Methodologies and simulation tools to support Operations and Maintenance (O&M) strategies and lifetime reliability assessment of Offshore Renewable En

Over the last few decades, global offshore wind technology has rapidly evolved from fixed-bottom
support structures in shallow waters (below 60 meters) to floating substructures, as water depth
increases (expected up to 1,000 meters). Turbine designs have grown from small power capacity of
0.45 megawatts (MW) in 1991, up to today's giant Siemens Gamesa-14MW turbine that will be
commercially available in 2024. These advances in offshore renewable technology will continue to
decrease its costs, while also contributing to meeting the growing demand of energy.
In June 2019, in line with the Paris Agreement, the UK's Climate Change Act 2008 set out the roadmap
to net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. At the end of 2019, the UK's offshore wind electricity
production reached 32TWh, which accounted for 10% of its total mix energy production. Furthermore,
with around 40 offshore wind farms and over 2,200 turbines operating for a total installed capacity of
9.7 gigawatts (GW), and 4.4GW under construction or with a final investment decision confirmed [1],
the UK is the world leader in the offshore wind sector. Globally, there are over 27GW installed in the
fixed-bottom technology and 82MW with floating offshore wind turbines.
Offshore renewable technologies will play a key role in the world's future energy transition. In the next
ten years, there are development plans and market opportunities for offshore wind projects in Europe,
Asia-Pacific and the US. However, offshore wind energy deployment is still facing big challenges, such
as installation logistics, large component replacement strategy, and operations and maintenance (O&M)
costs, all of them having a significant impact on the levelised cost of energy (LCoE). For instance,
overall O&M costs make up 34% and 31.3% of the total LCoE for offshore fixed-bottom and floating
wind technologies, respectively [2]. Moreover, the operational expenditure (OpEx) of an offshore wind
farm is variable throughout its lifetime. Technical and geographical factors affect the OpEx, such as the
distance from the wind farm to the onshore facilities, the metocean conditions, and the unexpected
failures of critical components, among others.
Therefore, there is a high interest in increasing accuracy and reducing uncertainty in OpEx estimates
for both development projects and existing assets. For instance, there are collaborative works between
academia, research institutions, industry, and governmental entities to develop advanced technological
solutions and tools to drive the reduction of O&M costs and to improve the reliability and efficiency of
ORE systems. Such is the case of ROMEO [3] and DTOcean Plus [4] projects.
In fact, there are several analytic models and tools to calculate the installation and O&M costs as well
as to estimate the annual availability of ORE projects over the designed lifetime [5][6]. However, further
research is required to improve those O&M models to move from basic preventive to condition-based
maintenance (CBM), as discussed below.

The primary impact will be achieved by industrially-sponsored student research projects. These will be designed to deliver immediate benefits to project sponsors, and the wider sector, forming a critical mass in capacity, knowledge and innovation opportunities.

The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector has seen rapid growth over recent years, with asset installations and operations increasing significantly. The UK is a global leader in the research, development and engineering in ORE, delivering significant benefits for UK plc. Current UK offshore wind installed capacity is in excess of 5GW and is forecasted to grow to around 10GW by 2020, with expected capacity increases of 1GW/year until 2030. Across Europe, installations (excluding the UK) exceed 6GW capacity, with a further 9GW envisaged before 2020 and a growth rate of 2.5 GW/year up to 2030. Whilst offshore wind is at an industrial stage where it creates new jobs right now, tidal and wave energy hold the potential to further mature to provide the benefits from commercial deployments by 2040. ORE generation complements the low carbon energy portfolio, reducing CO2 emissions.

The sector will drive substantial economic benefit to the UK, provided development, research and training can keep up with the sector. Economic analysis conducted for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland shows that 3FTE construction job years are created per MW of offshore wind deployed, and a further 0.6FTE are created through ongoing operations and maintenance, creating thousands of jobs per GW/year. Analysis by the ORE Catapult found that current offshore wind projects have an average 32% UK content. By 2040 the UK is to increase this content in areas of strength such as blade and tower manufacture, cable supply and O&M, by providing the needed investment, development and skills training. Supply chain analysis projects that 65% UK content could be possible by 2030, with further export opportunities, estimated to be worth £9.2bn per year by 2030. The current GVA to the UK per GW installed (at 32% UK content) is £1.8bn and estimates suggest a possible increase to £2.9bn by 2030. Future UK employment in the ORE sector has been modelled by Cambridge Econometrics. By 2032 the sector could support 58,000 FTE jobs in the UK, with 21,000 FTE jobs direct employment (up from 10,000 FTEs jobs currently) and another 37,000 FTE additional indirect jobs.

IDCORE will contribute to and improve ORE supply chain development, by providing dedicated R&D support to SMEs and developers, building industry and investor confidence and working with investors and asset owners. The program will result in new technical solutions, enhanced O&M service offerings and enhanced engineering design and analysis tools for the benefit of the industry partners and the wider sector.

The role of government strategy and policy development will be a crucial element of the training provided to IDCORE students. Used within their projects, and in interactions with sponsors, this knowledge will improve the outcomes for their work making it relevant to latest policy developments. It will also drive the development of robust evidence for government, improving policy making. Such engagement is supported by links created between the partners and the Scottish and UK Governments and organisations like Wave Energy Scotland and the International Energy Agency.

The development and demonstration of an effective EngD programme is important for the broader academic community, providing a model for engagement with industry and other stakeholders which is as effective in its impact on SMEs as it is with larger organisations.

The consortium has strong international links across Europe and in Chile, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and the USA. Promoting EngD programmes for renewable energy has the potential to lead to the formation of new sister programmes - expanding opportunities for staff and student exchange.