On 14 May 2012, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Stiftung OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE, represented by Joergen Thiele and Phd. Silke Eckardt, held a workshop on the need for further research during the operation of offshore wind farms (OWF). The workshop was held at the House of Science in Bremen. Around twenty-five participants from industry and academia discussed the upcoming challenges in the operation of OWFs.
There are only two of the 27 approved OWFs in German waters, those being: Alpha Ventus in the North Sea and Baltic I in the Baltic Sea, while one wind farm is under construction: BARD 1. Besides the problems with installation and grid connection of large offshore wind farms, the crucial prerequisites for success are security, reliability and cost effectiveness during the twenty-year operating period.
The participants agreed on the key challenges: to lay the foundations for technical monitoring (sensors, power performance, etc.) and development of methods and models to support an optimized maintenance and operation management concept (material, personnel and logistics applications, etc.).
They must continue developing logistics solutions for the entire system, consisting of mobile units (ship/helicopter), the transition systems and offshore wind turbines.
In the future, efficiency gains can be increased by doubling the use of existing infrastructure, so that, for example, the use of wave energy can be researched.
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Offshore WIND staff, May 18, 2012; Image: Alpha Ventus