DNV GL Pledges to Help Reduce Offshore Wind Costs by 25%

By Joseph R. Fonseca September 25, 2014

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts today share the findings of its latest report “Offshore wind: a manifesto for cost reduction” at WindEnergy Hamburg 2014.

Industry action on reducing offshore wind costs is widely regarded as essential to secure the future of this strategically important energy source in Northern Europe as well as in new markets in Asia and North America. The DNV GL manifesto for offshore wind cost reduction does more than identify and quantify cost reduction opportunities. It sets out the challenge and commits DNV GL to action on the most important issues.

The cost reduction strategies outlined in the manifesto are categorised into three basic types: “Doing it right” (by mitigating risk and increasing certainty), “Doing it better” (by improving the efficiency of existing processes) and “Doing it differently” (by innovating for the future). Working with industry partners, the actions DNV GL commits to in the manifesto have the potential to achieve reductions in the cost of energy of up to 25%. This saving, combined with trends in other areas such as improved supply chain efficiency has the potential of delivering a total reduction of 40% which is recognised by many stakeholders as the level required to secure the future of the industry.

Commenting on the work, CEO for DNV GL – Energy, David Walker said “This is about securing the future of offshore wind.

Achieving cost reduction is about more than just new technology and innovation. It also requires us to get the basics right which means getting people together, assessing the issues in detail and defining best practice. This may be seen as incremental or even unglamorous, but it is exactly what a maturing industry looks like and it is exactly what is required to drive down costs.

The good news is that we are seeing signs of progress but we need to do much more as an industry. In this manifesto document, we in DNV GL recognise the role we can play in the cost reduction story – we are committed to helping offshore wind do it right, do it better and do it differently.”

The manifesto document contains 14 specific pledges across a wide range of topics from reducing subsea cable installation risks through to accelerating the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology:

Do it…right
1. Launch a joint industry project (JIP) to improve Marine Operations in both the installation and operations phase;
2. Complete a cable installation JIP, which follows on from our recently published recommended practice guide to tackling subsea cable risks;
3. Help share operations data as a key technical advisor to SPARTA initiative (System Performance, Availability and Reliability Trend Analysis);
4. Provide the industry with interface risk management;
5. Implement a methodology for assessing crew transfer technologies and techniques;
6. Help to ensure the safe and effective application of HVDC technology;

Do it…better
7. Launch “Offshore UNITED” – a JIP to drive collaborative and integrated approaches to project development, design and engineering;
8. Optimise monopile design standards;
9. Deliver better site design through an enhanced range of planning and optimisation tools;
10. Help the industry optimise the sizing of export electrical systems;
11. Help move jacket fabrication towards serial production methods;

Do it…differently
12. Use the FORCE – a collaborative R&D project to show how the cost reduction potential identified in project FORCE1 can be applied on a real world project;
13. Continue to push the technological limits of turbine design – especially with regard to larger turbines; and,
14. Continue to drive the commercialisation of floating wind.

Download the full manifesto document.

1 Project FORCE was a DNV GL research and innovation project executed in 2013 and published in 2014. It examined the benefits of adopting an integrated approach to the design of wind turbines and their supporting structures.