Sluggish Offshore Wind Digitalization will Stunt Industry’s Growth

Owners and operators of offshore wind projects need to rapidly accelerate their adoption of digitalization in a bid to head off the impact of soaring costs and supply chain challenges to retain the industry’s growth. ONYX Insight, a leading provider of data analytics and engineering expertise in the global wind industry has maintained.

Despite the first offshore wind turbine being installed more than 30 years ago, and there being over 55 GW of offshore wind capacity worldwide, just under 30% of UK offshore wind farms are currently implementing linked-up digital tools across their operation beyond relatively basic condition monitoring as per ONYX Insight.

Turbine manufacturers face unrelenting pressure to deliver against full order books while keeping prices low. They are responding to this challenge by rapidly developing newer, larger turbines with greater power density and more complicated designs.

The swift pace of turbine technology development holds that banks and investors do not typically finance the same turbine model twice, resulting in a limited track record and potentially greater risk exposure for offshore asset owners. At the same time, asset owners are under increasing pressure to make projects profitable in a competitive auctions environment. Digitalization holds the key to de-risking new turbine technologies, keeping O&M costs low, and unlocking new efficiencies in offshore wind.

For offshore, in particular, there are huge savings to be made in optimizing marine logistics. Crew hire, offshore cranes, and jack-up vessels, for example, all come at high costs. By using digitalization, owners and operators can rationalize vessel trips and even construct collaborative maintenance zones, where wind farms nearby synchronize O&M needs, sharing the cost burden.

Digitalization can enable the introduction of condition-based maintenance, targeting minor repairs – which are typically overlooked, but account for approximately half of scheduled O&M costs and have significant potential for optimization. Additionally, by implementing coherent digital strategies as early as possible, operators can support life-extension strategies from day one, ensuring that the offshore turbines of today keep performing optimally well into 2050.

“This is an exciting but challenging time for the offshore wind industry (industry’s growth),” explains Evgenia Golysheva, Vice President of Strategy and Operations at ONYX Insight. “Huge demand for projects and a continual drive to lower the levelized cost of energy is squeezing turbine manufacturers, who are reporting enormous losses, limiting their ability to scale up and innovate.

Installing digital tools that monitor performance, predict and detect faults, and control maintenance implementation – in the drivetrain, blades, structures, and beyond – can maximize power output and reduce OPEX, helping to drive down LCoE in a long-term sustainable way.”

Advanced analytics can also help refine operations and maintenance, driving down costs that may be impacted by an over-stretched supply of parts or personnel.

“Given the precariousness of the macroeconomic situation, coupled with rocketing project demand all over the world, and the effect that this combination is having on supply chains, digitalization presents offshore wind operators and owners with a chance to empower their operations and increase efficiencies, independent of other industry stakeholders (industry’s growth).”

“It is high time that the roll-out of digitalization in offshore assets and fleets is expedited to drive wind’s role in the energy transition,” she concluded.