today, working onHOW THE NETHERLANDS CAN ACHIEVE ITS OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY AMBITIONS.

toMorrow’S EnErgy

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This brochure serves to inspire policymakers and politicians by informing them about the opportunities offered by offshore wind energy. We would like to show them what we have achieved in the Netherlands so far, but more specifically what our future plans are and what we need in order to achieve them. Not only money is required; we also need a target-oriented, stable and resolute policy and of course a great deal of knowledge and expertise. Provid-ing certainty and stability to potential investors is the best way for govern-ments to help the development of a offshore wind industry supply chain. We present the future in images and figures and discuss aspects which will play a crucial role in achieving the offshore ambitions.

The market is very dynamic with countless companies, working on or invest-ing in offshore wind energy, or preparing to do so in the future. Along with the Netherlands other North Sea countries, in particular Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany are designing and constructing wind farms in the North Sea and have ambitious plans for the future. In 30 years’ time, about 80,000 Megawatts (MW) in total will be installed in the North Sea, equiva-lent to 80 medium sized conventional electricity power stations supplying 100% clean electricity.

This publication focuses on the wind energy offshore ambitions of the Neth-erlands and the contribution of the Dutch industry and know how could make to realise both the national plans and European initiatives.

Chris Westra Jos BeurskensGeneral Director We@Sea Scientific Director We@Sea

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Prefacecontents 3

It is fascinating to observe the development of wind energy during the past decades.

In the early 1970s, we were seeing the birth of a new technology and now, onshore wind energy is a mature industry. Wind energy has generated new economic activity with 160,000 jobs in Eu-rope alone, and money flowing into European companies instead of into the oil states.

In 2008, twenty wind turbines on average were erected each working day in Europe. Wind en-ergy is leading in terms of newly built electricity capacity. On land, wind energy has overtaken the construction of new fossil fuel and nuclear power stations. At present wind power supplies 4.2% of the total European electricity require-ments. The North Sea wind farms will add considerably to the prospects for wind energy in Europe. The European Wind Energy Asso-ciation (EWEA) expects offshore wind energy to contribute 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2030. On the long term, the North Sea’s energy potential is much bigger. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Europe will become an energy exporter in the future. Various studies, among others those carried out by Greenpeace, Econ-cern (Poseidon) and the masterplan ‘Zeekracht’ of the Dutch NGO ‘Natuur en Milieu’ carried

out by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (Rem Koolhaas), support such a vision. The construction of large wind farms (500-1000 MW) in the North Sea is an immense challenge. It is a novel technology and many aspects need to be investigated and developed. In order to reach government targets, we need to progress fast, because by 2020, around 1200 wind tur-bines of 5 MW each need to be in operation. To achieve this goal, we need to start today because of the considerable lead times before installa-tion. The following chapters describe what is needed to build 1200 wind turbines at sea, each with a rotor diameter of 125 meters (5 MW), and to make them produce electricity. Two dif-ferent routes towards this goal will be presented, including their price tags.

Wind power will significantly contribute to the Dutch national target of 20% renewable energy production by the year 2020. The North Sea offers a prime opportunity to contribute signifi-cantly to this aim. There is, in fact, sufficient wind and space to meet our total electricity demands. The national target of 6000 MW off-shore wind capacity could be achieved quickly and would contribute considerably to reducing CO2 emissions.

the challenge4

There are many other advantages: valuable raw materials would be conserved, less foreign cur-rency would be involved and thousands of jobs will be created. The North Sea is an extensive natural environment. People regard it as a large, barren area, always in motion. It makes you seasick and it can be very rough out there. The North Sea destroys everything with its waves, wind and salt water and it is precisely in this en-vironment that thousands of wind turbines will be constructed. This ambition asks a great deal of people, materials and machines. After having transported and installed all equipment to sea it is expected to work for at least 20 years, with an absolute minimum of maintenance and repairs. This has never been tried before. It requires many people with specific knowledge and skills, dedicated ships and many material resources. This ambition can be achieved only with a far sighted, stimulating and stable government policy. The Netherlands has a strong offshore industry and a prominent international repu-tation as a centre of research on wind energy with institutions like TU Delft, ECN, WMC, Imares, TNO, University of Twente and Marin.

We are capable to not only realise our own plans but can also play an important role in foreign projects.

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In Northern Europe around 1500 MW of offshore wind capacity have been installed and 1740 MW is under construction in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. In the Dutch territory between IJmuiden and Egmond aan Zee, two wind farms (228 MW) are in operation. They have been realised in two different ways in terms of technical lay out, methods of transportation and installation and financing. Despite this excellent start many law making and policy measures have to be put in place. Permitting procedures, spatial planning, electrical infra-structure and financial incentives for offshore wind energy are in the making. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for renewable energy incentives and the electrical infrastruc-ture. The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is the administrator for the North Sea, dealing with the building per-mits and environmental planning. A transparent policy in all these fields is urgently required as a prerequisite for a sound development and entre-preneurial environment to achieve the national and European targets.

What have We achieved so far?

offshore Wind farm egmond aan Zee (oWeZ)after a period of preparation lasting 10 years (of which 4 years needed for engineering and working out the plan details) and an investment of €208 million by shell and nUon, the first dutch offshore Wind farm egmond aan Zee (oWeZ) delivered electricity to the grid in 2007. this farm, consisting of 36 3mW-turbines requires a total surf-ace of 30 km2 and is located about 10 km from the coast, close to egmond aan Zee. the turbines stand in water depths of 18-20 meter. noordzeeWind, a joint venture of shell and nuon, was responsible for the development of this farm. the construction was done by a consortium of Ballast nedam and the danish wind turbine supplier, vestas.

since the wind power plant was opened around 400,000,000 kWh of clean electricity were produced until 2009, sufficient for 100,000 dutch households. at the same time the annual co2 emissions from electricity generation were reduced by 140,000 tonnes.

Prinses amalia Wind farmthe Princess amalia Wind farm, is a joint project of econcern and eneco. it consists of 60, 2mW-wind tur-bines, located in Block Q7 of the north sea, 23 km from iJmuiden. the water depth is between 19 and 24 m. this wind farm generates 435,000,000 kWh of electricity an-nually and reduces co2 emissions by 176,000 tonnes.

it is the first offshore wind farm in the world, built with non-recourse project financing.

the wind turbines are connected to a transformer station placed in the centre of the farm on a monopole. here the voltage of 22 kv is stepped up to 150 kv. the transformer station is connected to a substation on land at the corus steelworks.

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1the wind turbine components such as the rotor blades, masts and nacelle are collected

at a temporary storage site in the iJmond harbour in iJmuiden.

2the iJmond harbour has an open connection to the north sea so the components can

easily be shipped to the construction site. the yellow transition piece, which remains visible above water, and the mono pile foundation are ready to be transported out to sea.

3all 36 wind turbines are prefabricated on the quay at iJmuiden. after inspection, the

towers are fitted together. these turbine masts are 55 m in height.

4each wind turbine has three blades, with a length of 45 meters each. two out of three

blades are pre-attached to the nacelle for transportation; they are also known as ‘bunny ears’.

5a lifting vessel (‘svanen’) carries the mono pile and transition piece out to sea where the

pile is hammered into the sea bottom. to avoid scouring, rocks are dumped around the pile on the seabed.

6a transition piece is placed on top of each foundation pile and extends 13 m above the

water surface. the work platforms, ladders and a ‘jetty’ for ships are positioned on this

7for each turbine two days are needed to fina-lise the foundations and attach the transition

piece to it, on top of which the mast of the wind turbine is placed.

8now it’s the turn of the crane vessel ‘sea energy’. the wind turbine mast is already

hanging in the tackle of the crane.9the sea energy transports two masts, two

nacelles and two separate blades each tier, shuttling back and forth between the harbour in iJmuiden and the wind farm.

10the mast is placed on top of the yellow transition piece and fixed with 140 nuts

and bolts. the whole structure now extends 70 m above the water surface.

11next, the nacelle with two “bunny ears” is lifted with the crane. this crane weighs

more than 100,000 kg.12the third blade is fixed to the hub. on aver-

age two days are needed for each wind turbine for installation.

13the wind turbine has a total height of 115 m, which is higher than a building with 35

floors. a computer in the base of the mast con-trols the turbine and another computer onshore ensures all 36 wind turbines operate together and forming an electricity plant.

14the generator is located in the nacelle. Just as a bicycle dynamo, the generator

transforms the rotating mechanical energy of the rotor into electricity.

15the electricity is transported to the shore by means of high voltage cables. the cable

vessel ‘team oman’ lays the cables which connect the wind farm to the transformer near Wijk aan Zee.

16the process of laying an electricity cable begins by extending a thick nylon line from

the ‘team oman’ to the beach.

17the vessel then sails to the wind farm. during this trip the cable is jetted into the

seabed to a depth between 1.5 and 3 meter with a strong water jet.

18the cables run from sea more than two meters underneath the beach to the trans-

former station at corus. 19here the voltage is transformed to 150 kv.

the transformer station forms the con-nection point with the national grid.

BUilding a Wind farm at sea:

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Building wind farms at sea is basically different from building them on land. The wind turbines need to be able to stand up to extreme conditions such as a saline environment, waves, wind and variable sea bed conditions. Depending on the depth of water, condition of the sea bed, current and loads, different de-signs of offshore foundations are needed. Special ships are necessary for transport-ing, installing and maintaining the tur-

innovations

bines. Most of the current offshore wind turbines were originally designed as land turbines and thus not intended for use at sea, but merely adapted. Now, specially developed offshore wind turbines with a diameter of more than 120 m and 5 MW of installed power are being de-veloped, built and tested as prototypes. Before they can be deployed on a large commercial scale, their deployment has to be established.

In order to further reduce the electricity generating costs (cost of energy = € per kilowatt hour) new concepts for offshore turbines are necessary, as well as innova-tions across the whole value chain. Dutch companies and institutes play an impor-tant role in innovative offshore technolo-gies.

ExTERNAL CONDITIONS Wind turbine designers need detailed information about the conditions under which wind turbines at sea have to oper-ate during their life time. Research into these issues is being carried out in many countries. Research institutes in the Netherlands, within the framework of

the We@Sea programme, are concentrat-ing on investigating wind characteristics, the determination of extreme wind speeds, and changes in sea bed morphol-ogy as a result of installing wind turbine foundations. A wind turbine structure reacts to loads from wind and waves

and to those imposed by the drive train system and controls. The resulting inter-nal mechanical stresses and the material properties determine the lifetime of the installation.Control strategies are being designed in such a way that the mechanical stability of the wind turbine and thus structural integrity is secured even if external con-ditions, including the sea bed conditions change.

SuppORT STRuCTuRES, TRANS-pORT AND INSTALLATION A support structure consists of a founda-tion which, is installed on or in the sea bed, and the tower. In between there may be a transition piece allowing the tower being positioned exactly vertical. Special attention needs to be paid to reduce foundation costs, costs of trans-port and installation. Developing new foundations is not only determined by costs but also by environmental require-ments such as the emission of underwa-ter acoustic noise during the installation process. The pile-driving sound can be harmful to sea mammals and fish hatchlings. That is why drilling tech-

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20

40

60

80

100

onshore (%) offshore (%)

wind turbines 61 34foundation, tower and installation 4 24

grid connection 9 15

management 2 1

operation & maintenance 2 23dismantling & decommissioning 22 3

onshore

INDICATION OF COSTS OF A OFFSHORE WIND FARM COMpARED WITH A ONSHORE WIND FARM.

offshore

Points to focUs on for offshore Wind energy r&d and innovations:• External conditions (waves, saline air,

lower turbulence (more stable wakes), extreme wind speeds, water currents, state of sea bed)

• Dedicated offshore wind turbines

• Support structures, transport and instal-lation

• Operation and maintenance

• Grid connection

• Effects on ecosystem, safety

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niques have been developed especially for monopile foundations.Offshore turbines are tall, slender, com-paratively light and extremely sensitive to dynamic loading, even while being transported and installed. Loads during transport may even exceed the loads dur-ing normal operation. This means that a turbine can be damaged even before it starts to operate.It is possible to draw on the experiences of the offshore gas and oil sectors and act as a source of inspiration but their meth-ods can never be transferred without adaptation to wind energy technology.Dutch companies are leading in design-ing foundations and new transport and installation techniques.

Failure behaviour and maintainability

Corrective maintenance

Results:

• High availability

• low price per kWh

• waiting times

• identification of cost drivers

• recommendations for improvement

preventive maintenance

Characterisation of access and hoisting systems

Characterisation of weather conditions (wind, waves,

lighting and visibility)

feed back

optical fibres in blades

Pc for control and

alarm

wind speed, pitch angle,

power

data logger in hub

Condition monitoring

Access technology

Flight leader concept:

only the turbine with the heaviest loads is intensively measured

Model for optimisation operations & maintenance, developed

by ECN within the framework of the We@Sea programme.

wind speed, pitch angle,

power

strain, loads, spectra,

etc.

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OpERATION AND MAINTENANCETo maximise energy production it is ex-tremely important that any wind turbine failures (including developing problems) be attended quickly. In order to reduce the number of expensive offshore repair operations to a minimum, it is necessary to carry out preventive maintenance. New expert systems and planning mod-els are being developed for this purpose, taking into account weather conditions, failure characteristics of wind turbine components, and the access and docking characteristics of maintenance vessels. The availability of wind turbines for pro-ducing electricity does not only depend on the quality of maintenance models but also on the reliability of the turbine itself.It is much more complicated and costly to access sea-based wind turbines in a safe way than accessing a land based machine. Various systems have been de-veloped to transfer personnel, tools and spare parts from a moving ship to a wind turbine safely.

Three Dutch access systems have been developed and applied successfully:

1. Offshore Access System OAS devel-oped by Fabricom Oil & Gas BV,2. The Ampelmann developed by Am-pelmann Company and3. WindCat, a catamaran vessel designed and exploited made by Windcat Work-boats.

The Ampelmann has been developed by TU Delft, partly within the frame-work of the We@Sea programme. It can stabilise an access platform in waves of up to 2.5 m significant wave height This means an increase up to 93% in accessing time of a wind turbine in the North Sea. Which access technologies, including helicopters project developers or opera-tors decide to use depend on the distance to the harbour or available service point at sea and the type of repair needed.

There is a wide range of maintenance activities. You need to go there, to transfer personnel for brief inspections, for long-term repairs or for delivering both small and heavy components. If a large number of wind farms are installed close to each other, it may be cheaper to have a dedicated wind energy service harbour. If we install 6000 MW at sea, possibly expanding to 20,000 MW, we continually need hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people at work in the North Sea. It would therefore be ben-eficial to have a safe location at sea for both people and materials. Considera-tions are being given to the development of such a harbour-at-sea more than 70 km from the coast, in the centre of the wind energy area. Such a service harbour

Various options for interventions at sea

depening on the type of activity.

HARBOUR

Heliport

12 miles zone

Harbourat sea

wind farm

wind farm

wind farm

could enable wind farms to be built and maintained more efficiently and more rapidly. Other sectors are also interested in acquiring a place in the service har-bour at sea.

CONNECTING TO THE GRID Each of the first two Dutch wind farms realised their electrical connections to the national grid on their own, different, way. After a certain amount of pressure from the sector, the government now seems to be willing to include the costs of the electrical infrastructure (‘electrical sockets at sea ‘) in the general electric-ity tariffs. In other words, connecting from the North Sea and realising the electricity grid at sea will become the responsibility of the Dutch TSO (Trans-

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harBoUr at seathere is little point in building large wind farms close to the coastline because of the ship-ping traffic there. this is why future wind energy areas will be located further out to sea, an example being ‘iJmuiden far’. in such an area with room for 5000 mW there is a much greater need for a support base at sea, allowing sailing times to be reduced and offshore transformer stations to be installed; ‘electricity sockets at sea’. the netherlands will be the first country to have such a harbour at a well chosen spot in the north sea and could thus take the initiative in further european developments. a harbour at sea could have the following functions:

FOR WIND ENERGY • a station for transporting, assembling and

maintaining wind farms at sea

• accommodation for personnel,

• storage of spare parts,

• workshops,

• foundations for commissioning assem-bled complete wind turbines,

• test site for new offshore wind turbines,

• transformer station,

• electrical substation for connections on land, (electrical hub)

FOR OTHER FuNCTIONS: • aquaculture of raw materials for food,

energy and materials

• shelter in emergency situations,

• recreation (yachting marina),

• ‘gas-to-wire’ units,

• logistics centre for the fishing sector

• coastguard service

• lifeboat service

• offshore companies.

mission System Operator) TenneT. If a spatial planning policy clearly indicates where at sea the future wind farms will be realised, it will be possible to develop an optimum electrical infrastructure at sea with limited ecological impact. In order to connect considerable amounts of wind power, which will be realised step-by-step, a completely new offshore electrical infrastructure needs to be de-veloped and constructed.The total electrical installed power that can ultimately be built in the North Sea is comparable with the present conven-tional power output in the Netherlands. It will be quite a challenge to accom-modate such a large and varying power source in our electricity supply system; one that has never before confronted the electricity sector.Because of the extent of the system and the way the present day electricity mar-ket is functioning, this is a cross-border problem and should therefore be solved in cooperation with the other North Sea countries in Europe.

EFFECTS ON THE ECOSYSTEM AND SAFETY Building and exploiting wind farms at sea will affect the marine environment which is why each project developer has to compile an ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ for the project. So far, none of the North European offshore projects seem to have led to significant and ir-reversible ecological problems.The noise produced by pile driving and the cumulative effects of clusters of large wind farms on the eco system could lead to dif-ficulties in the future and need to be taken into consideration when developing wind power in the North Sea. Many problems could be prevented by monitoring these effects internationally and developing miti-gating measures on the basis of the moni-toring results. During the implementation of large projects, many opportunities are available to gain new ecological insights in order to give the natural environment more space to develop. With regards to safety at sea, the shipping sector imposes require-ments for the distances between shipping routes and wind farms. A further analysis of the risks and the effects of possible collisions might lead to a more acceptable zoning for all parties concerned.

Monitoring system for bird collisions with rotor

blades, developed by ECN within the framework of

the we@Sea programme.

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comPanies

GuSTO MSCThe Dutch company GustoMSC is the market leader in terms of design-ing transport and installation vessels for wind turbines. ‘Jack-ups’, the ships that can lift themselves out of the water, are GustoMSC speciality. These plat-forms are increasingly being built with their own means of propulsion and are intended for both transporting wind turbine components and for lifting them at sea. They can be fitted with cranes for lifting components weighing be-tween 500 and 1000 tonnes. The deck

is specially set up for transporting as many components per trip as possible. GustoMSC has developed two specific jack-up series: • The SEA series comprise vesels with four legs that need to be tugged. The loading capacity is 4000 tonnes.• The NG series, with self-propulsion and a dynamic positioning system that automatically keeps the ship on course or maintains its position. It also has a crane capacity of 500-1500 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 10,000 tonnes.

SMuLDERS pROjECTS B.V.Since the start of the first offshore wind farm in the North Sea, Smulders Projects B.V. is actively involved in the construc-tion of monopile foundations, transition pieces and towers for the offshore indus-try. Today more than 80% of all offshore wind turbines are based on founda-tions and transition pieces fabricated by Smulders Projects B.V..

Smulders Projects has realised over 500 mono pile foundations for various wind farm projects around the world, like Horns Rev, North Hoyle, Arklow Banks part 1, Kentish Flats, Barrow, Burbo Banks, Q7, Lynn and Inner Dowsing, Robin Rigg, Rhyl Flats, Thornton Banks, Gunfleet Sands 1 and 2, Thanet Off-shore Wind Farm and Bard. Smulders Projects is part of the Dutch Smulders Groep B.V., which consists of twenty-three individual companies, each with its own specialised expertise in the processing and construction of steel. Through this unique form of co-operation Smulders claims to master all aspects of steel constructions.

Smulders Projects is the leading com-pany for off-shore wind farm projects, working in close cooperation with other individual Smulders companies located in The Netherlands, Belgium and Poland as well as with Sif Group bv. This cluster of companies offers flexibility and a continuous capacity for supplying any future project.

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The modern production facilities and in house engineering and fabrication of all components enables Smulders to continuously monitor the quality of its products and therefore meet to the high quality standards within in the offshore branch.

The production facility at Hoboken, is ideally situated in the sheltered har-bour of Antwerp, with open access to the North Sea. The facility includes a construction shop of 300 x 40m, a fully conditioned shot blasting and coating shop (each 1.200 sqm.), a building dock of 485 x 65m and a gantry crane serving both shops and dock with 450 tons lift-ing capacity.

Within the near future Smulders Projects plans to expand its capacity and con-tinue optimisation of its production facilities to be able to further adapt to the (quality) requirements and changes within the wind energy sector.

HEEREMA FABRICATION GROupFor decades, Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has been building large and complex offshore structures to serve companies in the oil and gas industry allowing them to safely operate at greater depths and in tougher environments, such as the North Sea, off the coast of West Africa, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY MARKET. We are now leveraging our services and capabilities into the offshore wind energy market by offering Engineering, Procure-ment, Construction and Installation (EPCI) services and Project Manage-ment. This means that we can handle complete projects including offshore substations, HVDC (High-Voltage Di-rect Current) stations and WTG (Wind Turbine Generator) foundations, such as monopiles, transition pieces, tripods and jackets.WORLD’S FIRST 400 MW OFFSHORE HVDC STATION. Recently, this resulted in the successful completion and delivery of the world’s first 400 MW offshore wind HVDC station, Borwin Alpha, in the

German sector of the North Sea. Our fabrication yard Heerema Vlissingen and HFG Engineering have jointly designed and fabricated the offshore transformer station using the HVDC Light concept. An existing onshore transformer concept that required the development of an offshore transformer station. This station weighs 4,800 tons and will be installed in a waterdepth of 40 meters.500 MW GREATER GABBARD OFFSHORE SuBSTATION. Heerema Hartlepool is building the 500 MW Greater Gabbard Offshore Substation, for the world’s largest offshore wind farm. HFG En-gineering delivered the design for the substation that is scheduled to sail from Hartlepool in Autumn 2009 to its final location approximately 26 km off the coast of Suffolk, Eastern England. The

topsides will weigh approximately 2,000 tons, are 35 meters long and 20 metres high.

FABRICATION AND ENGINEERING. Heerema Fabrication Group operates three fabrication yards, ideally situated around the North Sea, a fabrication facility in Poland and has an engineer-ing company that operates throughout the world. The group employs over 1,100 people and is part of the Heerema Group.FABRICATION. The fabrication yards are situated in the Netherlands (Heerema Zwijndrecht and Heerema Vlissin-gen) and the United Kingdom (Heer-ema Hartlepool). They are large, well-equipped fabrication facilities, each able to handle several large projects

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BALLAST NEDAMBallast Nedam is a large Dutch building, construction and infrastructure company and aims to become one of the key play-ers in the European wind energy market. The company has a special offshore wind energy division and has a lot of experi-ence in developing, designing, instal-lation, constructing and maintaining offshore wind farms and offshore wind farm foundations.

Ballast Nedam is involved in the Dutch R & D projects like DOWEC and We@Sea. Ballast Nedam has developed a new concept for Vattenfalls Swedish Krieg-ers Flak offshore wind farm. This new concept consists of a drilled concrete mono pile which is both a economical attractive as a environmental friendly foundation concept.

Drivers for this concept are: • Concrete mono piles are inexpensive

compared to steel mono piles: concrete is less vulnerable to price fluctuations.

• Unlimited fabrication capacity and a wide range of suppliers available.

• Underwater noise can be prevented for

the protection of sea mammals and fish • The method can be used for various

soil types, even where boulders are present.

DESIGN. Concrete mono piles for the Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm are designed for 3.6 and 5 MW wind tur-bines in water depth of 30 meters.

Dimensions 3.6 MW 5.0 MW

outer diameter (mm) 6500 6900

Wall thickness (mm) 500 700

Pile length (m) 61 64

Weight (tons) 1450 2200

FABRICATION. The mono piles are made of pre-cast reinforced concrete ring ele-ments and are fitted with a steel cutting shoe to ‘cut’ through the soil, creating an over sized cut. This extra space is filled with self-hardening drill fluid. The mono piles are sealed to make them floating for transportation to the offshore site.

WORK METHOD IN BRIEF. The floating mono pile is lifted up at one end by the Svanen and is positioned on the sea-

bed inside Svanen’s guiding frame. The mono pile settles several meters into the seabed, after which the drilling machine is installed inside the mono pile. Drilling starts and the mono pile is continuously lowered to the required depth. At this point the drill is removed and the drill fluid hardens. An ice cone is placed and grouted on the top of the mono pile.

DRILLING EquIpMENT. The drilling machine, including the cutter head is designed to drill through the various soil layers. The diameter of the cutter head is extendable. This enables the machine to drill inside and below the mono pile. It excavates in two directions and is able to crush boulders in front of the cutter head.

simultaneously. All have large, covered, modern halls for prefabrication, assem-bly and various other services. The Polish fabrication facility, which concentrates on prefabrication and smaller elements, is located in Opole.ENGINEERING. HFG’s multi-disciplinary engineering company, HFG Engineer-ing, is headquartered in the USA and has three major offices, in New Orleans and Houston (USA) and Zwijndrecht (the Netherlands). HFG Engineering provides clients in the oil & gas and energy industry with fabrication-driven engineering, which emphasises ease of operation and constructability.

ENGINEERING AND pROjECT MANAGE-MENT. HFG is widely recognized for its engineering and project management ca-pabilities. Extensive experience has been gained in the execution of Turnkey and EPC(I) contracts. With more than 60 years of experience, HFG is able to offer a comprehensive range of services, from feasibility studies, front-end engineer-ing, detailed fabrication focused design, procurement through to construction, commissioning and installation.

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COST. A cost estimate for a continuous fabrication and installation process for 128 foundations at Kriegers Flak led to the following results: • for a 3.6 MW turbine ≈ € 1,8 million • for a 5.0 MW turbine ≈ € 2,0 million

ONE LIFT INSTALLATION CONCEpT. In order to cut the cost of offshore wind energy Ballast Nedam developed a one lift installation method for offshore wind turbines, based on deployment of the reliable Heavy Lifting Vessel (HLV) Svanen. This method enables the as-sembly and initial commissioning of the complete wind turbine at a temporary foundation on shore, prior to be sited at sea. Once the turbine is ready for

installation, it is picked up by the HLV Svanen, transported and placed at the offshore site. The Svanen facilitates a safe and rapid installation of large offshore wind turbines, saving time and money.

Onshore picking up of a wind turbine using the lifting device and hoisting frame. The wind turbine is picked up at the harbour with a lifting and guidance frame which uses tensioners for lifting. When the turbine properly hangs in its cables the Svanen is ready to set sail.Upon arrival at the offshore installation site, the HLV Svanen is connected to its eight anchors to be able to position the wind turbine on top of the foundation. The upper frame is unlocked from its guiding frame and all sea-fastening is released to allow the wind turbine generator to be lowered to approximately 1m above the foundation. With the tensioners connected to the foundation the wind turbine can be placed on the foundation in a controlled manner.

IHC MERWEDEGiven the huge potential of offshore wind power, IHC Merwede is position-ing itself to serve the growing need for vessels and equipment for the offshore wind sector. IHC Merwede is recognised as an outstanding builder of complex, custom-built vessels and equipment for offshore constructions and wishes to extend their activities into the supply of construction vessels and equipment for offshore wind projects.

Technology innovators pur sangIHC Handling Systems has built an enviable reputation as a manufacturer of tailor made equipment for the installa-tion of monopiles and jacket founda-tions. IHC Hydrohammer designs, manufactures and supplies hydraulic piling hammers, used in many offshore wind projects in the North Sea. IHC Hydrohammer is currently developing a new range of offshore wind piling ham-mers for larger monopiles and noise re-duction features to ensure environmental compliance during piling operations.

UK based IHC Engineering Business

(EB), which joined IHC Merwede in 2008, is a leading designer and manu-facturer of offshore equipment across the oil and gas, offshore renewables and subsea telecoms sectors. One of EB’s core competencies is the supply of subsea trenching vehicles, its Sea Stallion cable ploughs have been used on the majority of offshore wind projects around the UK and many throughout Europe. EB also has an extensive track record of supply-ing innovative solutions to offshore han-dling challenges. In 2006 EB supplied the BOWTIS spread of equipment to allow the installation of the first offshore turbines from a floating vessel in 45m of water.

Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam is a rec-ognised company in the field of marine operations engineering and experienced in looking at the complete assembly chain: from the manufacturing location to the offshore wind park. For the short term, Vuyk is exploring possibilities to increase the effectiveness of the trans-port and installation, without changing the turbine design. For the longer term, Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam is active in

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future installation methods, for which changes to the turbine design may be considered. These studies are performed together with clients and the IHC Mer-wede group.

Integration of expertisesThe IHC Merwede group has built a collaborative team, consisting of mem-bers from across IHC Merwede (above mentioned companies, IHC Merwede’s Offshore & Marine Division and IHC Offshore Systems) to develop new vessel and equipment concepts. A desire to provide vessels with improved work-ability, enhanced capabilities, increased efficiency and performance coupled with careful cost control lies at the heart of these concepts.

One concept developed under this pro-gramme, is an innovative jack-up vessel capable of transporting and installing fully assembled wind turbines using a rotating handling system. This system manoeuvres the turbines from their sea fastened transit location across to the off-shore foundation in one smooth control-led operation. The system is able to care-fully place the turbine on the foundation and adjust its position to ensure correct alignment of the flange bolt holes. By being able to handle the fully assembled wind turbine, offshore lifting operations are significantly reduced, thereby increas-

xEMC DARWIND BV XEMC Darwind BV is a Chinese-Dutch design, engineering and manufacturing company of direct-drive permanent-magnet technology for wind turbines. The company’s target is to set a new standard for energy performance and availability, consequently lowering the operational costs of offshore wind energy significantly. The XEMC Darwind vision on offshore engineering `Less-is-More` has resulted in weight reduction and simplicity via features like: single main bearing, passive cooling systems and a spectacularly simplified generator design. Additionally, blade erosion avoiding technology and an overpressure concept with internal air treatment were added in order to deal with the harsh offshore climate. XEMC Darwind considers wind turbine and support structure as one dynamic system that needs to be opti-mized as such and consequently offers several support structures for a full range of water depths.Originally under the name `Darwind`, the plan of this fresh company is to reach commercial production by 2011, striving to become a major global player.

ing the safety and efficiency of turbine installation. IHC Merwede’s strong position across a range of offshore equipment coupled with a reputation for the provision of technologically advanced vessels sets IHC Merwede apart in the offshore wind market. IHC Merwede’s designers have the ability to combine often-con-flicting requirements: design and con-struct equipment that optimally meets the most severe operating requirements, within contracted time and budget; however without any concessions to crew’s safety and vessel’s durability.

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The recent alliance with XEMC (a Chinese developer of electro-traction sys-tems and a rapidly growing wind turbine manufacturer) is a great step in order to achieve this mission.XEMC Darwind BV is working in close cooperation with Dutch centers of exper-tise like ECN and the Delft University of technology. Within the framework of We@Sea several reliability and mainte-nance related activities are being carried out like: failure mode analysis, design for reliability and offshore maintenance cost optimizing.

WINDCAT WORKBOATSAt this moment, WindCat Workboats, with offices both in the United King-dom and The Netherlands, is the fastest growing offshore utility vessel operator. Presently 17 vessels are operating in several countries and with a building programme to extend the number of WindCat vessels to 25. WindCat Work-boats is a leader in supplying specially designed crew vessels. The vessels are able to transport a maximum of 12 engineers for a trip in comfortable seats, wide TV screen, laptop access points and cooking facilities. The catamaran design makes a fast and pleasant journey possible to the wind farms and the unique “step-over” system allows safe transfer to the wind turbine support structure in waves up to 2 me-ters significant wave height.All WindCat vessels are surveyed and au-dited by the professional marine surveyors from Mecal. The vessels are classified in compliance with MCA SCV2, category 2 for carrying 12 passengers and 3 crew members up to 60 miles off the coast. WindCat Workboats is constantly work-ing on vessel designs to meet the client

requirements. WindCat 15 is the latest delivered vessel with a large after-deck where a 10 feet container can be placed. This design is also perfectly suited for car-rying generator sets for various purposes. WindCat Workboats working methods are based on the company’s own HSQ policy. Presently a new HSE system is being implemented and is ready for ISO 9001 certification. WindCat Workboats operates at a safety first policy and all skippers and crews are certificated and trained up to and above the required level. The vessels have been audited by major players in the off-shore wind farm industry, such as Shell, Siemens, Vestas, Dong Energy, Repower, GE and Van Oord. WindCat Workboats is active through-out Europe, with vessels operating in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. The specially designed WindCat vessels are not only

assisting in the construction phase of wind farms but are also used for mainte-nance activities. The offshore oil and gas industry also recognises WindCat vessels as suitable for their activities. WindCat Workboats has started du-ties in June 2009 at the largest existing offshore wind farm, Greater Gabbard. At the end of this year 7 vessels will be operating for this project, with a local office, technical department and full covered site management. WindCat Workboats is continuously working on further improvements. The latest development is the design of a 24 meter WindCat for more room to carry engineers and 10 feet containers. At the end of 2009 the construction of the first vessel, based on this new design will start.

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FuGROFugro is a global service company that provides geotechnical, environmental, survey and positioning services on land, at sea and in the air. We support our cli-ents in their search for natural resources and the development, production and transportation of those resources. Fugro also provides technical data and informa-tion to enable structures and infrastruc-ture to be designed and constructed in a safe and efficient manner.

To date we have been involved in over sixty offshore renewable energy develop-ments throughout Western Europe, pro-viding integrated services for all phases of the projects.

DESKTOp AND FEASIBILITY STuDIES.Desktop studies, geophysical/geotechni-cal investigations and feasibility studies

provide information necessary for the client to make decisions and optimize their projects. Bathymetry, seabed mor-phology, artificial (man-made) hazards, permitting and restrictions, and envi-ronmental impacts are assessed, so at the completion of this study, Fugro can propose the most convenient site that meets the client’s requirements.

SITE INVESTIGATIONS. In a second phase of the project, detailed geological and geophysical information should be obtained in order to evaluate options for the structural foundations. A basic geophysical survey will provide full cov-erage of the site to refine the bathymetry of the area and the seabed morphology. Investigation of the sub-seabed layers are investigated through reflection seismic survey. Using specialized vessels, Fugro rapidly performs deep (40 m) Piezo Cone Penetration Tests (PCPT) screen-ing at the planned facility locations in order to provide initial geotechnical design data at an early stage, and allow clients to focus their drilling budgets economically. Fugro can supply geo-technical drilling solutions for all water

depths, ground conditions and metocean exposure expectations.

FOuNDATION ENGINEERING. The final foundation design and soil/founda-tion/structure interaction analyses are performed after the full soil model has been created. The Fugro Geoconsulting Group can provide a range of well estab-lished design methods and tools for all standard foundation types: drilled and grouted piles, gravity concrete bases, suc-tion emplaced caissons or anchors--any type of temporary or permanent moor-ing system. Our geotechnical engineers can develop new methods and numerical tools for all innovative foundation solu-tions proposed by the developer.

MARINE CONSTRuCTION. Fugro has extensive experience in the field of challenging marine construction, and the proven capacity to design and build project-specific equipment. Fugro has been involved in several “world’s first” offshore engineering achievements, such as the construction of Europe’s first offshore wind farm, offshore Sweden (1997) and the world’s largest vertically

drilled marine riser shaft with a diameter of approximately 6 m (2009). Fugro provides cost-effective solutions through statistical analyses using a combina-tion of carefully-tailored measurement campaigns and hindcast data. During installation, Fugro can provide real-time metocean data that can be crucial to a successful planning and installation campaign.

SYSTEMS pERFORMANCE. Complex cur-rent, tide and wave interactions around the prime locations for wind turbines may cause scour and erosion at the tur-bines’ foundations. Fugro can monitor conditions after installation to provide essential data to evaluate site perform-ance, the installation’s operation, and strain or fatigue.

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The Dutch offshore wind energy exper-tise is concentrated at TU Delft, ECN and WMC as far as technology in the widest sense is concerned and at IMA-RES for ecological effects. The Netherlands was the first to pro-duce an integrated research programme focused on generating the knowledge necessary for applying wind energy at sea on a large scale. Formulated in 2004, the We@Sea programme prepared the way for Dutch companies and centres of expertise to work on wind energy in the North Sea.

The Dutch expertise cover widely differ-ing disciplines and subjects, such as:

• analysing wind resources,• wind turbine structures,• designing and controlling wind farms,• developing expert systems for optimis-ing maintenance and operation,• designing for life time,• grid connection,• electrical infrastructure,• designing and testing innovative components (blades, new generators, foundations, access technologies, support constructions),• new concepts offshore wind turbines,• testing and monitoring of complete wind turbine systems• marine ecology,• seabed morphology.

DELFT uNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYResearch on wind energy at the Delft University of Technology began 30 years ago, starting with aerodynamic research at the faculty of Aerospace Engineer-ing. Nowadays DUWind is the wind energy research organization of the Delft University of Technology. Its research program covers almost all aspects of modern wind turbine technology, and is undertaken across 5 faculties in 13 groups. Each of the research groups at these faculties has its own specific expertise, but an increasing number of research questions require a multi-disci-plinary approach. This is why DUWind was established in August 1999 as a new interfaculty research organization, specifically for wind energy. DUWind at present comprises approximately 55 (full time equivalent) researchers, among them 30 PhD students, making it one of the largest academic research groups on wind energy. The focus of the DUWind program is on the development of all turbine aspects from rotor to foundation techniques

as-well as wind farm technology, ranging from basic research through technol-ogy development to design support for the industry. Recently a new long-term R&D programme was launched, aiming at a doubling in size in 2013.DUWind is not a stand-alone organiza-tion. It co-operates closely with the wind energy group of the Netherlands En-ergy Research Foundation ECN. Many projects are performed jointly, and mu-tual use is made of the research facilities. DUWind and ECN together form the Dutch node of the European Academy of Wind Energy EAWE. In most of the research projects international co-oper-ation is present, through the framework of the European Community and the International Energy Agency. DUWind also provides courses for stu-dents and for professionals in the wind energy industry. Students can specialize in wind energy at a Master level, often in cooperation with industry.

centres of exPertise19

WMCKnowledge Centre WMC (Wind tur-bine, Materials and Constructions) is a research institute for heavily loaded ma-terials, components and structures. Fibre Reinforced Plastics and the structural aspects of wind turbines are the most important research areas. WMC has been founded by the Delft University of Technology (TUD) and the Energy re-search Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) as an independent research institute. WMC is working for both the European and Dutch governments as well as for the international industry.In the various research projects ex-perimental and numerical simulation is combined. WMC is/has been partner and co-ordinator in numerous European fundamental research projects and has the larger manufacturers as its clients for carrying out (applied) research projects. WMC is actively involved in interna-tional standardization committees.

ECN WIND ENERGYThe Unit ECN Wind Energy is part of the Energy Research Centre of the Neth-erlands (ECN); an independent market oriented knowledge centre for energy re-search and development. The Unit holds a strategic position between universities and industry covering all relevant wind energy disciplines. ECN’s research varies from long term, fundamental research to high quality consultancy. ECN Wind Energy’s mission is to develop high-quality knowledge and technology for large-scale cost effective application of wind energy and to transfer these to the market.The R&D work focuses on:• aerodynamics for wind turbines and wind farms, • structural dynamics, aero elastics and control• the improvement of operation and maintenance procedures of (offshore) wind farms. Analytical work is validated extensively by experimental work in the field or at laboratory scale. ECN wind energy of-fers:

1. A fully independent position. Tailor made solutions can be offered for various types of problems, ranging from funda-mental research to short term industrial support. 2. A combination of theory and experi-ments. ECN develops wind farm and wind turbine design software, based on and continuously improved through experiments. 3. Comprehensive experimental facili-ties. ECN owns and operates a test field for prototypes of multi megawatt wind turbines, commercial 2,5 MW turbines that can be used for research purposes and a scaled farm for testing wind farm control strategies and validation meas-urements for aerodynamic wind farm models.

4. A dedicated Industrial Support Group that provides services and training for industry5. A dedicated measurement group that is ISO 17025 accredited for power performance measurements, mechanical load measurements and noise measure-ments.6. A strong position in scientific research and a broad network. Since its founda-tion ECN is a well respected partner in a large number of International studies en research programmes.

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Activities:- Fundamental research on materials

and structures- Testing of materials and large com-

ponents such as connections, rotor blades, hubs and pitch bearings for wind turbines.

- Developing software (FOCUS) for the design of wind turbines and for testing purposes for many of the largest wind turbine manifacturers wordwide.

- Offering services for setting up testing facilities around the world.

TEST FACILITIESThe test facilities of WMC include standard test rigs for material and com-ponent testing and a large testing area with a dedicated strong floor enabling testing of structures of over 60 metres in length, such as rotor blades for large wind turbines. The facility is equipped with a large hydraulic system including actuators from 25 to 3000 kN to apply static or fatigue loads to the components. Stand-

ard frame elements can be used to build appropriate test rigs. The facility is one of the largest of its kind and has its own workshops (mechanical, electro techni-cal and hydraulic) for development and maintenance of equipment and test rigs. Most of the software for the measure-ment and control systems is developed in house, giving flexibility in carrying out also very complex testing on all kind of structures and components.WMC is situated at a unique location in Wieringerwerf, Noord-Holland, along the border of the IJsselmeer, which enables the transport of large structures to the facility.

IMARESIMARES, Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies, is a leading, independent research institute that con-centrates on research into strategic and applied marine ecology. The institute was established mid 2006, based on various institutes working in the same research fields. IMARES’ products and services include field research, experiments on a real-life scale, exploratory studies on a laboratory scale, data management and modeling.The field of work entitled ‘Ecology’ includes all research involving plants, aquatic animals, fish, birds and marine mammals. Many aquatic ecosystems are under threat from human activities and their effects; among them also wind farms. The role of Imares is to advise on the stewardship of such ecosystems and to provide answers to questions about the impact of such activities. IMARES does this on a national and international level, in conjunction with other institutes.

pROjECT DEVELOpERS Beside the traditional energy compa-nies such as Eneco, independent Dutch project developers are active in the North Sea. Not only in the Dutch part, but also in parts that belong to Belgium, the UK, Denmark or Germany. Foreign project developers are also active in the Dutch part of the North Sea.

HARBOuRSIn comparison with other countries, the Dutch harbours are well-equipped for both installation and maintenance facilities. IJmuiden and Eemshaven have excellent qualifications in terms of the logistics of building offshore wind energy projects. Den Helder excels in maintenance services. Vlissingen (Flush-ing) is also able to make a contribution as the Zeeland Terminal of Verbrugge in Vlissingen is going to be the heart of the logistics operations for building UK offshore wind farm The Greater Gabbard off the eastern coast. This 500 MW farm, consisting of 140 turbines is a 50/50 joint venture between a British company (Airtricity) and the German energy company RWE.

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international co-oPeration

All completed offshore wind energy farms are located in European waters; in Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland. In the near future ambitious plans will be im-plemented in Germany, the UK, Den-mark and Belgium. In the long term, a great deal will be happening in the US, China, Sweden, France and, last but not least, the Netherlands.

OppORTuNITIES FOR COMpANIES If one looks at the total number of initiatives worldwide at the beginning of 2009, these add up to more than 30,000 MW of offshore wind power. By 2020 in Europe about 30,000 MW of wind power will be installed at sea. In this respect, the prospects for European and in particular Dutch companies and institutes are very promising.

THE NETHERLANDS, A COuNTRY OF KNOW-HOW The Netherlands is a country with a considerable share of expertise in off-shore wind power. ECN and TU Delft, for example, are intensively involved in large international research projects

both on European and bilateral levels. A large part of the international research into wind energy finds its arguments in specific offshore issues. It appears that offshore wind energy technology is driving innovations in the wind energy sector as a whole. Examples of large European projects are UpWind and DownVind. UpWind (€ 30 million) fo-cuses on exploring the design limits that may emerge when turbines are scaled up

while DownVind evaluates the measure-ment data generated by the deep-water project Beatrice, 40 km off the Scottish eastern coast in water depth of 40 m. In the Netherlands, the contributions to these and similar of projects are incor-porated in national programmes such as We@Sea and EOS.

Dutch parties also have a prominent presence in international expertise net-

works such as the European Academy for Wind Energy, the European Technology Platform Wind Energy and the IEA wind energy programmes. The know-how that the Netherlands is building up in this way can be of advantage to manufacturers, offshore companies and the consulting sector, but also to education. The whole Dutch offshore wind sector therefore belongs to the front runners in terms of innovation and competitive strength.

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So far, we have sketched a picture of what has been happening around offshore wind energy technology and implementation. However, this is only the beginning of a development of a large-scale application which will enable a significant proportion of our electric-ity to come from wind turbines at sea. In this chapter, we will indicate which policy decisions are necessary in order to be able to make the big leap forwards. Policy measures on a Europan and na-tional level.

THE EuROpEAN DIMENSION Despite the fact that the North Sea is divided into various EEZ’s (Exclusive Economic Zones) assigned to the North Sea countries, for the most types of usage the North Sea constitutes one physical and ecological entity. The North Sea is a natural environment where many economic activities take place. These all need to find a place: fisheries, oil and gas extraction, wind energy, sand extraction, shipping and military exercise areas.The North Sea is surrounded by coun-tries which are in need of clean energy, form part of a European energy market,

PolicysPatial Planning Policy

• European offshore spatial planning (cross-border planning guidelines and strategic environmental impact assess-ments (eias) for the eeZs (exclusive economic Zones).

• Permits and Management of Engineering structures

• Safety criteria for shipping

financial Policy• Harmonising European tax facilities• European offshore feed inn tariffs

harmonising eia and guidelines for stra-tegic environmental impact assessments

electrical infrastrUctUre• Design of a European grid • Grid adaptations on land,• Strategies for general practice• Balancing

technical develoPment• Measures to prevent supply chain pro-

blems• Stimulation of innovation to reduce gene-

rating costs

economical imPact• Cost-benefit analysis, for each country

and europe as a whole.

Joint measUring and monitoring• Measurement of relevant physical and

ecological parameters such as: wind characteristics, condition of sea

bed, currents, wave characteristics, effects on the marine ecosystem (mo-

nitoring and assessing and predicting cumulative effects of extremely large-scale wind farms on ecosystems, to extend beyond national boundaries))

effect on relevant species - birds, benthos and sea mammmals.

• Location selection by means of EIAs:• environment, external safety, health• (health & safety issues), social (e.g. fis-

hery sector),• economical use of the North Sea

in addition• Creating a critical think tank with regard to energy supplied by large-scale offshore wind energy projects at sea.

• Communications desk for harmonising european initiatives and legislation.

issUes for eUroPean cooPeration on offshore Wind PoWer

and are all signatories of various Europe-an treaties, agreements to protect nature and fight climate change. The conse-quence for the development of offshore wind energy is that long term national policies can only be developed in an ef-ficient way by coordination on a Euro-pean level. In such a way synergies can by utilised, which makes offshore wind energy more competitive. Examples of those synergies include a common long term stable policy, a common spatial plan, common legislation for licens-ing, realising an offshore electrical infra structure, developing lean and efficient procedures to protect the marine eco system, the utilisation of facilities jointly with others economic users of the North Sea and last but not least dedicated off-shore wind energy technology.(The box contains a more detailed description of the issues which are to be addressed at a EU level.)

All these aspects are not only new; they are of such immensity that new policy is necessary. The North Sea countries’ offshore wind power targets can only be realised with

considerable manpower and brainwork; this will place huge demands on the organisational capacities of all parties involved. Fully utilising the synergetic advantages of a European policy will facilitate the enormous challenge of

meeting the European targets. Common European policy and European actions are only effective if they are based on national plans and the needs of the wind energy sector. This requires not only na-tional authorities and sector’s representa-

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tives to be intensively involved in various European platforms which are involved in designing various European actions and policies but also a tight coordination on a national level.

Examples of relevant European actions and platforms include:• The European Technology Platform Wind Energy (TPWind). One of the working groups is exclusively dealing with the technical challenges of offshore systems. TPWind’s recommendations formed an important input for the Un-ion’s Restructuring Programme to restore the economy after the economic crisis. The programme contained some offshore projects.• The European Wind Energy Initiative (EWI) which is the industrial initiative producing inputs for the SET plan (Stra-tegic Energy Technology plan) in which offshore wind energy is a significant component. • The Task Force Offshore Wind Ener-gy; an advisory group investigating into the concept and institutional approach of a trans European electricity grid for offshore wind electricity.

THE DuTCH DIMENSIONAs part of its energy and environmental policy a the Dutch Government has formulated the interim target of realising 6000 MW of wind power at the North Sea by the year 2020. An integrated ap-proach is needed to fulfil all conditions for such an ambitious plan. This has been illustrated in the previous section. Only if the government implements and executes a comprehensive policy for the long term, the market perspective arises which the industry needs as a neces-sary condition for own investments in offshore wind energy.

TWO ROuTES TO REALISE THE DuTCH AMBITIONHow can we reach our interim target of 6000 MW at sea? What should the next steps be? There are roughly two ways of reach-ing that goal: a rapid route and a steady route. The rapid route would allow us to reach our goals shortly after 2020. Fol-lowing the steady route, we would reach our goal later, in 2027. It is needless to say that the costs of both routes are dif-ferent.

As offshore wind energy is not yet com-petitive with more conventional ways of generating electricity, government support is needed before offshore wind is fully self-supporting.In order to estimate the amount of money the government has to invest a number of assumptions have to be made because not all cost factors and cost developments are very well known. The first thing we need to know is what the present costs are. Even here no reliable general figures exist. Available informa-tion is based upon projects which have been realised so far (about 30). None of these projects is identical.

The cost of generating electricity at sea depends on investment costs, the wind resource, distance from the coast, sea bed conditions, depth of water, and type of financing. Despite all these uncertainties, we can roughly say that the cost of off-shore electricity is twice of those of land-generated electricity. Many studies have shown that offshore wind energy will become cost-effective between 2020 and 2025. This period has been estimated (conservatively) from assumptions about

the development of the cost of fossil fuels and the speed with which offshore wind energy technology will become cheaper (the learning curve). The costs of fossil fuels, in particular, could deviate considerably from the assumptions. The point at which offshore wind electricity becomes competitive could therefore be earlier.

We assume that the investment for an offshore wind farm is about € 3 million per MW. This means an amount of €18 billion, which are the initial investments to realise 6000 MW. We assume that a certain portion of these funds will be made available by the government in the design phase of projects in order to make the exploitation of the wind farms com-mercially acceptable for project develop-ers. This could be in form of tax facili-ties, grants or, even better, in a levee on the feed-in tariffs. The idea behind the latter is that the Government provides a financial contribution for each kilowatt-hour of electricity supplied during the first 10 years.This government contribution is thus financed by existing energy taxes which

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will cover the shortfall in profitable exploitation. The Government receives annually about €4 billion from the ‘Regulatory Energy Tax’ (REB). At most, only a quarter of this will be required each year in order to get offshore wind energy taking off. The Government pays only for the kilowatt-hours supplied and these can be estimated in advance, thus avoiding budgetary surprises.Exploitation costs are determined on the basis of investment costs and O&M cost of the wind farms on the one hand and the other hand by the wind farm income determined by production volumes and the electricity price. Learning effects (production volume and technical devel-opment) will cause the costs of offshore wind energy to decrease while the elec-tricity price – over a longer period – will rise because of the expected increase of fossil fuels. It is assumed that no government sup-port will be needed for new projects after 2025, neither for the rapid nor the steady route. After all, it is also possible to learn from international experience. Calculations have been done for both routes in order to obtain some insight

into the overall Government support which will be necessary in the period concerned.

The start of both routes is the same; only after 2016 the installation speeds start to differ.

There are now two Dutch wind farms in the North Sea with a total power output of 228 MW.

At the end of the present government’s period of office in 2011, it should be known which wind farms have received licences and grants. If everything goes according to plan, these farms can be built in 2012-2013, depending on the availability of wind turbines and installa-tion ships.

At the beginning of 2015, four Dutch wind farms with a total power output of almost 700 MW will have been built. After that, the big leap forwards needs to be made in which case there should be decisions in place about:• the financial contribution from the Dutch government

• the construction of an electrical infra-structure• availability of installation ships• availability of wind turbines.• harbour areas suitable for assembly work• the construction of a harbour at sea

If we wish to achieve the target of 6000 MW, 1000 MW each year starting in 2017 has to be built; this is the rapid route. For the steady route, it means initially 500 MW per year, carried out with one ‘spread’ of ships. Each spread consists of, for example, two installation ships and around 10 service ships. Around 2022, the wind farm at Egmond aan Zee OWEZ (108 MW) will be dismantled and, a year later, the Prinses Amalia Wind Farm (Q7, 120 MW) will be replaced by a new farm with larger turbines.

The idea is to double the installation capacity by means of replacement and continuing construction activity by 2033. This would allow a further growth of 1000MW per year! A power output of 20,000 MW would be achieved in 2036 following the rapid implementa-tion route, but not until 2043 using the steady route.If the steady implementation route is followed, 500 MW every year has to be built until wind energy at sea has become profitable. Then construction has to be accelerated to a level of perhaps 1000 MW each year.

It is assumed that all this can take place without any conflict with the shipping sector and other users, and also without any unacceptable ecological impacts on the North Sea.

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the steady roUte in the period 2015-2026, a construction pace of 500 mW per year will be maintained. this will require one spread of ships. this means that the power output in 2020 will be 3678 mW. that is less than the target of 6000 mW.

starting in 2025, when wind energy exploitation at sea will probably be profitable, the con-struction rate will be doubled, allowing 1000 mW per year to be built. if all the wind farms need to be replaced, yet another spread of ships will be necessary. By 2043, 20,000 mW will be generated.

the worst-case scenario is that government contributions will amount to €15 billion. the exact amount of the annual government contributions is shown in the figure on page 27. these contributions are fixed for a period of 10 years for each farm. in 2022, the government contribution will be €1.2 billion, after which it will decrease rapidly and after 2025 no contri-butions are needed anymore.

the raPid roUte following the rapid route the goal of 6000 mW will be met in 2021. however this implies that the construction has be started with two spreads of ships from the very beginning. in 2015 and 2016, two wind farms will be built each having 100 wind turbines of 5 mW.

By 2017 the installation capacity should be doubled so that each year 1000 mW can be achieved and in 2020, a total of 5678 mW. By 2036 we will have installed 20,000 mW.

the rapid route could costs as much as €25 billion.

the government contribution required each year is shown in the figure on page 27. the con-tribution to each farm is fixed for a period of 10 years. in 2022 the government contribution will be €2.5 billion (the maximum). after that, it will decrease rapidly and after 2035, no more government financing is needed.

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2025

2024

2023

2022

202120

2020

1920

18

2008

2028

2027

2026

2017

201620

1520

1420

1320

1220

112010

2009

2007

2029 20

3020

3120

3220

3320

34 2035

2036

2037

2038

2039 20

4020

4120

4220

4320

44 2045

2046

2047

2048

2049 20

5020

5120

52

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

6000 MW

on site data (wind, waves etc) and ecological research done

capacity of special vessels

availability of port facilities

service island at sea

offshore electrical infrastructure.

availability of dedicated offshore wind turbines

availability of qualified personnel

legal issues of jurisdiction, permitting, siting in place

coordination centre in a public private cooperation

1000 MW / year2 spreads of vessels

3 spreads of vessels

500 MW / year1 spread of vessels

1000 MW / year2 spreads of vessels

start replacement old wind farms

steadyroute

rapid route

BREAK-EVEN POINT OF COSTS FOR OFFSHORE

WIND ENERGY

TWO SCENARIOS FOR THE GROWTH OF THE DuTCH OFFSHORE WIND CApACITY; A STEADY AND RApID CONSTRuCTION SpEED AND THE NECESSARY MEASuRES.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2010

2020

2030

2040

rapid route

steady route

NAtioNAl CoNtributioN (iN A FEEd iN tAriFF) For

tHE rEAliSAtioN oF 6000 MW (iN MillioN Euro)

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finally

The Dutch governments aim: Its interim objective is 6000 MW in 2020; the govern-ment has not yet determined its long term objective.

To achieve this, the following steps are to be taken:

STEp 1: the present two wind farms with a total power output of 228 MW in the North Sea

STEp 2: In 2013-1014 the construction of another two farms, giving an extra power output of 450 MW.

STEp 3: expansion to 6000 MW in 2020 (rapid route option)

STEp 4: continued growth to 20,000 MW in 2036.

Reductions in costs of offshore wind energy can be reached by:- deployment of dedicated offshore wind turbines: 5-10

MW.- integrated foundations, transport and installation techniques - automated production of foundations- installation of wind turbines in one or two operations - realising an offshore electrical infrastructure- multifunctional use of offshore facilities- optimum maintenance and exploitation strategies - efficient, harmonised European legislation

The government’s policy on the following is crucial:- clear policy on spatial planning (harmonised within

the EU) - clear and tenable concession system (building per-

mits) - national coordination of offshore wind energy in a

public-private planning body - financial stimulation until offshore wind energy is

profitable, probably 2025- coordination of offshore infrastructure construction

(harbour and electricity network)- coordination with neighbouring countries Germany,

Belgium and the UK - creating a skilled work force on all levels by training

and education

In addition:- the speed of implementation will influence govern-

ment contribution; ‘steady’ route will cost €15 billion; ‘rapid’ route will cost €25 billion.

- “back casting”: we need to sow now if we are to reap in 10-20 years’ time.

- the effects will rapidly become visible in job numbers and an assured supply of electricity

- the Netherlands will play a leading role in offshore wind energy because it has the relevant knowledge and expertise.

- offshore technology fits into the context of the Dutch historical tradition and links with the sea.

- wind energy is just as important for the continued existence of the Netherlands as its dikes

- offshore wind energy is a strongly growing interna-tional economic activity.

- offshore wind energy has, for the near future, the biggest potential of all the available sustainable energy sources

- many Dutch companies are already involved in devel-oping offshore wind energy.

- the Dutch offshore industry is involved in almost all European offshore wind energy projects.

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6,000 MW offshore wind energy means:- 1200 wind turbines with a rotor diameter of more

than 125 m (5 MW)- 1000 km2 (= 32 x 32 km) = 2% of the Dutch part of

the North Sea.- an electricity production of 18 million MWh per year- a saving of 10 million tonnes of CO2 / year- around 25 % of our national electricity consumption- an investment of €18 billion- financial contribution from the Government of €15-

25 billion- 2400 - 5000 jobs

20,000 MW offshore wind energy means:- 2000 - 4000 wind turbines with a diameter of 125-

175 m (5-10 MW)- 3600 km2 (= 60 x 60 km) 7% of the Dutch part of

the North Sea.- an electricity production of 61 million MWh per year- a saving of 35 million tonnes of CO2 / year- around 100% of our national electricity consumption- an investment of €60 billion - financial contribution from the Government of €15-

25 billion- 8000 – 16,000 jobs

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4

5

7 8

8

AMELAND

SCHIER-MONNIKOOG

TERSCHELLING

VLIELAND

TEXEL

DEN HELDER

AMSTERDAM

IJMUIDEN

SCHEVENINGEN

HOEK VAN HOLLAND

ROTTERDAM

GOEREE

SCHOUWEN

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Offshore Windpark Egmond aan ZeePrinses Amalia windpark

Legend

Existing wind farms

Wind farms licensed in design

7 8 9

5

6

10

3

2 1

4

11

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Breeveertien II (Airtricity)West Rijn (Airtricity)Tromp binnen (RWE)Den Helder I (Airtricity)GWS Offshore NL1 (Global Wind Support)EP Offshore NL1 (Eolic Power)BARD Offshore NL1 (BARD Engineering)Brown Ridge Oost (Brown Ridge Oost BV i.o.)Beaufort (NUON)

34567891011

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amPelmannOffshore access technology www.ampelmann.nl

Ballast nedamCivil and marine contractorwww.offshore-energy.nl

darWindOffshore wind turbineshttp://www.darwind.nl/

dUWindWind energy institute Technical University of Delftwww.duwind.tudelft.nl

ecnEnergy research Centre of the Netherlands www.ecn.nl

eWeaEuropean Wind Energy Associationwww.ewea.org

fUgroAcquisition, processing and interpretation of geophysi-cal and geological datahttp://www.fugro.com/

referencesgUstomscDesign, engineering all types of mobile offshore units, ships and barges.www.gustomsc.com

heerema faBrication groUP B.vMarine Contractorswww.heerema.com

KemaEnergy consulting and testing & certification www.kema.com

KnoWledge centre WmcWind turbine Materials and Constructionshttp://www.wmc.eu

ihc merWedeOffshore & Marinewww.ihcmerwede.com

noordZeeloKetInformation about Dutch activities at the North Seawww.noordzeeloket.nl

noordZeeWindOffshore wind farm Egmond aan Zee.www.noordzeewind.nl/

nWeaDutch Wind Energy Associationwww.nwea.nl

oWeSite for offshore wind professionalswww.offshorewindenergy.com

Prinses amalia Wind farm www.prinsesamaliawindpark.eu

smUlders ProJects B.v.Offshore constructionswww.smulders-projects.com

tPWindEuropean Technology Platform Wind energywww.windplatform.eu

We@seaDutch R&D offshore wind energy programmewww.we-at-sea.org

Wincat WorKBoats Offshore wind farm utility vesselswww.windcatworkboats.com

Wind service hollandInformation wind energy implementationhome.planet.nl/~windsh/offshore.html

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We@seaWe@Sea was set up in 2004 to gain knowledge for a safe and conscientious large-scale implementation of offshore wind energy in the North Sea. We@Sea is carrying out an integrated R&D programme until the

This brochure came into being after a brainstorm session with:Frits Verheij (KEMA)Theo de Lange (ECN Windenergie)Jos Beurskens (We@Sea / ECN)Chris Westra (We@Sea / ECN)

and output of the We@Sea programme projects:“International monitoring” and“Dutch strategy offshore wind”

Text and editing: Chris Westra and Jos Beurskens

Design and production: STRETTA, www.stretta.nl

Photography:Jos Beurskens, Chris Westra, BertJanssen, Noordzeewind.

Illustrations: Ballast Nedam, GustoMSC,Reinout Prins and RaadgevendIngenieursbureau Lievense, Jos Beurskens and Chris Westra

coloPhon

beginning of 2010; this is being partially financed by the Government (Bsik). The consortium consists of 30 parties, each of whom has an interest in responsible construction and exploitation of wind farms at sea.

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