Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind Report 2.0

Subsea Technological Challenges in
Offshore Wind
Output from Event
Prepared by: J. McCallum
Approved by: G. Drummond
2.0 Issued for distribution 05.12.16
Ver. Reason for Issue Issue Date

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Offshore Wind – Output from Event
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© Copyright NSRI, 2016
VERSION RECORD SHEET
Version
Issue
Date
Section Description of Update
1.0 15.11.16 Issued to committee for review discussion
1.1 23.11.16 Incorporating comments from committee
2.0 05.12.16 Issued for distribution.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...............................................................................6
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................7
2.1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................... 7
2.2 OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................... 8
2.3 EVENT FORMAT..................................................................................... 8
2.4 RESULTS.............................................................................................. 9
2.5 CONCLUSIVE REMARKS ....................................................................... 10
2.6 TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP ...................................................................... 12
3. BACKGROUND ..........................................................................................13
4. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................15
5. OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................16
6. EVENT FORMAT ........................................................................................17
6.1 PRE-EVENT PLANNING ......................................................................... 17
6.2 EVENT ............................................................................................... 17
6.3 POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES ..................................................................... 18
7. RESULTS...................................................................................................19
7.1 GENERAL REMARKS............................................................................. 19
7.2 ISSUES.............................................................................................. 19
7.3 ADOPT ............................................................................................... 20
7.4 ADAPT ............................................................................................... 20
7.5 DEVELOP............................................................................................ 21
7.6 COLLABORATE .................................................................................... 22
8. TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP ..........................................................................23
9. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS ............................................................................25

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APPENDIX I: LIST OF “NSRI MATCHMAKER” THEMES.......................................27
APPENDIX II: EVENT AGENDA..........................................................................30
APPENDIX III: DELEGATE LIST ........................................................................33
APPENDIX IV: PRESENTATIONS: NSRI.............................................................34
APPENDIX V: PRESENTATIONS: ORE CATAPULT...............................................45
APPENDIX VI: PRESENTATIONS: ROVOP..........................................................56
APPENDIX VII: PRESENTATIONS: BVG ASSOCIATES ........................................62
APPENDIX VIII: PRESENTATIONS: ATKINS OFFSHORE WIND ..........................70
APPENDIX IX: PRESENTATIONS: JDR CABLES ................................................105
APPENDIX X: PRESENTATIONS: ARUP............................................................117
APPENDIX XI: PRESENTATIONS: SEAWAY HEAVY LIFT ..................................124
APPENDIX XII: LIST OF IDEAS GENERATED ...................................................125
CABLES & ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.................................................... 125
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS................................................................... 127
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE ................................................................... 130
SUB-STRUCTURES & FOUNDATIONS............................................................ 134
INSTALLATION.......................................................................................... 138
APPENDIX XIII: LIST OF IDEAS GENERATED - SORTED..................................143
ISSUES.................................................................................................... 143
ADOPT ..................................................................................................... 144
ADAPT ..................................................................................................... 146
DEVELOP.................................................................................................. 147
COLLABORATE .......................................................................................... 148

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1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) extends its thanks, in no particular
order, to the following for their:
Organisation and coordination of the event
Trish Banks, Subsea UK
Collaboration with NSRI in organising the event, arranging presenters and defining the
technological challenges
Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult
Promotion of the event
Rebecca Cox, BIG Partnership
Presenters at the event
Andrew Tipping, ORE Catapult
Moray Melhuish, ROVOP
Alan Duncan, BVG Associates
John Foley, Atkins
Jeremy Featherstone, JDR Cables
Zoe Crutchfield, Arup
Alan MacLeay, Seaway Heavy Lift
Chairpersons
Alan Duncan, BVG Associates
John Foley, Atkins
Jeremy Featherstone, JDR Cables
Zoe Crutchfield, Arup
Alan MacLeay, Seaway Heavy Lift
Scribes
Dr Gordon Drummond, NSRI
Jamie McCallum, NSRI
Christer Fjellroth, NSRI
Andrew Tipping, ORE Catapult
John Butler, Wood Group

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2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.1 BACKGROUND
NSRI met with ORE Catapult in March 2016 to discuss ways in which the organisations
could work together for the mutual benefit of their respective industries. NSRI in wanting
to help subsea technologies break into the offshore wind market, with ORE Catapult
looking to tap into the expertise of the Subsea UK membership. Out of this meeting the
subsea technological challenges facing the offshore wind industry were defined. These
formed an “NSRI Matchmaker” database for the offshore wind industry to mirror NSRI’s
offering in oil and gas. It was also agreed that a joint event be held in Aberdeen.
The “NSRI Matchmaker” is an online resource which NSRI uses to marry industry need
with academic capability and supply chain offering. Industry needs are agreed with the
relevant industry bodies and grouped in the online database under agreed “NSRI
Matchmaker” themes. An unbiased appraisal of capability is included with profiles for
each University REF 2014 submission. Companies and centres of excellence in the supply
chain are then free to submit profiles of their offerings and current technology
development activities under the relevant “NSRI Matchmaker” themes. The aim is to
partner end users with technology researchers and developers in order to advance
technology development in the subsea industry.
The aim of the event was to communicate these technology challenges to the subsea
industry and to generate a suite of ideas that could help to solve these challenges and
lower the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for offshore wind farm developments.
The event took the form of a collaborative workshop attended by technical delegates
from across the subsea industry. Delegates were presented with the outputs of previous
NSRI workshops and an overview of NSRI and ORE Catapult’s meeting to provide the
context of the event. The technological challenges in the “NSRI Matchmaker” for offshore
wind were described by subject matter experts. Delegates were then asked to discuss
potential solutions to these challenges in groups chaired by the subject matter expert for
each “NSRI Matchmaker” theme.
The purpose of this report is to document the subsea technological challenges and
potential solutions for the offshore wind industry identified during the event. It describes
how these challenges and solutions were captured, categorised and evaluated to produce
a series of recommendations of concepts that could be progressed further. The ideas to
be progressed are summarised in a technology roadmap grouping them into short,
medium and long term developmental activities. It is hoped that this will serve to drive
forward innovation and ultimately deliver advances in subsea technology which will help
to lower the LCOE of offshore wind farm developments.

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2.2 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind event were:
1. To advise the industry on the support available to companies seeking to diversify
their offering into offshore wind from NSRI, ORE Catapult and Scottish Enterprise
(SE).
2. To highlight high potential areas for diversification into offshore wind.
3. To communicate the subsea technological challenges facing the offshore wind
industry, agreed by NSRI and ORE Catapult, through subject matter experts.
4. To gather the subsea industry to brainstorm ideas around the “NSRI Matchmaker”
themes for offshore wind and the technological challenges presented by the
subject matter experts.
5. To communicate the potential solutions proposed at the event through an output
report, executive summary and technology roadmap.
2.3 EVENT FORMAT
The structure of the event was agreed between NSRI and ORE Catapult during a meeting
of the two organisations in March 2016. It was proposed that the event take the format
of previous, successful NSRI led events such as the 2015 Hackathons and the Subsea
Storage Workshop from April 2016.
An introduction to the event and help available to companies looking to diversify was
followed by presentations from each of the subject matter experts on the subsea
technological challenges. The presentations from the event followed the general
structure outlined below.
 Overview – NSRI
 Help available to companies looking to diversify into offshore wind – ORE Catapult
 Example of successful diversification through technology development - ROVOP
 Subsea technological challenges
o Cables & Electrical Infrastructure – JDR Cables
o Environmental Conditions – Arup
o Installation – Seaway Heavy Lift
o Operations & Maintenance – BVG Associates
o Sub-Structures & Foundations – Atkins Offshore Wind
Delegates were then split into brainstorming groups aligned to their individual expertise.
Each group was to cover one of the presentations given by the subject matter experts,
who led each group.

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Scribes were assigned to each group in order to capture the ideas generated on idea
cards designed for the event. As part of the exercise delegates were asked to consider
which issues and ideas had merit. These were marked with stickers on their cards and
were captured in order to identify which ideas industry identifies as best to prioritise.
The completed idea cards from the scribes were gathered and transcribed by NSRI. The
list of ideas was reviewed thoroughly by NSRI in order to check for duplication and any
erroneous information. NSRI did not seek to intervene or change the voice or tone of the
proposed solutions in any way.
2.4 RESULTS
In reviewing the notes from the table scribes it was clear that there was a mix of
different content in various contexts. This was to be expected when capturing
conversations occurring in a group, brainstorming environment. The notes were
therefore separated into “issues” and “ideas”.
The list of ideas were further categorised into the following classifications:
 Adopt: A focus area which can bring benefits in the short term through immediate
implementation.
 Adapt: Less mature concepts which require further work to mature to a level
where they can be adopted.
 Develop: Immature technologies and concepts that need significant work prior to
introduction in the longer term.
 Collaborate: Industry behaviours that could be promoted to enable the
advancement of technology or the lowering of the LCOE of offshore wind farm
developments.
Some proposals from the sessions may appear in more than one category if required.
The listing of the ideas generated during the workshop and their discussion is in the full
report. Those ideas which were marked by delegates as having merit are included in the
technology roadmap, which is provided in the executive summary.

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2.5 CONCLUSIVE REMARKS
The objectives described at the start of the process have been met. The technological
challenges were presented to industry and feedback on potential solutions captured in
the full report.
Operations & maintenance (O&M) – particularly inspection, repair and maintenance
(IRM) activities – has been identified in industry studies as the highest potential area for
diversification of existing UK industry capability into offshore wind. 40% of the typical
lifecycle costs of offshore wind farm developments come from O&M requirements. Based
on UK Government projections for offshore wind deployment the O&M costs for more
than 5,500 turbines could be worth £2billion per annum by 2025.
Given the existing IRM capability in the UK subsea industry this is a significant
opportunity for organisations to target individual services, building a track record for a
life of field offering. Diverless solutions will be of growing interest as offshore wind
developments move further offshore into deeper waters.
Target areas identified during the event included automated inspection, cable scour
inspection, condition monitoring, remote monitoring, increased turbine access and risk
based inspection such as with flexibles and umbilicals.
The event also allowed companies with experience of diversification into the offshore
wind industry to provide feedback on challenges or barriers to entry. These included a
need to prove cost competitiveness or reduction and a proactive, innovative approach
that does not dictate other industry methods to offshore wind.
Several new technologies were acknowledged as having particular merit within the
industry.
Aligning with the growing movement towards automation of industry was the
identification of autonomous underwater and surface vehicles which combined with
remote sensing capabilities could remove the issue of turbine access by automating O&M
activities. Increasing remote sensing and monitoring capabilities would also allow
industry to make repair and maintenance activities more evidence based reducing costs
and downtime.
In electrical infrastructure a need was identified for new wet mateable connectors that
remove existing limitations in capacity to offer efficiency of installation and change out to
future, higher capacity cables.
Numerous sub-structure solutions were put forward including concrete and steel hybrids,
hybrids with other renewable industries and floating structures that require investigation
to perhaps identify cost savings in construction and installation.
Piling noise control and marine mammal detection were the strongest environmental
themes discussed at the event. Existing techniques for marine mammal detection such
as hydrophones and the use of spotters have drawbacks. Spotters are vulnerable to
human error while hydrophones rely on the mammal making a noise to be detected.
Thermal detection is one solution that could be used to detect mammals close to the
surface. Attaching a thermal camera, perhaps powered remotely with solar energy, to a
balloon could give up to a one mile radius of detection. Variable frequency noise
cancellation is a potential alternative to bubble curtains for piling noise reduction with
the possibility of different frequency settings for different mammals.

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Collaborative industry effort was highlighted as being required on a number of fronts.
There is currently a shortage of skilled personnel at 66kV cable capacity. With this
capacity expanding beyond 66kV in the future there needs to be increased focus on the
training and retention of staff, perhaps through a common work force.
The industry as a whole could also benefit from a single entity for the coordination of
standards and lessons learned. Particular lessons could be learned from those industries
with experience in the standardisation and mass production of large structures such as
aerospace. It was also suggested that there may be existing scour monitoring techniques
in industries such as shipping which could be adapted to scour detection for offshore
wind.
Cross operator inspection across different sites could also help to lower costs. Where
neighbouring sites have similar ground conditions there is the opportunity to use a
standardised sub-structure across multiple developments, taking advantage of
economies of scale. Where ground conditions change a standardised structure with a
common interface to a variety of foundation types could also provide cost savings. By
standardising and modularising the design of structures mass production becomes a
possibility. Neighbouring sites could also collaborate on inspection and maintenance
campaigns to share vessel costs.
As more offshore wind farms are commissioned there becomes a need to establish more
cost effective means of transmitting produced electricity back to the grid. One possibility
mooted during the event was to take the concept of pipeline hot tapping and apply this
to offshore wind. Rather than having individual export pipelines for each development
there is a business opportunity similar to that of the Central Area Transmission System
(CATS). Offshore wind farm developments would tie into a single export line to shore via
electrical t-pieces which can be retrofitted. Significant improvements to energy storage
technology will be required as well as development of electrical hot tapping technology to
limit downtime of the export line.
From the ideas generated by the event it is clear that there are significant opportunities
for the UK’s subsea supply chain in the offshore wind industry. With the United Kingdom
having the largest, potential offshore wind market in Europe there is the opportunity to
establish a core capability to meet offshore wind challenges at home as well as in export
markets. Establishing this capability could help to protect the UK’s position as the leading
provider of subsea technological solutions worldwide.

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2.6 TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
Figure 2.1 - Technology Roadmap

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3. BACKGROUND
In late 2015 it was identified by NSRI’s board that there was a need to diversify the
offering of the initiative to other industries. The short term focus of the initiative had
been on the oil and gas industry as this is where the majority of the Subsea UK
membership’s revenue lay. Branching out would reflect the growing diversification taking
place amongst members.
Offshore wind was identified by NSRI’s board as a medium term growth industry for the
subsea industry. As such focus was put into investigating where NSRI could help subsea
companies operating and looking to break into this industry from the start of 2016.
NSRI met with ORE Catapult in March 2016 to discuss ways in which the organisations
could work together for the mutual benefit of their respective industries. NSRI in wanting
to help subsea technologies break into the offshore wind market, with ORE Catapult
looking to tap into the expertise of the Subsea UK membership. Out of this meeting the
subsea technological challenges facing the offshore wind industry subsea were defined.
These formed an “NSRI Matchmaker” database for the offshore wind industry to mirror
NSRI’s offering in oil and gas. It was also agreed that a joint event be held in Aberdeen
in order to communicate these challenges effectively to the subsea industry.
The “NSRI Matchmaker” is an online resource which NSRI uses to marry industry need
with academic capability and supply chain offering. Industry needs are agreed with the
relevant industry bodies and grouped in the online database under agreed “NSRI
Matchmaker” themes. An unbiased appraisal of capability is included with profiles for
each University REF 2014 submission. Companies and centres of excellence in the supply
chain are then free to submit profiles of their offerings and current technology
development activities under the relevant “NSRI Matchmaker” themes. The aim is to
partner end users with technology researchers and developers in order to advance
technology development in the subsea industry.
The structure of the “NSRI Matchmaker” for offshore wind is represented in a mind map
in Figure 3.1 and can be described as below. This is as agreed between NSRI and ORE
Catapult. A full list of NSRI Matchmaker themes is also available in Appendix I: List of
“NSRI Matchmaker” Themes.
 Industry Theme e.g. O&M.
o Industry Challenge e.g. Reduce lifecycle costs of O&M activities.
 Industry Solution e.g. Remote inspection.
Further discussions have been held between NSRI and the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind
Accelerator (OWA). The OWA is a collaborative research and development (R&D)
programme between the Carbon Trust and nine offshore wind developers (Dong Energy,
E.ON, EnBW, Innogy, Scottish Power Renewables, SSE Renewables, Statkraft, Statoil
and Vattenfall). These discussions centred around how the OWA can use the “NSRI
Matchmaker” for offshore wind as a source of subsea technological expertise to assist
with their innovation projects. This would increase the exposure of subsea companies to
the major players in the offshore wind industry.

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Figure 3.1 - Offshore Wind "NSRI Matchmaker" Mind Map

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4. INTRODUCTION
The Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind event followed on from the
meeting held with ORE Catapult in March 2016. Out of the event a number of subsea
technological challenges were generated to form an “NSRI Matchmaker” database for
offshore wind mirroring that already on offer for oil and gas. The aim of the event was to
communicate the technological challenges to the subsea industry and to generate a suite
of ideas that could help to solve these challenges and lower the LCOE for offshore wind
farm developments.
The event took the form of a collaborative workshop attended by technical delegates
from across the subsea industry. An overview of NSRI and ORE Catapult’s meeting
provided the context of the event. The technological challenges in the “NSRI
Matchmaker” for offshore wind were described by subject matter experts. Delegates
were then asked to discuss potential solutions to these challenges in groups chaired by
the subject matter expert for each “NSRI Matchmaker” theme.
The purpose of this report is to document the subsea technological challenges and
potential solutions for the offshore wind industry identified during the event. It describes
how these challenges and solutions were captured, categorised and evaluated to produce
a series of recommendations of concepts that could be progressed further. The ideas to
be progressed are summarised in a technology roadmap grouping them into short,
medium and long term developmental activities. It is hoped that this will serve to drive
forward innovation on these technological issues and ultimately deliver advances in
subsea technology which will help to lower the LCOE of offshore wind farm
developments.

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5. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind event were:
1. To advise the industry on the support available to companies seeking to diversify
their offering into offshore wind from NSRI, ORE Catapult and SE.
2. To highlight high potential areas for diversification into offshore wind.
3. To communicate the subsea technological challenges facing the offshore wind
industry, agreed by NSRI and ORE Catapult, through subject matter experts.
4. To gather the subsea industry to brainstorm ideas around the “NSRI Matchmaker”
themes for offshore wind and the technological challenges presented by the
subject matter experts.
5. To communicate the potential solutions proposed at the event through an output
report, executive summary and technology roadmap.

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6. EVENT FORMAT
6.1 PRE-EVENT PLANNING
The structure of the event was agreed between NSRI and ORE Catapult during a meeting
of the two organisations in March 2016. It was proposed that the event take the format
of previous, successful NSRI led events such as the 2015 Hackathons and the Subsea
Storage Workshop from April 2016. Industry experts were identified by NSRI and ORE
Catapult and material developed to assist the brainstorming sessions. Press articles
(reNEWS, Offshore Wind, Energy Voice) were released in the weeks preceding the event
to increase industry awareness and secure a strong attendance.
6.2 EVENT
The full agenda for the event is included in Appendix II: Event Agenda. It was designed
as per pre-event planning agreement in order to meet the event objectives outlined in
section 5. A list of delegates who attended the event is provided in Appendix III:
Delegate List. The presentations from the event are provided in full in the appendices.
They followed the general structure outlined below.
Overview of the event
Jamie McCallum, Project Engineer, NSRI (Appendix IV: Presentations: NSRI)
Help available to companies looking to diversify into offshore wind.
Andrew Tipping, Commercialisation Manager, ORE Catapult (Appendix V: Presentations:
ORE Catapult)
Example of successful diversification through technology development.
Moray Melhuish, Development Director, ROVOP (Appendix VI: Presentations: ROVOP)
Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind
Operations & Maintenance
Alan Duncan, Senior Associate, BVG Associates (Appendix VII: Presentations: BVG
Associates)
Sub-Structures & Foundations
John Foley, Head of Civil Engineering, Atkins Offshore Wind (Appendix VIII:
Presentations: Atkins Offshore Wind)
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure
Jeremy Featherstone, Product Development Director, JDR Cable Systems (Appendix IX:
Presentations: JDR Cables)
Environmental Conditions
Zoe Crutchfield, Marine Environment Lead, Arup (Appendix X: Presentations: Arup)
Installation
Alan MacLeay, Engineering Director, Seaway Heavy Lift (Appendix XI: Presentations:
Seaway Heavy Lift)

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NSRI provided an introduction to the event, their organisation and the format of the day.
ORE Catapult communicated the assistance available from their organisation, and others,
to subsea companies looking to diversify their offering to the offshore wind industry.
ROVOP provided an example of successful diversification into offshore wind through
technology development. The “NSRI Matchmaker” themes for offshore wind were
covered by subject matter experts from BVG Associates, Atkins Offshore Wind, JDR
Cables, Arup and Seaway Heavy Lift. The experts outlined the current state of the art in
offshore wind and their views on the subsea technological challenges that need to be
overcome to lower the LCOE of offshore wind farm developments.
Delegates were then split into brainstorming groups aligned to their individual expertise.
Delegates had the opportunity to participate in three different groups across the
afternoon. Each group was to cover one of the “NSRI Matchmaker” themes for offshore
wind, with the groups led by the relevant subject matter expert from the morning
presentations. A pre-populated list of the “NSRI Matchmaker” themes for offshore wind
was made available to the delegates to serve as discussion points alongside the earlier
presentations. The pre-populated list is provided in Appendix I: List of “NSRI
Matchmaker” Themes.
Scribes were assigned to each group in order to capture the ideas generated on idea
cards designed for the event. As part of the exercise delegates were asked to consider
which issues and ideas had merit. These were marked with stickers on their cards and
were captured in order to identify which ideas industry identifies as best to prioritise.
6.3 POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES
The completed idea cards from the scribes were gathered and transcribed by NSRI. This
allowed the list of ideas to be easily categorised into adopt, adapt, develop categories. A
full list of the transcribed ideas can be found in Appendix XII: List of Ideas Generated.
The list of ideas was reviewed thoroughly by NSRI in order to check for duplication and
any erroneous information. NSRI did not seek to intervene or change the voice or tone of
the proposed solutions in any way.
Where there were queries with the content of any of the scribed ideas these were
followed up with the subject matter experts who chaired each table.

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7. RESULTS
7.1 GENERAL REMARKS
Over 50 delegates took part in the Subsea Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind
event. They represented a broad cross-section of the subsea industry from installation
contractors, engineering consultancies and equipment manufacturers. Some had
previous experience in the offshore wind industry while others were active in other
subsea industries and provided an “outside-in” perspective. All contributed greatly to the
afternoon discussions to generate many potential ideas.
In reviewing the notes from the table scribes it was clear that there was a mix of
different content in various contexts. This was to be expected when capturing
conversations occurring in a group, brainstorming environment. In transcribing the notes
were therefore separated into “issues” and “ideas”.
The list of ideas were further categorised into the following classifications:
 Adopt: A focus area which can bring benefits in the short term through immediate
implementation.
 Adapt: Less mature concepts which require further work to mature to a level
where they can be adopted.
 Develop: Immature technologies and concepts that need significant work prior to
introduction in the longer term.
 Collaborate: Industry behaviours that could be promoted to enable the
advancement of technology or the lowering of the LCOE of offshore wind farm
developments.
Some proposals from the sessions may appear in more than one category if required.
The issues and ideas from the full transcribed list in Appendix XII: List of Ideas
Generated and are listed again, sorted under the headings: issues, adopt, adapt, develop
and collaborate in Appendix XIII: List of Ideas Generated - Sorted.
Those ideas and issues which were considered most pressing were marked with a sticker
and are reported within this section.
7.2 ISSUES
The issues identified as needing to be addressed by industry were primarily:
 Limitations of wet mateable connectors.
 Over design of cable protection at the interface with the subsea structure.
 A shortage of skilled personnel as capacity increases to 66kV and beyond.
 Difficulty of getting ideas into designs at early stages of Engineering,
Procurement, Installation and Commissioning (EPIC) contracts.

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7.3 ADOPT
Ideas put forward that could immediately have an effect on the LCOE of offshore wind
developments were identified as:
 A standardised approach to the design of cables and electrical infrastructure.
 Thermal detection of close to surface marine mammals.
 A risk based, data driven inspection approach as with flexibles and umbilicals.
 Cross operator inspection and maintenance campaigns.
 Vessel and campaign “clubs” making use of available IRM vessels.
 Designing intervention costs into the developments life cycle cost.
 Assembly of one body to coordinate industry standards and best practice.
 Striking a balance between scheduled inspection and reactive maintenance
through use of call off and frame agreements.
 A market opportunity for a life of field operations and maintenance contractor.
 Using over-engineered, standardised, sub-structure designs across a
development as opposed to individual, bespoke designs.
 Developing an industry forum on standards and lessons learned, adopting codes
which already exist rather than creating new ones.
 Exploiting the O&M gap that exists once wind farms are out of warranty.
7.4 ADAPT
Ideas put forward that need further work to have an effect on the LCOE of offshore wind
developments were identified as:
 Applying the concept of hot tapping to export cables allowing future
developments to tie in to main export cables through electrical t-pieces.
 Thermal detection of close to surface marine mammals.
 Dual axis sonar as used in the detection of quayside scour.
 A risk based, data driven inspection approach as with flexibles and umbilicals.
 The creation of an evidence based standard for cable protection systems along
the lines of the Pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS) standard.
 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for autonomous cable detection,
monitoring, inspection and repair.
 Use of hybrid, concrete and floating structures that can be installed without the
use of heavy lift vessels.
 Learning from other industries with experience in the mass production of very
large structures such as aircraft and nuclear reactors.

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7.5 DEVELOP
Ideas put forward that need significant work to have an effect on the LCOE of offshore
wind developments were identified as:
 New wet mateable connectors which provide an economic solution and more
efficient installation and change out whilst dealing with increasing capacities.
 A structure for performing inspection and maintenance that ensures the future
integrity of cables and facilities end of life and replacement planning.
 Forced ventilation for the cable routing in air on the subsea structure to allow
cooling of cable hot spots.
 Variable frequency noise cancellation technology to cancel piling noise.
 Remote strain and temperature sensing, acoustics and communications for
preventative maintenance of offshore and floating wind structures.
 Development of remote sensing for scour detection including lights, cameras and
batteries.
 Modularise parts of the sub-structure such as those that do not change with size.
 Standardise the sub-structure to fit adaptable foundations depending on ground
conditions.
 Standardisation and mass production of secondary and tertiary steel structures as
a starting point to work towards enabling the whole structure.
 Construction in a modular fashion with continual output to use vessel time
efficiently where offload from site may cause hold ups.

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7.6 COLLABORATE
Ideas put forward that address behavioural issues of the industry that are not so much
technical solutions, yet present either barriers or enablers to the lowering of the LCOE of
offshore wind developments were identified as:
 A standardised approach to the design of cables and electrical infrastructure.
 A shortage of skilled personnel capacity increases to 66kV and beyond.
 Applying the concept of pipeline hot tapping to export cables allowing future
developments to tie in to main export lines through electrical t-pieces which can
be retrofitted.
 Cross operator inspection and maintenance campaigns.
 Vessel and campaign “clubs” making use of available IRM vessels.
 Assembly of one body to coordinate industry standards and best practice.
 Developing an industry forum on standards and lessons learned, adopting codes
which already exist rather than creating new ones.
 Cooperation of different operators on the design of structures across sites with
similar ground conditions.
 Difficulty of getting ideas into designs at early stages of EPIC contracts.

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8. TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
A summary of the key technology challenges are depicted in a technology roadmap for
the subsea offshore wind industry. The roadmap is presented in Figure 8.1.
The applicability of the roadmap to specific points in the lifecycle is illustrated with the
timescales inferred from the adopt, adapt, develop, collaborate classifications in section
7.1.

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Figure 8.1 - Technology Roadmap

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9. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS
The objectives described in section 5 have been met.
NSRI and ORE Catapult presented the support available to industry at the event with
BGV Associates highlighting high potential areas for diversification into offshore wind.
More on these high potential areas can be found in Scottish Enterprise’s “Seize the
Opportunity” guide for offshore wind.
The subsea technological challenges facing the offshore wind industry were presented to
event attendees by industry subject matter experts from BVG Associates, Arup, Atkins
Offshore Wind, JDR Cables and Seaway Heavy Lift. Brainstorming sessions around these
challenges identified a number of issues and potential solutions. These are
communicated in this report and the attached technology roadmap.
O&M – in particular IRM activities – has been identified in industry studies as the highest
potential area for diversification of existing UK industry capability into offshore wind.
40% of the typical lifecycle costs of offshore wind farm developments come from O&M
requirements. Based on UK Government projections for offshore wind deployment the
O&M costs for more than 5,500 turbines could be worth £2billion per annum by 2025.
Given the existing IRM capability in the UK subsea industry this is a significant
opportunity for organisations to target individual services, building a track record for a
life of field offering. Diverless solutions will be of growing interest as offshore wind
developments move further offshore into deeper waters.
Target areas identified during the event included automated inspection, cable scour
inspection, condition monitoring, remote monitoring, increased turbine access and risk
based inspection such as with flexibles and umbilicals.
The event also allowed companies with experience of diversification into the offshore
wind industry to provide feedback on challenges or barriers to entry. These included a
need to prove cost competitiveness or reduction and a proactive, innovative approach
that does not dictate other industry methods to offshore wind.
Several new technologies were acknowledged as having particular merit within the
industry.
Aligning with the growing movement towards automation of industry was the
identification of autonomous underwater and surface vehicles which combined with
remote sensing capabilities could remove the issue of turbine access by automating O&M
activities. Increasing remote sensing and monitoring capabilities would also allow
industry to make repair and maintenance activities more evidence based reducing costs
and downtime.
In electrical infrastructure a need was identified for new wet mateable connectors that
remove existing limitations in capacity to offer efficiency of installation and change out to
future, higher capacity cables.
Numerous sub-structure solutions were put forward including concrete and steel hybrids,
hybrids with other renewable industries and floating structures that require investigation
to perhaps identify cost savings in construction and installation.

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Piling noise control and marine mammal detection were the strongest environmental
themes discussed at the event. Existing techniques for marine mammal detection such
as hydrophones and the use of spotters have drawbacks. Spotters are vulnerable to
human error while hydrophones rely on the mammal making a noise to be detected.
Thermal detection is one solution that could be used to detect mammals close to the
surface. Attaching a thermal camera, perhaps powered remotely with solar energy, to a
balloon could give up to a one mile radius of detection. Variable frequency noise
cancellation is a potential alternative to bubble curtains for piling noise reduction with
the possibility of different frequency settings for different mammals.
Collaborative industry effort was highlighted as being required on a number of fronts.
There is currently a shortage of skilled personnel at 66kV cable capacity. With this
capacity expanding beyond 66kV in the future there needs to be increased focus on the
training and retention of staff, perhaps through a common work force.
The industry as a whole could also benefit from a single entity for the coordination of
standards and lessons learned. Particular lessons could be learned from those industries
with experience in the standardisation and mass production of large structures such as
aerospace. It was also suggested that there may be existing scour monitoring techniques
in industries such as shipping which could be adapted to scour detection for offshore
wind.
Cross operator inspection across different sites could also help to lower costs. Where
neighbouring sites have similar ground conditions there is the opportunity to use a
standardised sub-structure across multiple developments, taking advantage of
economies of scale. Where ground conditions change a standardised structure with a
common interface to a variety of foundation types could also provide cost savings. By
standardising and modularising the design of structures mass production becomes a
possibility. Neighbouring sites could also collaborate on inspection and maintenance
campaigns to share vessel costs.
As more offshore wind farms are commissioned there becomes a need to establish more
cost effective means of transmitting produced electricity back to the grid. One possibility
mooted during the event was to take the concept of pipeline hot tapping and apply this
to offshore wind. Rather than having individual export pipelines for each development
there is a business opportunity similar to that of CATS. Offshore wind farm developments
would tie into a single export line to shore via electrical t-pieces which can be retrofitted.
Significant improvements to energy storage technology will be required as well as
development of electrical hot tapping technology to limit downtime of the export line.
From the ideas generated by the event it is clear that there are significant opportunities
for the UK’s subsea supply chain in the offshore wind industry. With the United Kingdom
having the largest, potential offshore wind market in Europe there is the opportunity to
establish a core capability to meet offshore wind challenges at home as well as in export
markets. Establishing this capability could help to protect the UK’s position as the leading
provider of subsea technological solutions worldwide.

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APPENDIX I: LIST OF “NSRI MATCHMAKER” THEMES
Workshop Discussion Guide
The “NSRI Matchmaker” themes should be used alongside the presentation content from
the morning session to guide discussion around potential solutions the subsea industry
should look to develop. Each session will last 30 minutes. At the end of each session
tables should sticker the ideas they think are best.
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure
Improve cable protection to reduce number of insurance claims.
• Cable Protection
• Ploughing
Increase capacity.
• Electrical Architecture
• Export Cables
• Grid Compliance
• Higher Voltage DC Cables
• HVAC Booster Stations
• Intra-Array Cables
Environmental Conditions
Enhanced surveying and modelling of environment.
• Bathymetry Surveying
• Geophysical Surveying
• Geotechnical Surveying
• Wake Effects Modelling
Improve available data to support design and operation.
• Environmental Characteristics
• Metocean Conditions & Forecasts
• Wave Height Measurement & Forecasts

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Installation
Improve cable installation techniques.
• Cable Handling
• Cable Installation Vessels
Improve support structure installation.
• Floating Build
• Multi-Piling Techniques
• Piling Noise Control
• Reduce Offshore Commissioning
• Reduce Vessel Requirements
• Rock Pile-Driving
Increase access windows.
• Decision Making Tools - Installation
• Reduce Weather Sensitivity
• Specialist Vessels
• Vessel Management & Planning - Installation
Operations & Maintenance
Increase access windows.
• Decision Making Tools - O&M
• Satellite Applications
• Turbine Access
• Vessel Management & Planning - O&M

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Reduce lifecycle costs of O&M activities through innovative inspection and repair
techniques.
• Automated Inspection
• Cable Jointing Repair
• Cable Scouring Inspection
• Condition Based Monitoring
• Drone Inspection
• Remote Cable Monitoring / Inspection
• Subsea Inspection
Sub-Structures & Foundations
Methods to facilitate production of large numbers of structures.
• Automation
• Float Out of Structures
• Mass Manufacturing Techniques
• Standardisation
New, innovative designs.
• Alternative Designs
• Deeper Waters
• Reduce Mass per MW
Validation of designs.
• Validation

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APPENDIX II: EVENT AGENDA
09:00
Registration
09:30
Welcome
Gordon Drummond, Project Director, NSRI
09:35
Introduction, Latest NSRI News & Format of the Day
Jamie McCallum, Project Engineer, NSRI
09:50
Subsea Innovation Challenges in Offshore Wind
Andrew Tipping, Commercialisation Manager, ORE Catapult
10:10
Challenges in Diversification: ROVs across Oil & Gas and Offshore Wind
Moray Melhuish, Development Director, ROVOP
10:30
Coffee Break
10:45
Oil and Gas Diversification: High Potential Areas & Key Challenges (Operations
& Maintenance)
Alan Duncan, Senior Associate, BVG Associates
11:05
Foundations and Substructures
John Foley, Head of Civil Engineering, Atkins Offshore Wind
11:25
Inter Array Cable Technology Development
Jeremy Featherstone, Product Development Director, JDR Cable Systems

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11:45
The Consenting Process, Environmental Challenges and Stakeholder Concerns
Zoe Crutchfield, Marine Environment Lead, Arup
12:05
Installation
Alan MacLeay, Engineering Director, Seaway Heavy Lift
12:30
Lunch
13:30
Workshop One: The Way Forward
Delegates break into table sessions on the “NSRI Matchmaker” themes for offshore wind
to discuss potential solutions to the challenges presented during the event.
 Cables & Electrical Infrastructure
 Environmental Conditions
 Installation
 Operations & Maintenance
 Sub-Structures & Foundations
14:00
Workshop Two: The Way Forward
 Installation
14:30
Coffee Break

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15:00
Workshop Three: The Way Forward
 Installation
15:30
Meeting Round Up and Next Steps
Jamie McCallum, Project Engineer, NSRI
16:00
Close

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APPENDIX III: DELEGATE LIST
Delegate Name Job Title Company
Gilles Gardner Technical Manager 2H Offshore Engineering Ltd
Joe Bowes Global Sales Manager Advanced Insulation
Zoe Crutchfield Marine Environment Lead Arup
John Foley Head of Civil Engineering Atkins Offshore Wind
Bob Crowe Client Account Manager Bibby Offshore
Chris Milner Regional Manager BPP-TECH
Alan Duncan Senior Associate BVG Associates
Alexander MacLeod Project Services Manager Cambla Ltd
Campbell Cartney Managing Director Camserv Ltd
Sam Taylor Technical Sales Manager DeepOcean
Jon Bodicoat Associate Director Dominion Gas / Argon Isotank
Sarah Brownie Business Development Ecosse Subsea
Daniel Evans Subsea Engineer Evaneering Limited
Nigel Robinson Principal Consultant Houlder
Andrew Boddice UK Area Sales Manager Imenco UK Ltd
Michael Kinsella Subsea Project Engineer Irish Sea Contractors
Jeremy Featherstone Product Development Director JDR Cable Systems
Jon Davison Business Development Manager Jee Limited
Mike McDonald Testing Sales Coordinator JFD
Mark Bruce Business Manager Kongsberg Maritime
Dean Jennings Business Manager OPU Kongsberg Maritime
Ian Florence Subsea Applications Engineer Kongsberg Maritime
Andrew Naylor Sales & Applications Support Kongsberg Maritime
Dave Hamill Business Development Manager N-Sea
Dr. Gordon Drummond Project Director NSRI
Jamie McCallum Project Engineer NSRI
Christer Fjellroth Project Engineer NSRI
Andrew Tipping Commercialisation Manager Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
Callum Norrie ESA IAP Offshore Energy Ambassador Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
Margaret McMillan Account Manager Proserv UK Ltd
Tim Eley Business Developer OSBIT Ltd
Toby Bailey Business Development Director Red Marine Limited
Ben Knight Managing Director Rig Control Products
Alessandro Bedin Managing Director RIGOCAL Engineering
Laura Wood Business Development Manager Robert Gordon University
Dr. Donald Stewart Engineering Director Rotech Subsea Ltd
Martin Graham Operations Director Rotech Subsea Ltd
Moray Melhuish Development Director ROVOP
Des Hatfield Key Account Director Royal IHC
Ronald Whyte Managing Director Schoolhill Hyd Engineering Co Ltd
Chris Bryceland Subsea Opportunity Manager Scottish Enterprise
Alistair Punt Sales and Marketing Coordinator Scour Prevention Systems
Alan MacLeay Engineering Director Seaway Heavy Lift
Alan MacDonald Sales Manager Sonardyne International Ltd
Iain Chirnside Senior Development Engineer Steer Energy
Steven Stocks Business Development Manager Stork Technical Services Ltd
Trish Banks Operations Manager Subsea UK
Neil Gordon CEO Subsea UK
David Wilson Knowledge and Communications Manager The Oil and Gas Technology Centre
Christopher Pearson Solutions Centre Manager - Small Pools The Oil and Gas Technology Centre
Sebastian Plant Technical Support Engineer TSC Inspection Systems
Eric Kiltie UK Engineering Manager UniversalPegasus International
Barry Thomas European Director Valley Forge & Bolt
Keith Anderson Subsea Manager - Engineering Wood Group
John Butler Business Acquisitions Manager Wood Group

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APPENDIX IV: PRESENTATIONS: NSRI

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APPENDIX V: PRESENTATIONS: ORE CATAPULT

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APPENDIX VI: PRESENTATIONS: ROVOP

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APPENDIX VII: PRESENTATIONS: BVG ASSOCIATES

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APPENDIX VIII: PRESENTATIONS: ATKINS OFFSHORE WIND

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APPENDIX IX: PRESENTATIONS: JDR CABLES

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APPENDIX X: PRESENTATIONS: ARUP

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APPENDIX XI: PRESENTATIONS: SEAWAY HEAVY LIFT
[HOLD]

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APPENDIX XII: LIST OF IDEAS GENERATED
CABLES & ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Theme Table: Cables & Electrical Infrastructure
Chairperson: Jeremy Featherstone, Product Development Director, JDR Cables
Idea TITLE: Limits for Wet Mateable Connectors
Idea Detail: There are limits for wet mateable connectors.
 Drive technology for wet mateable connectors.
 Find an economic solution for wet mateable connectors.
 Efficiency of installation and change out.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Standardisation
Idea Detail: What is the DONG ethos and how can it be replicated across the supply
chain and other stakeholders?
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Future Proofing
Idea Detail: Structure for performing inspection and maintenance activities to ensure
the future integrity of the cables and to facilitate end of life and replacement planning.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Cable Scour / Protection
Idea Detail: Is cable protection needed at the interface with the subsea structure? Does
this amount to overdesign?
Sticker: Yes

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Idea TITLE: Government Help for High Voltage Transmission
Idea Detail: There is currently a shortage of skilled personnel for 33kV termination. As
this increases to 66kV and beyond how do we ensure the competencies are increased
and maintained? Through a common skilled work force?
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Cable Cooling
Idea Detail: Forced ventilation for the cable routing in air on the subsea structure to
allow cooling of the cable hot spots.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: “Hot Tap” Tie In Offshore Wind Farms
Idea Detail: What is the opportunity for an electrical tie in to an export cable to allow
subscribers access to the grid through a common export cable? One example could be
through an electrical t-piece. This would be in a similar manner to oil and gas assets tied
in to a main trunk line such as Forties or CATS.
Sticker: Yes

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ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
Theme Table: Environmental Conditions
Chairperson: Zoe Crutchfield, Marine Environment Lead, Arup
Idea TITLE: Thermal Detection for “Close to Surface” Marine Mammals
Idea Detail: Use a thermal camera on a balloon for detecting close to surface marine
mammals.
 One mile radius of detection.
 Questions over the cost advantages of this method.
 Remote power for the camera could be available through solar energy.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Dual Axis Sonar – Enhanced Scour Monitoring
Idea Detail: Used to monitor quayside scour from bow thrusters in major ports. Could
this be adapted for offshore wind scour monitoring?
 Could be deployed and left – single vessel requirement.
 Left on the turbine – eliminate boat and technician.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Reducing Piling Noise
Idea Detail: There is an issue with piling noise. Use unexploded ordinance (UXO)
explosion control materials around the pile to reduce propagation of piling noise. This is
cheaper than a bubble curtain.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: AUV Subsea Survey – Routine Survey – Increase Speed / Reduce Vessel
Idea Detail:
 Transponders – relay information to an acoustic hub.
 Move beyond a snapshot of information.
 Real time information – logging data on the seabed.
 Transponders used to help navigate AUVs along a cable route.
 Multibeam survey for scouring.
 Transponders installed on a permanent basis for ongoing surveying.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Piling Operations – Marine Mammal Detection
Idea Detail: Currently spending millions on “spotters” for monitoring of marine
mammals for piling operations.
 Use acoustic deterrents? Fish finder technology is not suitable as it is not passive.
 An underwater hydrophone could be used as it is a passive system. Listen to
marine mammals entering a site.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) / AUV Carrying Out Marine Mammal
Survey
Idea Detail: Unmanned surface vehicle carrying out survey prior to start of piling
operations utilising acoustic detection.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Marine Mammal Detection during Piling Operations
Idea Detail: Hydrophones and spotters are the current methods used although neither
is perfect. For hydrophones if a marine mammal makes no noise it won’t be detected.
Spotters are vulnerable to human error. Potential solution is to cancel the noise of piling
operations by identifying the frequency and cancelling or changing it. Concept is similar
to noise cancelling headphones with variable frequency noise cancelling technology with
different frequency settings for different mammals.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Deck Motion Monitor to Improve Access / Increase Operational Window
Idea Detail:
 Real time measurement of wave heights going into a “line” traffic light system on
board vessels to confirm access risk. Wi-Fi system already exists.
 Helicopter launch decision making tool could be used. Decision is made before the
helicopter leaves and this could be adapted.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Virtual Automatic Identification System (AIS) beacon – Vessel Warning
System for Anchor Drags
Idea Detail: Vesper Marine has a solution. Every large vessel has the system in
operation. This could be used for protecting cables and subsea assets against anchor
drags from vessels or from jack ups sitting on cables.
Sticker: No

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OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Theme Table: Operations & Maintenance
Chairperson: Alan Duncan, Senior Associate, BVG Associates
Idea TITLE: Floating Wind Remote Sensing
Idea Detail: Remote sensing of strain and temperature, acoustic and communications
for preventative maintenance.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Risk Based Inspection ala Flexibles / Umbilicals
Idea Detail: Look to replicate the SMART, data driven, risk based inspection approach
used for flexible and umbilicals in oil and gas.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: AUVs
Idea Detail: Use AUVs for autonomous inspection and monitoring of cables. Subsea 7
and Modus are currently working on AUV technology for inspection. Lobster potting?
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Cross Operator Campaigns
Idea Detail: Insurers could look to pull together opportunities for campaigns across
different operators assets to take advantage of similarities across many maintenance
and inspection campaigns.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Vessel Clubs
Idea Detail: Adapt oil and gas vessels for IRM and hire out as part of “vessel clubs”
Sticker: Yes

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Idea TITLE: Sonar for Low Visibility
Idea Detail: High resolution sonar to be used in areas of low visibility due to turbidity.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Weather Statistics for Optimisation
Idea Detail: Use statistics for weather through simulations such as Monte Carlo to
optimise logistics and maintenance schedules.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Design in Intervention
Idea Detail: Design in intervention to the total life cycle cost of the project considering
the CAPEX / OPEX split.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Remote / Diverless Sensing
Idea Detail: Should be working towards diverless sensing for round three of licensing as
water depths move beyond 30m. Remote sensing for scour with camera, lights and
battery would play a role in this move.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: PIMS Type Standard for Cables
Idea Detail: Have common, evidence based standard, similar to PIMS for pipelines, for
cables.
Sticker: Yes

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Idea TITLE: Coordination of Standards
Idea Detail: There should be a single body to coordinate standards and best practices
across the industry. There seems to be lack of a single entity whilst multiple bodies
already exist.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Oil & Gas Safety Culture
Idea Detail: Transfer oil and gas safety culture to offshore wind industry.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Bolt Tension Monitoring
Idea Detail: Condition monitoring of bolt tensions
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Offshore Accommodation Opportunity
Idea Detail: There is a market opportunity for offshore accommodation modules as
offshore wind farms go into deeper waters and further offshore.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Proactive vs. Reactive
Idea Detail: Scheduled inspection vs. reactive maintenance. Call off agreements, frame
agreements and campaign diving services frame agreement.
Sticker: Yes

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Idea TITLE: Coatings
Idea Detail: Coating breakdown is a big issue at component level.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Scour
Idea Detail: Design for scour on day one and forget about it. Armour at the bend?
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Life of Field Contractor Opportunity
Idea Detail: There is a market opportunity for life of field contractors with a total life
cycle cost modelling system.
Sticker: No

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SUB-STRUCTURES & FOUNDATIONS
Theme Table: Sub-Structures & Foundations
Chairperson: John Foley, Head of Civil Engineering, Atkins Offshore Wind
Idea TITLE: Tow vs. Heavy Lift
Idea Detail:
 Tow out and ballast of structure vs. heavy lifting into place.
 Hybrid / concrete / floating structures have been installed without heavy lift
vessels offshore Denmark.
 Consider what would be done if heavy lift vessels were unavailable and potentially
change approach to reduce vessel cost.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: One Size Fits All vs. Bespoke Design
Idea Detail: Is there a requirement for all sub-structure designs to be bespoke to each
development and turbine? Would a standardised, over-engineered design offer a cheaper
alternative to bespoke designs with the time saved?
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Modularised Design
Idea Detail: Modularise particular parts of the structure i.e. those that do not change
with water depth or standardise the structure but have a different foundation depending
on ground conditions.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Steel Parts Standardisation
Idea Detail: While it may be difficult to standardise the entire structure, secondary and
tertiary steel pieces could be standardised and mass produced as a starting point for
savings.
Sticker: Yes

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Idea TITLE: Other Industries
Idea Detail: Look at other industries for approaches to standardisation / mass
production of large designs such as nuclear reactors and aeroplanes.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Split Jacket with Offshore Connection
Idea Detail: Approach in offshore wind industry in the USA has been to split the jacket
into parts and make the connections offshore in order to use smaller vessels.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Industry Forum on Standards
Idea Detail: Get an industry forum together to develop standards / recommended
practices to help standardisation and validation of design. This could include adaptation
of codes written for oil and gas industry such as for grouted connections and act as a
forum for lessons learned.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Compliant Structure
Idea Detail: A compliant structure which allows some flexibility such as a floating
structure would have could reduce the steel requirements of the structure through the
removal of some loading. This would depend on the effect on the output of the turbine.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Suction Buckets
Idea Detail: Have tight working tolerances
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Reuse Decommissioned Assets
Idea Detail: Place turbines and substations on top of decommissioned semi-
submersibles and jackets.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: High Rise Building
Idea Detail: Build structures like a high rise building and float out e.g. Nufolab /
Hibernia.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Operator Cooperation across Sites
Idea Detail: Cooperation between different operators across neighbouring sites could
see the same or similar design of structure rolled out across multiple sites, cutting down
on costs e.g. Beatrice and Moray.
Sticker: Yes
Idea TITLE: Floating Wind Redundancies
Idea Detail: Concern around the lack of redundancy in some offshore wind designs such
as Hywind which only has three, individual mooring lines to keep the structures in
position.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Steel Defects
Idea Detail: Steel for the sub-structures comes from all over the World. How can these
be inspected for defects and to have thorough quality assurance?
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Hook Height Limit
Idea Detail: Hook heights currently limit the height of structure that installation vessels
can currently install to 45m. Multiple tow outs?
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Steel / Concrete Hybrids
Idea Detail: Mix the steel and concrete industries which is already prevalent in the
construction industry. It would require the look ahead of multiple upcoming
developments to justify the large start-up costs that would be incurred. There hasn’t
been a concrete solution in five years with monopoles and jackets always being favoured
over hybrids or gravity bases.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Scottish Ground Conditions
Idea Detail: Scotland is at a disadvantage for standardisation due to the variety of
ground conditions that exist off its coastline compared with the rest of North Europe.
Sticker: No

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INSTALLATION
Theme Table: Installation
Chairperson: Alan MacLeay, Engineering Director, Seaway Heavy Lift
Idea TITLE: Piling
Idea Detail:
 Piling can be continuous for six months and the size of hammers being used is
increasing meaning there is more energy in water and more noise to get rid of.
 Bubble curtains, glazing systems, hydrosound dampers or cofferdams are
potential solutions for reducing noise although the latter two are only approved in
Germany.
 Costs can be up to two or three million per pile so it’s therefore expensive to trial
new solutions.
 Alternatives include suction piles – which can be limited in some locations –Dutch
water hammer, vibrohammer or drilling of piles.
 Impact hammers are always required for the last 5m.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Specialist Vessels
Idea Detail:
 Improved weather sensitivity is something clients want to avoid work in the
winter.
 Production line mentality could speed up installation.
 Aspects are done offshore that could be done onshore.
 Issue with specialist vessels is that vessels need to be able to work year round
and therefore be cross industry. If a specialist vessel can install more in less time
then there could be a business case.
 "Magazine" style installation?
 Just in time operations – logistical and scheduling improvements.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Vessel Types
Idea Detail:
 When is heavy lift vessel required as opposed to tugs and barges? What is
required and when?
 Different types of boats available include cable lay, heavy lift, IRM and diving
support vessels (DSV).
 Having crew onsite saves two hour transfer vessel.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Year Round Operations
Idea Detail: Joined up industry thinking required to get year round operations. This is
principally a contractor issue in confirming who is actually in charge of what?
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Monopile Pull-In
Idea Detail: Connector reliability is poor.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) Friendly Installation
Idea Detail: Structures are currently poorly designed for ROV use meaning ROVs get
trapped during installations due to things like snag paths. Education of ROVs for
Engineers required including simulations and sense checks from senior ROV pilots.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Cable Installation
Idea Detail:
 Currently as efficient as it gets although route optimisation could offer further
savings.
 Cost of wet connectors could be brought down through increase in volume.
 Pre-trenching ahead of installation.
 HVDC cables.
 Strategically placed vessels to repair cables in North Sea.
 Specific gravity of Ally cable.
 Improvements in cable installations now mean two cables a day are possible
going from a 36 hour process to a 6 hour process. Take focus off speed of
installation.
 Freespan - strain - is the weak link at the limit of speed.
 Cables fail during warranty period.
 What changes failure rate?
 Thermal fatigue of cable.
 No check and balance during installation.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: EPIC Contracts
Idea Detail: In EPIC contract route getting ideas into design early can be the key to
cost savings. Many of the EPIC contractors are Dutch and Belgian and are starting to
take stakes in windfarms. O&M gap once wind farms are out of warranty in this
contracting set up.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Scheduling
Idea Detail: There can be complacency when repeating operations with the times crew
are working making fatigue a factor - creates risk through cost reduction. Projects chase
feed-in tariff which creates production schedule pressure. The industry is seasonal which
impacts on schedules. Increased volume of projects would bring costs down. Developers
need to allow installation year round to increase the installation schedule with installer
taking on weather risk.
Sticker: No
Idea TITLE: Planning
Idea Detail:
 Plan for summer lay.
 Tranching - beginning of year not ideal.
 Schedule information for simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) analysis.
 Wrong people currently manage offshore installation which requires right contact
with the client.
 Current is big problem.
 Two season project.
 Active heave compensation.
 Top spec kit with engineering support. Need to educate customer on benefits and
demonstrate value proposition.
 Involve whole supply chain earlier including installation contractors and small and
medium enterprises (SMEs), potentially in the front end engineering design
(FEED) process.
 Contract issues.
Sticker: No

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Idea TITLE: Mitigate Installation Risk
Idea Detail:
 Plough falling over during trenching.
 Risk mitigation for marine warranty surveyor.
 Pre-cut trenching - seabed dependant - lay cable after.
 One tool across one site - doesn't work.
 Lack of soil investigation.
 Tolerance of risk.
 Procedural competence.
Sticker: No

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APPENDIX XIII: LIST OF IDEAS GENERATED - SORTED
ISSUES
Theme Idea Sticker?
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure There are limits for wet mateable
connectors.
Yes
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure Is cable protection needed at the
interface with the subsea structure
or is this over design?
Yes
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure Shortage of skilled personnel with
capacity increasing to 66kV and
beyond.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Coating breakdown. No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Suction buckets tight tolerance. No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Lack of redundancy in some
floating wind turbine structures
e.g. Hywind moorings.
No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Inspection for defects and quality
assurance of steel coming from all
over the world.
No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Hook heights currently limit
installation vessels to 45m.
No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Scotland is at a disadvantage
compared with North Europe due
to varying ground conditions.
No
Installation Connector reliability for monopile
pull-in is poor.
No
Installation Getting ideas into designs early in
EPIC contracts.
Yes

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ADOPT
Theme Idea Sticker?
Cables & Electrical Infrastructure Standardisation of approach across
industry e.g. DONG ethos.
Yes
Environmental Conditions Thermal detection of close to
surface marine mammals.
Yes
Environmental Conditions AUVs for subsea surveying of
cables using permanently installed
transponders for guidance.
No
Environmental Conditions Underwater hydrophone as a
passive system for detecting
marine mammals during piling
operations as a replacement for
spotters.
No
Environmental Conditions Unmanned surface vessels with
acoustic detection for marine
mammal surveys prior to
commencing piling operations.
No
Environmental Conditions Helicopter launch decision making
tool or on board traffic light system
to confirm site access risk.
No
Environmental Conditions Vespa Marine vessel warning
system for protecting cables from
anchor drags and jack ups sitting
on them.
No
Operations & Maintenance Risk based inspection approach
that is data driven ala approach to
flexibles and umbilicals in oil and
gas.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Cross operator inspection and
maintenance campaigns.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Vessel and campaign clubs making
use of oil and gas IRM vessels.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Monte Carlo simulations of weather
statistics to optimise logistics and
schedules.
No
Operations & Maintenance Design in intervention into life
cycle costs.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Assemble one body to coordinate
industry standards and best
practices.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Transfer strong safety track record
and culture from oil and gas.
No
Operations & Maintenance Get the balance between
scheduled inspection and reactive
maintenance with call off
agreements and frame
agreements.
Yes
Operations & Maintenance Design for scour at outset. No
Operations & Maintenance Market opportunity for life of field
operations & maintenance
contractor.
Yes
Sub-Structures & Foundations Use of standardised, over-
engineered design over individual,
bespoke designs.
Yes
Sub-Structures & Foundations Offshore wind USA approach of
split jacket with offshore
connections.
No
Sub-Structures & Foundations Develop an industry forum on
standards and lessons learned,
adopting codes which already
exist.
Yes
Installation Various piling solutions to adopt
including bubble curtains, glazing
system, hydrosound damper,
cofferdam, Dutch water hammer
and vibrohammer.
No

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Installation Having crews onsite to save
transfer vessel. Only use heavy lift
vessels where required.
No
Installation Bring down cost of wet connectors
through volume. Strategically place
vessels to repair cables in the
North Sea.
No
Installation O&M gap once wind farms are out
of warranty. Opportunity for UK
IRM companies.
Yes
Installation Allow year round installation. No
Installation Offshore installation needs to be
managed by the right people with
right contact with client.
No
Installation More soil investigation required to
improve trenching to mitigate risk
of plough falling over during
trenching.
No
Installation Take into account ROVs in design
of structures.
No

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