Plans to harness the wind power potential of the North Sea present an opportunity for the UK to become a centre of excellence in offshore wind technologies

(20/01/2010)

The Government recently announced the next phase of its plan to produce over 30GWs of offshore wind power by 2020. While this would be the most ambitious offshore wind power development in the world, it is not without its critics, who point to problems with maintenance and reliability in the hostile environment of the North Sea and also question whether the UK has the technical expertise to implement and manage such a project.

QinetiQ counters this view. The company is currently working with BP and the Technology Strategy Board to develop turbine-specific maintenance and monitoring solutions.

Mark Roberts, head of QinetiQ’s Energy and Environment business, made the following comments about the issues around offshore wind power: “The Government’s plans to harness the tremendous wind power potential of the North Sea are challenging and enormously ambitious, but also present a fantastic opportunity for the UK to become a centre of excellence in offshore wind technologies, particularly in the vital area of monitoring and maintenance.

“Systems will be needed that not only identify defects in equipment, but also predict future degradation. Predictive monitoring technology is already in use in a variety of other motor applications – honing this technology to meet the unique demands of turbines will be critical to making offshore wind farms economically viable.

“If operators can predict necessary maintenance and the likely demand for repairs, they will be able to protect themselves against unplanned downtime, inconsistent operation or expensive repair bills.

“As the winners of these contracts are announced, the UK technology community and wind power supply chain must be able to demonstrate their readiness to meet the challenges that lie ahead. But the expertise and know-how already exists in this country, so we have every confidence that operators will soon be running profitable and effective large-scale offshore wind farms in the UK.”

Related categories:  Wind power