浮式风电可以从海底工业中学到什么?

Floating wind technology looks to be a game-changer for the industry. 这在一定程度上是由政府新出台的政策推动的, such as the UK’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution, which sets out a pathway to net-zero with goals of 1 Gigawatt (GW) of floating wind capacity by 2030. While this offers the opportunity to produce renewable power from large areas of the oceans that are too deep for fixed structures, 这种替代能源也有其自身的挑战, many of which are familiar to Wood’s experts who encountered similar challenges in the early years of the subsea industry.

The good news is that many of the technical skills and solutions developed for subsea are directly transferable to floating wind. 随着组织寻求多元化进入这一领域, Wood’s expertise in building and operating offshore floating facilities in harsh environments has enabled us to translate total expenditure cost saving lessons to advise clients on developing economically savvy, 安全可靠的浮动风电场.

What are some key subsea takeaways that will help floating wind clients?

动态建模 

As demand grows for floating wind, wind turbines and floating foundations will increase in size. This will require challenging and complex integration between system components. Accurate modelling will play a critical role in the design and optimisation of the turbine control systems and individual components, as the overall system gets larger and as we move further offshore to deeper and more severe weather conditions.

A key lesson learned from the subsea sector is the need to utilise tools which simulate the behaviours of floating systems, risers and moorings to improve the prediction accuracy of the aerodynamic, 结构和水动力建模. 为了解决这一难题，Wood设计了 Flexcom, a market-leading offshore marine engineering simulator which has 现在 been developed to support floating wind assets. 下一代的软件, Flexcom风, 快速创建详细的浮动风资产模型, 允许更多的时间和精力放在工程设计上.

移动电源

Floating wind developers also face the challenge of transporting the produced energy back to shore. 这需要广泛的、高度可靠的海底电力电缆. 多年来, we have seen failures in submarine power cables leading to high repair cost which resulted in difficulty securing insurance due to the cables being a single point of failure. The root cause of many of these failures can be linked to the lack of a global standard and the competitive tendering process triggering pressure to 降低成本 during the design, 制造与安装.

It is vital to understand the limitations of submarine cables and the implications for the design and safe installation of offshore wind facilities. 当前实践, 如测量电缆的力学参数, 进行测试以识别故障模式, and recommend standardised safety philosophies for installation and operation, 必须考虑降低失败的风险.

回到20世纪80年代, 在设计水下柔性立管时, 该行业没有明确的技术标准. 然而, these standards are 现在 being tackled by Joint Industry Projects (JIPs) and technical working groups to discover the common reasons for cable failures and root cause analysis.

一起工作

最后, with competitive tendering for Government Contract for Difference, 采用合作的心态可能很困难, but is essential for the success of floating wind as an alternative source of energy.  如电缆所示, subsea developers have found that utilising collaborative bodies like the DNV pipeline committee and JIPs, 创新的最佳方式是什么, 降低成本, 解决复杂问题，创造更安全, 更可持续的工业.

Technology developers will also need to work 关闭ly with detailed engineering and turbine companies to scale up their prototype concepts to support the new 15 Megawatts (MW) turbines.  制造公司也是如此, who will need to develop the automated processes needed to produce 100 plus units efficiently.  工程师们, technology developers and installers will all need to work together to create specialist vessels and modify the designs to make them easier to install and repair. This approach helped deliver a profitable subsea sector and the same can be true for a successful floating wind industry.

展望未来

The challenges facing floating wind are not new – this up-and-coming industry can be just as effective as the subsea sector. By harnessing transferable skills and experience from working in subsea environments, the cost of floating wind energy can be levelized towards that of fixed wind whilst maintaining high levels of reliability and safety. Adopting the collaborative and innovative mindset which has positively served the subsea industry will be key to ensuring the future success of floating wind and the energy transition.

最初发表于 全球水下枢纽杂志.