ENGT5114 Energy | The Development of Offshore Wind Power in Britain

Introduction

Low-carbon energy originates from technologies that generate power with a substantial low output of carbon dioxide emissions than is currently being emitted by power generation using fossil fuels. There are several sources that can be used to yield the low carbon power: wind power, hydropower and nuclear energy being just a few (Haggett, 2008).

Over the past 30 years the debate regarding global warming menace has intensified year by year. This has been backed by significant research outcomes which have identified fossil fuels as the primary contributor of the disaster. With this most countries are now in agreement that there is need to move with speed to curb emissions of carbon. During 1998 a panel (Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change) was established by the world meteorological department in conjunction with the UNEP. The responsibility of the panel was setting scientific formula that may assist introduce low carbon fuels to the industrialised nation (DECC, 2009). This body have continuously provided technical as well as economical advices to the globe by releasing periodic assessments and reports on the new climatic developments (Fried, Sawyer and Shukla, 2013).

The use of wind power is one of the areas that have been highlighted to reduce the current dependency on fossil fuels in the industrialised nations (Hughes, 2012). In this study therefore will review the state of offshore wind power technology in Britain. This analysis will be focused on the current condition, technologies as well as projected future developments. Thereafter will review the challenges and opportunities available for expanding the technology. Finally, the all close the chapter with a personalised opinion regarding the viability of the technology.

The current state of the technology

Worldwide

As of 2011 there were over 200,000 operating wind turbines globally with a total capacity of over 238,351MW. In 2012 European Union on its own passed additional 100000MW nameplate capacity (UPI, 2012). On the other hand, the United States passed 50000MW in the August of 2012 with China passing 50000MW on the same month (ChinaDaily.com.cn, 2012). From the year 2000 to 2006 the global wind production capacity nearly quadrupled, with the capacity doubling in a span of each 3 years. This wind power revolution was pioneered by the United States between 1980 and 1990 when it led the world in the energy generation using wind power. The list of states which have adopted and are encouraging the use of wind power was joined by Germany and China with the Chinese going ahead to surpass the United States as the world leaders in 2010. Several nations have achieved relatively high penetration levels as at now, this is composed of Denmark with 28% stationary electricity production (2011), Portugal 19% (2011), Spain 16% (2011) and Germany 8% as at 2011.

Within the UK

As per the United Kingdom energy strategy, for UK to attain the target set by the European Union for the 2020 level of renewable energy generation aimed at minimising carbon emissions the, 15% of the nation’s energy must be derived from the renewable sources. The nation identified offshore wind in as the renewable energy source to assist it to achieve the objective. In the last 10 years the UK has undergone tremendous development in the technology of harnessing power from the offshore wind mills.

Even though the globe boasts of over 5GW of installed offshore wind mills, the sector is though still regarded to be an infant. The past 10 years have seen large equipment manufacturers in the country allocating massive investments for research in the sector regardless of the economic recession. The UK government have been very supportive of the private sector through the introduction of friendly policies and feed-in tariffs.

In 2017, Britain was responsible for up to 50% of the newly established offshore wind power generation in Europe. With this the sector managed to set a continental record. The windfarms located in the North Sea and along other shallow European waters are constantly expanding. Out of the new installation of 3.15GW capacity, across Europe 53% can be attributed to the UK. Using development, we can have a view of the extend to which Britain is willing to go to see that offshore technology is a success.

The introduction of the use of bigger turbines have assist lower the cost of energy generated from the wind mills. Presently investors are opting for 8MW-9MW turbines though this is predicted to rise to 13MW-15MW by 2024

Currently the UK possess a combined capacity of 15.78GW of offshore wind.  This value is projected to reach 25GW as at 2020. This rate will retain the nation as the top generator of power using offshore wind mills up to 2030.

Through power supply guarantee by the Britain government to the offshore developers, many have been encouraged to invest further in research in that field (Vaughan, 2018).  

A report in June 2017 suggested that the UK have the capacity to expand its wind energy generation to five times of the production capacity by 2030. This can be done by making use of the attractive offshore wind resources (renewableUK, 2017). The report further states that the use of larger wind turbines with a capacity of 13MW can assist attain this objective. The largest turbine now is only 8MW. Being that the country has the most economically attractive offshores across Europe it only needs goodwill to warrant expanding its offshore energy generation.

Impact on the energy system and other fuels

Of the total UK energy generation in 2017, 6.2% was attributed to offshore wind power. This value is targeted to reach 10% by the end of 2020. By the end of 2017 Britain had 33 fully active wind parks which produced a total of 5.83GW. There were other 8 plants under construction which are projected to farther inject 4.58GW.  This wind power output is enough to cater for the demand of up to 5.3 million UK homes in addition to assisting save 8.6 million tonnes of carbon emission. The year 2017 (described as one of UK busiest year in terms of offshore wind technology) saw 7 offshore wind farms being put in service. Out of this 4 went ahead to be fully commissioned (Higgins and Foley, 2014).

From the latest reports the offshore sector in the UK is termed to be increasingly maturing and is now beginning to deliver low carbon power in large scale. Overall, the renewable energy sector contributed 29.4% of the entire power supply in the UK from this 6.2% is attributed to offshore wind (The Crown Estate, 2018).

In 2017, the UK wind farms energy output was more than coal-generated energy in 75% of the days. The power derived from the renewable sources was three times more than what was obtained from burning of coal. As part of the government plan to see off coal power lacking the technology to regulate its carbon emission by 2025, the government is encouraging more and more investments in the wind power projects. Currently coal only supplies 7% of the entire British energy demand. From this it can be argued that phasing out coal is on the right track; the focus is now on the use of gas which still out supply the power from wind energy. The expanding offshore wind sector has given the country an alternative to the fossil fuels.

As from 2015 data, the United Kingdom was suggested to be on course to attain its carbon emission target. The introduction of wind power has substituted the use of gas and coal and is now lowering the emission of greenhouse gasses. In the period 2005-2012 the use of gas in the UK went down by over a fifth. This was supported by increasing energy efficiency in addition to increasing use of green energy.

As per the EU targets Britain needs to generate 15% of the nation’s total energy supplied using low carbon sources by the year 2020. The current trend in Britain energy supply and demand have indicated that the country is on the right track when it comes to attaining that objective. The information from the office of National Statistics showed that UK derived a total of 15% of its energy from low carbon sources in 2013. This means the nation have managed to achieve 50% of the EU set target. This though will be achieved most likely by increasing the electricity generated from green sources to 30%. This outlines the role that the offshore wind technology is playing in the carbon debate.

For several years the use of gas dominated the UK’s heating supply and for up to two decades have been one of the greatest sources of electricity generation. The current falling of gas use followed by low costs of carbon means the aging coal-generated power is taking over. Luckily, renewables energy generation is rising. This has given competition to the gas sector despite its producers insisting on its clean aspect.

The trade association concerned with wind power (Renewable UK) have indicated that the dependency of the transport sector on the petroleum energy is still worrying, within this the nation need to continue supporting alternative technologies to enable them to replace the adamant use of carbon compounds. A combination of onshore and offshore energy generation is now responsible for half of the clean energy produced. The issue now is to speed the progress on the renewable heat and renewable transport sector, this can be done by propelling the idea of electric cars. The onshore and offshore wind power is expected to continue stepping up to cover the new demand for clean energy (Harvey, 2015).

Current and future technical developments

Despite the maturity of the onshore wind sector the offshore counterpart is still in the primary stages of development. According to the National laboratory responsible for renewable energy research in the United States, the offshore technology will continue to diverge from the inshore as environmental, market, infrastructure and technological forces continue to set in. currently it has been possible to share the inshore technology in the development of the offshore turbines. This have assist reduce time and resources which would have been consumed by the offshore sector in the start-up periods  (European Wind Energy Association, 2013). Because of the complexity involved in the technology transfer from onshore to the offshore energy sector only a few manufacturers of wind turbines dared to venture into the offshore energy sector. Up to the beginning of 2012 Vestas and Siemens were the leading companies in global installation capacity and were the only companies to have wind mills installed in Britain. Afterward Repower set-up 150MW in the wind farm located in Ormond

Despite the difference in global offshore wind turbine producers, most of the designs are made up of similar parts: foundation, tower, drivetrain, blades and substation.

Foundations

Majority of the commissioned wind mills in the United Kingdom are located at a water depth of 30m or shallower. One of the areas that can assist improve the generation capacity of the industry is to intensify research on possibility of installing wind mills in far away from the shores. To deploy the offshore wind turbines deeper from the shore a different foundation will have to be invented. Currently there are five various foundations: Monopile, jacket, gravity, tripod and floating.

Currently the monopile foundation characterises 96% of the wind offshore turbines commissioned with the jacket foundation taking the other 4%. Based on their design monopile foundations are effective only for depths of up to 30 m. from here the foundation losses its natural frequency hence becoming unstable and costly to maintain on deeper water depths.

The gravity foundations have lower structural limits in comparison with the monopiles though their cost quickly goes up as the depth increases.

When the sea depth surpasses 30 m the use of jacket and tripod is recommended as they possess a wider structural base which can be effective in neutralising the strengths of the wave forces.

In 2009 Statoil installed the a fully floating turbine at water depth of 220 m first full-scale floating turbine at a depth of 220m. currently several floating turbines are under testing.

Drivetrain

The Siemens is the leading deployer of wind turbines in Britain with Vestas also heavily investing in the sector. Considering that research puts the gear failure to be at the front of operational deficiencies there is need to do away with the gearbox so at to cut on the turbines maintenance costs. The offshore industry is yet to settle on a preferred drive train being that several technologies are still coming up. The British government have greatly contributed to the research with the energy department awarding numerous project funding’s to assist improve the efficiency of the wind mills being developed (Zhang, Verma and Kusiak, 2012).

Towers

Technological innovations have seen the wind turbine towers improve to contain specially coated materials aimed at withstanding the corrosive nature of the seawater. The rate of corrosion is very high in the sea water compared to that affecting the onshore turbines, this has seen the standard of the offshore turbines being established to minimise the high corrosion. The varying nature of the sea corrosiveness do differ depending on the areas where the turbines are installed. As an increasing number of manufacturers develop port assembly as well as facilities for manufacturing, there is hopes of achieving manufacture of a single section lengths. This will eliminate the desire for multiple tower lifts and minimise the demand for numerous assembly connections. The increasing wind turbine capacities requiring stronger and taller towers will generate a transportation issue, this has triggered the need to increase vessel capacity. For instance, in 2003 it was averagely 1500 this have increased to around 3500 as at 2014.

An analysis of the UK offshore farms have indicated that a correlation exists between the generation capacity and the turbine tower height.

Blades 

Since the Vestas invented the V66-2 MW rotor diameter of 66m, it has steadily increased to reach 120m, this was designed by the Siemens company in 2013. Currently Samsung is working on a diameter of 171.2 m which is intended to be installed at the Fife Energy Park. The cost analysis report of a 5 MW wind mill shows that the major component is the blade. Apparently the three companies Siemens, Vestas and REpower are constantly improving the technology to cut the cost of manufacturing the blades. They all apply the use of either carbon or glass fibre to construct the blades. The latest technology is focusing on the production of self-healing composited and Nanofillers which aims to improve the blades life time and stiffness.

Another company interested in reducing the cost of the blades is the General Electric. Currently the company is working on a research to establish ways to generate lighter blades which are quicker to fabricate than the existing brands.  This is intended to allow blade design to exceed 120m to minimise manufacturing and transport problems.

Due to the need to increase the generating capacity the industry projects the need to increase the blade size and improvements in its aerodynamics. To attain this the potential development will be to increase rotor tip speed to reduce torque and enhance energy capture. This though will increase fatigue loading, corrosion as well as reduce the blade efficiency. All this calls for further research into the area something which technology companies are currently busy at.

Grid and substation

In the early 2000’s the wind farms had a grid connection of 33kV medium voltage of alternating current, as more turbines are installed deeper in to the sea and the increasing energy generation capacity a necessity for offshore electrical substations emerged. The substations assist regulate the flow of voltage to the grid. The first substation in Britain was developed at the Barrow windfarm in 2006 by Centrica and Dong. From there most of the wind farms being installed in Britain have been accompanied by one or two substations. This has led to the cropping of a new challenge as upgrading the grids have become increasingly very expensive.

Barriers and opportunities 

Opportunities

The UK possesses several advantages that have seen it progress rapidly in the development of the offshore wind technology. These avenues can be pursued further to make the industry more attractive as well as enable UK to achieve its 2020 EU carbon limit. Some of these areas have been highlighted below.

Landscape; The presence of a stable and supportive conditions in the UK have seen a rapid expansion of the offshore wind technology (Musial and Ram, 2010).  This has acted as an attraction to an expanding pool of global investors.

Britain has lauded its commitment to renewing its electricity system with the aim of ensuring a secure and affordable supply that will allow the country deliver on the commitment to curb carbon emissions (Tavner, 2012).

Apparently, UK is one of the largest generators on offshore wind power and the sector in on track to deliver 10 GW by 2020. With its large offshore wind portfolio, the country only need a stable environment to achieve its long-term targets (Pinar, et al.,2013).

The expanding supply chain capacity; The UK government is working in collaboration with its industries to ensure that its supply chain is very innovative and competitive. With this the sector will be able to deliver and sustain jobs and hence yield massive economic benefits to the country. Britain companies are leading the way when it comes to development, construction, financing and operation of the offshore wind plants. With suppliers like Siemens selecting the UK as the location for future world-class manufacturing facilities the opportunities for expanding the supply chain appears massive. With this the country has a potentiality to expand its offshore wind power to the desired levels.

Stable government policies; The reputation of UK to operate and support predictable policy regimes have not escaped the eyes of the investors. The close working relationship between the Britain government and the stakeholders in the renewable energy sector especially the offshore wind technology had encouraged more and more investments into the area. The UK electricity reforms farther availed long-term stable capital sources for propelling low carbon energy generation. This has reduced investor risks and hence presenting an opportunity to increase more investment in the sector (UK Department for International Trade, 2015).

Barriers

Despite having an enormous potentiality in the wind power sector, challenges have not spared the sector. Most of the barriers are magnified by the scale of this offshore wind projects. To curtain the operational costs of the projects as well as ensure acceptable project economics, there is need to strive to overcome some of the emerging challenges. The scale, investments and complexity associated with the wind projects mean that the currently established supply chains, processes and practices together with the business models will have to shift to be in line with lowering the operating costs and increasing the revenue. Below is the list of some of the challenges hindering the development of the sector.

Turbines supply chain capacity

Should the UK decide to construct all its planned offshore winds between 2015 to 2022, then there will need to be a construction of at least be one turbine in a day. This is higher than the current production capacity if the sector.

The supply of wind turbines globally is currently higher than their demand. This has been because of economic crisis, raw materials high and volatile prices in addition to limited capital availability which have seen several projects frozen and hence weaker demand for the turbines. China and Asia’s fraternity are currently demanding more turbines than the Americans and Britain hence transferring manufacturing eastwards. With this the western economies are losing the market share hence hurting their turbine market supply.

For the global supply chain to support the development of 40 GW of wind power licensed by Britain, the turbine supply chain will have to transform and balloon drastically. Being that other regions like the United States, China and entire Europe are expecting tremendous growth in the offshore sector the challenge will be to ensure supply of cost-effective turbines of high quality.

Vessel contacting

A huge quantity of vessels contracted in the development if offshore structures have been derived from the petroleum sector. Vessels are needed in all the phases of offshore development, but the competition for those used during the installation stage is a bit high this includes: pipe and cable laying vessels, vessels used for heavy lifting as well as those necessary for transportation.

The number of vessels designed for the oil and gas sector is over 675 most of which can be directly referred to the offshore wind sector. this though is not a long-term option, with the oil and gas sector rebuilding its momentum and continuing of the decommissioning process in the North Sea the offshore industry will continue to be hit by intense competition and a shortage of vessels. In addition, the need to address the unique challenges associated with the offshore sector is necessitating the demand for more stringent and industry-specific vessels.

Capital access; Construction of mega offshore wind power projects are associated with several risks which have seen it being associated with very high costs.

First, the corrosive nature of the sea environment means that the equipment’s used in developing the wind turbines need to be appropriately coated to withstand this (Greenacre, Gross and Heptonstall, 2010). Also, the sea waves are accompanied by massive forces which the turbines must withstand if they are to operate effectively (Krohn, Morthorst and Awerbuch, 2009). Catering for all this situation will mean more capital being pumped into research and innovation.

The direct correlation between the size of the turbines and their capacity have also mean larger turbines have to be used. This is accompanied by very high transportation costs and the need for more vessels contracting for their installation purpose. To make the use of wind power energy more competitive there will be need to overcome these excessive costs surrounding the offshore wind power development (accenture, 2013).

A personal view of the technology

For centuries the globe has relied on the use of carbon fuels (coal, petroleum and gas) to sustain its power demand. The effect of this is currently being felt by the entire ecosystem. From extinction of special species of plants and animals to unpredictable weather conditions which are now threatening the existence of life on earth. It's just apparent that the sustainability of the fossil fuels is now being questioned. How far the globe can manage to depend on the fossil fuels is now just a matter of time. In addition to this the fossil fuels are non-renewable and as much as new discoveries are being made regarding plates with coal and oil research shows that this supply cannot sustain the globe’s energy demand for eternity.

To assist solve these uncertainties several economies have come together and agreed that there is an immediate need to shift the energy structure to green power. Even though there are several avenues that can be pursued regarding this from the nuclear fission and fusion, wave energy to solar energy I have decided to settle on the wind power energy (MacDonald, 2011).

This is one of the green energies whose persuasion will massively transform the energy sector. The UK for instant, has made significant steps in developing this sector. previously the onshore wind power looked more attractive. But they are accompanied by conflict of interest when it comes to the land use (BWEA and Hassan, 2009). The harnessing of wind power need a large area of land with no obstruction and this is where the offshore wind power generation sets in. by making use if the spacious sea atmosphere the globe can be able to generate adequate energy to replace the use of fossil fuels (Karyotakis, 2011). For now, all that is needed is more innovation to create more efficient foundations that can be installed deep into the sea. This will solve the land use conflict as well be a good opportunity to derive clean energy.

Conclusions

Offshore wind is an abundant and promise source of green energy. Through the comprehensive support of the UK government the country has been able to make a massive step in the development of this energy sector. currently the offshore wind power is being positioned to offer competition to the traditional sources such as coal and gas plants.  To become fully competitive the country will need to strive to cut the development cost of the energy by up to half of the current cost with an improvement of the entire project economics. This will be made possible if access to capital, vessel contracting, and the turbine supply chains are transformed.

Despite the country currently boasting to be one of the leading offshore wind power generators, the overreliance in the petroleum industry when it comes to the transportation sector will need an extra work to replace. Should the country pursue the electric car’s path then, the energy demand will be massive. With this the governments, private companies as well as scientists will have to work extra hard if Britain is to phase of the use of fossil which has

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