Towards improved forecasting for offshore wind turbine O&M transfers

Failure to adequately account for marine conditions can incur uncertainty in operation and maintenance costs for offshore renewable installations. Winter months with high potential for electricity generation coincide with the conditions where access for maintenance is most challenging. Advancing towards a demonstration of a strategic maintenance approach will assist in both reducing direct costs and associated initial project finance, while informing this with a better understanding of the impact of marine conditions could improve crew transfer vessel logistics and planning. This paper presents historical weather data close to East Anglia One Wind Farm for use in the development of vessel access models. The research provides a forecasting methodology for predicting wave directions at a site close to the wind farm. Improved ability to predict wave direction could improve existing and future modelling of the impact of marine conditions on the speed and fuel usage of vessels. Potential also exists for directional information to be utilised in scheduling transfer operations.