A new joint industry project (JIP) in the UK will investigate offshore storage areas for fully assembled floating wind turbines waiting to be installed at their dedicated project sites in the Celtic Sea.
Led by Offshore Solutions Group and delivered in partnership with HR Wallingford, the TS-Flow© JIP brings together developers, port authorities, installers and other parties working in the Celtic Sea around the same goal – to keep supply chains moving by freeing up space on quaysides and inner-harbours for assembling turbines.
The initiative follows the recent announcement from the Crown Estate, which identified five areas for the development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea as part of the work toward holding a seabed leasing round for 4 GW of floating wind next year.
“This will have major impacts on infrastructure in the region, and it is vital that ports are optimised to provide local delivery for the construction, assembly, and installation of new wind farms. How and where to store turbines that have already been assembled is key to this effort” , the TS-Flow© JIP partners said in a press release.
The first phase of the initiative will be a technical assessment and will identify potential locations, an outline of the required permitting framework, technical constraints, and practical considerations.
Subsequent phases will explore how to transform potential sites into usable locations.
“This joint industry partnership is recognition of the need for advanced planning and technical solutions by the floating wind industry to support large-scale local delivery of floating wind solutions. We welcome the support of the developers and partners involved and the positive recognition of this initiative received from regulators and the UK government” , said Will Rowley , group CEO at Offshore Solutions Group.
“Keeping operations moving is a critical issue for the floating wind industry, and the team at HR Wallingford is excited to apply our site selection expertise to the challenge” , said Mike Case , business development manager for clean energy at HR Wallingford.