018].
Higgins, P. and Foley, A., 2014. The evolution of offshore wind power in the United
Kingdom. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 37(1), pp. 599-612.
Hughes, G., 2012. The performance of wind farms in the United Kingdom and Denmark, s.l.:
Renewable Energy Foundation.
Karyotakis, A., 2011. On the optimisation of operation and maintenance strategies for
offshore wind farms, London: University College London.
Krohn, S. Morthorst, P. E. and Awerbuch, S., 2009. The economics of wind energy, Brussels:
European Wind Energy Association, .
MacDonald, M., 2011. Costs of low carbon generation technologies, London: Committee on
Climate Change.
Musial, W. and Ram, B., 2010. Large-scale offshore wind power in the United States:
Assessment of opportunities and barriers, s.l.: s.n.
Pinar, P. J. M, Marquez, G. F. P. and Tobias, A., 2013. Wind turbine reliability analysis.
Renew Sustain Energy, 23(1), p. 463–472.
renewableUK, 2017. New report highlights UK’s massive offshore wind energy potential.
[Online]
Available at: http://www.renewableuk.com/news/348633/New-report-highlights-UKs-
massive-offshore-wind-energy-potential-.htm
[Accessed 7 May 2018].
Tavner, P. J., 2012. Offshore wind turbines: Reliability, availability and maintenance. 1st ed.
London: The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
The Crown Estate, 2018. The Crown Estate celebrates another big year for UK Offshore
Wind, launching its 2017 Operational Report. [Online]
Available at: http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/news-and-media/news/2018/the-crown-estate-
celebrates-another-big-year-for-uk-offshore-wind-launching-its-2017-operational-report/
[Accessed 7 May 2018].

The Evolution of the Offshore Wind Power Technology in Britain
UK Department for International Trade, 2015. UK Offshore Wind: Opportunities for trade
and investment. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-offshore-wind-opportunities-
for-trade-and-investment/uk-offshore-wind-opportunities-for-trade-and-investment
[Accessed 8 May 2018].
UPI, 2012. EU wind power capacity reaches 100GW. [Online]
Available at: https://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Industry/2012/10/01/EU-wind-
power-capacity-reaches-100GW/UPI-52431349087400/
[Accessed 7 May 2018].
Vaughan, A., 2018. UK built half of Europe's offshore wind power in 2017. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/06/uk-built-half-of-
europes-offshore-wind-power-in-2017
[Accessed 7 May 2018].
Zhang, Z., Verma, A. and Kusiak, A., 2012. Fault analysis and condition monitoring of the
wind turbine gearbox, s.l.: IEEE Trans Energy Convers.