The costs of assembly, installation, operation, and maintenance of wind farms are rising, driven by increases in WTG (wind turbine generator) size and ideal wind farm placements moving to harder-to-access locations (e.g., deeper, more remote waters). For Onshore, the cost of just crane usage for a turbine installation can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars every day, and even more offshore where specialty vessels are required.
SENSEWind Limited, a British tech innovation company, set out to mitigate these problems and has developed a cost-effective solution, the Self-Erecting Nacelle & Service System (SENSE) system, that installs, services, and decommissions large wind turbines without the need for special-purpose cranes or specialized vessels. This modular solution can cover the full range of required lifting and service scenarios and aims to deliver LCoE reductions that will increase the commercial viability of currently infrastructure-challenged on- and offshore wind projects around the globe.
Challenges
SENSEWind had proven the core concept with sub-scale testing, and as they looked to advance the technology readiness levels and validate the technical and commercial feasibility, they needed an engineering partner to help them with three aspects:
Solution
DIS/CREADIS worked with SWL and other technology development partners under the aegis of the UK BEISFOW-funded R&D project to deliver the following:
Benefits
As a result, the SENSEWind consortium has made rapid and extensive progress in maturing the concept as well as identifying and solving potential technical roadblocks. The hardware for the SENSE solution is being fabricated and the demonstrator 2MW turbine will be put through its paces after installation in early 2024. As this vital phase is completed, the team will shift focus to tackle the remaining up-scaling and LCoE reduction demonstration challenges with next-generation 6MW+ onshore and 15MW+ floating offshore turbine applications that are expected to play a critical role in 2024+ market penetration for wind energy.
How we collaborate
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SENSEWind chose DIS/CREADIS as a technology-to-market acceleration partner because of our unique strengths in wind turbine subsystem design and systems engineering, new technology integration and concept development as well as our experience in service tools and equipment development. We have a proven track record of success in both the onshore and offshore wind industries, having worked with industry-leading OEMs, Owners, and Operators as well as start-ups, helping mature and bring their innovations to market. As Julian Brown, Chair at SENSEWind states: “We came to DIS/CREADIS because they are by far the best independent turbine design providers anywhere – operated by passionate people who come from the turbine manufacturing industry. Their depth of industry knowledge and standards, as well as the breadth of their engineering disciplines gave us the best conditions to design this game-changing solution for installing and maintaining wind farms on a cost-effective and low-risk basis.”
How we collaborate
<<
SENSEWind chose DIS/CREADIS as a technology-to-market acceleration partner because of our unique strengths in wind turbine subsystem design and systems engineering, new technology integration and concept development as well as our experience in service tools and equipment development. We have a proven track record of success in both the onshore and offshore wind industries, having worked with industry-leading OEMs, Owners, and Operators as well as start-ups, helping mature and bring their innovations to market. As Julian Brown, Chair at SENSEWind states: “We came to DIS/CREADIS because they are by far the best independent turbine design providers anywhere – operated by passionate people who come from the turbine manufacturing industry. Their depth of industry knowledge and standards, as well as the breadth of their engineering disciplines gave us the best conditions to design this game-changing solution for installing and maintaining wind farms on a cost-effective and low-risk basis.”
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