Offshore

Wind
Energy
GE Energy
February 26, 2007

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Agenda
Offshore Wind Market Drivers
Offshore Environmental Challenges
Severe Design Envelopes
Environmental Data
Installation
Operation & Maintenance
Design Considerations
Foundation Systems
Economics and Future Design
Options
Summary

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Wind
Market Drivers

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Wind Market Drivers / Constraints

Market Drivers:
Wave Height

40

North Atlantic

30
20
10

Wave Breaking
Probability

High interest - Green, Renewable Energy

close to major Load Centers

50

Great wind conditions

North Sea

0
100
Years

1
Years

PR and Govmt support critical

1
Day

Return Period

Wave Heights Larger than

European Experience

capacity factors to 0.5

Low turbulence & wind shear

Fuse site data & physicsbased models

Favorable Sites: US East Coast, Irish Sea, North Sea,

Baltic
Water depths to 30 m, 10-20 km offshore

Constraints:
Risks/Costs: Technology; Construction; Operational;
Maintenance
Accessibility: Difficult service environment
Storm Conditions

Exposure: hurricane; waves; sea bed stability

Economics - Cost of Energy

10 MW GE Wind
at Utgrunden, Sweden

Strong Potential Significant Risk

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February 26, 2007

Global Wind Market

Global Forecast (GWs)

Installations

AGR
C
9%
13.6 14.0

15.3

11.8

ROW
Asia Pacific
North
America

Europe

05

06

07

08

Globally, wind energy has been

the fastest growing energy
source on a percentage basis
over the past decade with
projections for continued
growth

Source: EER

Offshore a Small Fraction of Global Forecast

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February 26, 2007

Wind Turbine Buying Decisions

10

Performance
Cost

Operating Availability

Performance, Cost &

Availability most
important

Track Record
Service Package
8

COE/NPV/IRR

Local Content
Latest Technology
7

Focus on Energy
Production and Cost

Offshore Wind Must Be Cost Effective

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February 26, 2007

Offshore
Environmental
Challenges
Severe Design Envelopes

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Design Environment

Lightning
Ambient Turbulence

Salinity, Humidity
& Temperature

Operational & Accidental

Loads Icing

Ship Impact
(Breaking) ice
(Breaking) Waves

Hurricanes

Aesthetics

Marine Scour Growth

Currents Tides
Earthquake

Foundation
Behavior

WTG
% Cost

Marine
Life

Transition
Piece

Geotechnical Uncertainty

Foundation
Water Depth

Foundation &
Installation Costs

pile

Water Depths
US Average Depth = 15 m
Europe Avg. Depth = 11 m

Maintainability &
Availability

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February 26, 2007

Hurricanes A US Issue
Hurricanes are Real Threat
No existing industry Design Guidelines

Hurricane
Statistics over
100+ years
35

GL & IEC Design Guidelines do not

consider Hurricanes

Hurricanes Wind Speed Distribution

30

25
Source : Unisys Hurricane Database
(pre 2005 data)

20

Total #

Hurricane wind speeds over North

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico can exceed
the current GL/IEC design limits

Current Design Limit

from GL/IEC Design
Guidelines

15

10

Eye Speed
5

Minimum Wind

Max 0
Wind Speed 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 150 155 160 165

Counter Clockwise Wind

Northern Hemisphere

Maximum Wind

Micrositing Analysis

#-Atlantic

27

20

29

12

12

# - GOM

12

Major Hurricane through North Atlantic

and Gulf of Mexico areas during last 100 years
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February 26, 2007

mph

Ship Impact Study

x2
M2

Ms

Nonlinear Contact
Spring, Ks

x3
l2

M1

vs

x1

l1
Penetration
Mudline

Foundation Spring, Kf

Dynamical Impact Analysis (DIA) System Model

Tower Stress
Distribution

Ships Discretization
Indentation

Time-Domain Nonlinear Finite Element

Analysis of Ship-Tower Impact

Case

Vessel Type

Ferry

DWT
(metric
tons)
1500

Action

Ferry

1500

Head-on at 12
knots

0.95*

Fishing Boat

300

Head-on at 12
knots

< 0.25

Barge

1200

Drifting at 3
knots

< 0.62

Yacht

20

Head-on at 15
knots

0.05

Moored
Service
Vessel

75

Wave Induced
Impact from
Mooring

0.28

Drifting at 3
knots

Tower
Utilization
Factor*
0.65

Based on Norsk Standard N-004 (Norwegian

Technology Standards Institute) accidental limit states
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February 26, 2007

Offshore
Environmental
Challenges
Environmental Data

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Site Data

Site Data Collection requirements prior to initiating an Offshore WTG
design: Geophysical survey (including an understanding of the
geological history)
Geo-technical survey of the wind farm (a combination of
borehole sampling, CPTs and laboratory tests)
Historical wind speed and oceanographic data (waves,
currents)

Meteorological
Mast at the
proposed Cape
Wind Farm

Detailed wind speed / wave height profile obtained from an onsite meteorological tower
Occurrence of extreme weather phenomena such as hurricanes
(Cat 3 and above)
Understanding of seabed stability at wind farm site

Stringent Site Data Collection Required

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February 26, 2007

Environmental/Geological Data Collection

Breaking Waves Excessive Fatigue
Loads
Marine Live

Centrifuge is an example of
potential geotechnical risk
mitigation reviews
Geotechnical Soil Conditions

Example of an Offshore
Cone Penetration Test Rig

Generalized geological cross-sections

(by Lankelma Seacore Offshore Ltd.)

Not an Area to Scrimp

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February 26, 2007

Offshore
Environmental
Challenges
Installation

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February 26, 2007

Foundation Installation
Offshore Project Resource Challenges
Transportation
Cables
Towers
Foundations
Nacelles
Heavy Duty Equipment Availability
Specialized Equipment Required:
- Heavy-lift jack-up barges & cranes
- Large pile-driving hammers & eqpt
- Marine cable-laying equipment
Specialized Manufacturers & Suppliers Required:
Heavy steel rolling/welding
Submarine cable production
Foundries for cast hubs & frames

Sea Cable
Installation

Special Expertise Required

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Wind Turbine Installation

Transition
Piece

Arklow Wind Farm, Ireland

7 x GE 3.6 Offshore

Pile Transport

Pile Placement

Nacelle Loading
Nacelle Lift

Tower and
Nacelle

Fully
Assembled
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February 26, 2007

Seabed Stability & Scour Protection

Sand Banks can be Very Active

6 miles to Port

Arklow
7 x 3.6s WTGs

Stone-dumping Vessel

Scour Protection Schematic

Scour Protection a Must

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February 26, 2007

Offshore
Environmental
Challenges
Operation and Maintenance

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February 26, 2007

Offshore O&M Costs

Offshore
Cost-of-Energy
O&M
WTG,
BOP & Other

~15-25%
of Total
COE

Decreased
Availability
Cost Variance
Unplanned ~80%
Offshore Service
Access
Jack Up Barge Cost
Material Cost
Labor Cost

Decreased
Production

Planned ~20%

O&M Costs
Large Portion of COE
Significant Variance

Decreased
Revenue

Comprehensive O&M Strategy Critical to Offshore Economics

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February 26, 2007

O&M Cost Variability Driven By Reliability

Total O&M Cost

Offshore Access
Unplanned O&M
Planned O&M

Life-cycle Reliability Has Large

Impact on O&M Costs
Un-Planned O&M can vary
significantly
Offshore Access jack up
barge, weather etc. add
additional cost and variance

4X

10X

Wind Turbine Reliability

.Unplanned O&M Cost Impacted by System Reliability

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February 26, 2007

Service Technologies for Effective Offshore O&M

Product Reliability ( Prevention)

Field Services

Enhanced Offshore
Equipment Designs
Advanced Controls for Load
Mgmt & Performance
Design for Serviceability

Product / Customer Support

24/7 Remote Operations,
Monitoring
and Diagnostics
Predictive & Condition Based
Maintenance
Contractual Services/Warranty
Mgmt

High Quality Planned &

Unplanned
Maintenance
O&M Asset Management
Economic Benefits
Revenue

COE

Reliability

Availability

Production

Continuous Improvement
Reliability & Performance
Modifications & Upgrades

.Multi Pronged Approach Required

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February 26, 2007

Offshore
Environmental
Challenges
Access

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Accessibility
Accessibility to WTGs in Varied Weather Conditions a Must
Drives Installation & Commissioning Cycles
Key to High Reliability
Multiple Options for Varied Site Conditions
Frog, Ladder, Offshore Transfer System (OTS) (OAS), Water Bridge, Wind Lift,
BoardSafe, Fast craft hoisting system, (Davit & RIB), Ramp access system, Wire rope
access, Floating cubicles, Offshore Entry/Evacuation system, Hydraulic ramp

Access Systems

Vessels

Non-TP Access System

(OAS)

Water Bridge

Multiple Systems Required to Satisfy All Site Conditions

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February 26, 2007

Access Considerations
 Arklow provided an excellent test ground - extreme
sea conditions .continuous improvement
 Currently using purpose built vessel on the market
 Have safely transferred personnel in 2+ meter
waves
 Trials have proven safe access capable in 2.5
meter waves.significant improvement in 6
months
 Improved purpose built vessels under development
% Accessibility Arklow
Purpose Built Vessel 2.5m

84.66%

Purpose Built Vessel 2m

75.34%

Conventional Vessel 1m

41.64%
Vessel designed for wind turbine access
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February 26, 2007

Offshore Wind
Turbine Design
Foundations

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Oil & Gas Experience

Water Depths
Loading - Vertical
Loading - Horizontal
Overturning Moments
Installations per site
Structure Width
Equiv. Power Produced
Key Soil Properties

Oil & Gas

Wind Energy

20 - 300+m
5,000 - 30,000 ton
10% - 20% of vertical load

10 - 30m
100 - 300 ton
70% - 150% of vertical load
(Water depth +100m) x
Horizontal load
20 - 200
~5m
1.5 - 5.0 MW per WTG
Lateral Strength

Water depth x Horizontal load

1-6
>20m (typ)
~100 MW
Bearing Capacity

Different cost drivers

Offshore Oil & Gas Relatively High cost/Low
Volumes
Offshore Wind -- Low cost/Mass production
Need fusion of on-shore WTG & Offshore O&G expertise
O& G Experience Leverageable Not Directly Transferable
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February 26, 2007

Foundation System Design Drivers

Overall Structure Sized For:

Natural Frequency

Appear Locally Managed Locally

Fatigue life utilization

Extreme load deflections / rotations

Buckling of support structures
Structural fatigue

Extensive Load Case Evaluation Required

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February 26, 2007

Offshore Foundations - Historical Approaches

Gravity Based Systems (GBS)
Up to 7.5 m
Not Scalable
No Heavy Vessels
Economical at 1.5 MW

?
> 25-30 m Foundation

Gravity Foundation
Near Shore

Monopile
20 m, 6 Miles

Monopile
Transition Piece Key
Hammering
Natural Frequency Barrier at <30 m
Economical at 3-4MW

Must Consider Entire System

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February 26, 2007

Foundation System Design Drivers

Modal Analysis - 3.6s/sl Tower/Foundation

Nmin = 8.5rpm
rotor, 800rpm
generator

Frequency (Hz)

1.6
1.2

Nrtd = 15.3rpm
rotor, 1440rpm
generator

2nd Mode Design Box:

f1 >1.607

0.8

6P +/-10%
(2X Blade
Pass Freq)

Nmax = 21.3rpm
rotor, 2000rpm
generator

3P +/-10%

(Blade Pass Freq

0.4

n = rotor speed
nR = Rated
rotor speed

1st Mode Design Box: 0.28< f0>0.3831P +/-10%

(Rotor Pass Freq

0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Relative Rotor Speed (n/n R)

1.2

1.4

Note: Range for f1 depends on chosen rated rpm

Eigen Frequency Often Primary Driver for Monopile Designs

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February 26, 2007

Foundation Technologies
0 20m : Monopile & gravity foundations are most
prevalent; Resonance constraints from rotor
operation leads to increasing tonnage &
manufacturing limits.
.

Jacket weight increases

with depth even at
constant MW rating
Depth dependence on weight
can be reduced substantially
with a floating foundation
system

Monopile
20 m, 6 Miles

Gravity Foundation
Near Shore

20 40m: Multi-legged jacket/tripod/braced pile

structures from O&G industry experience. Joint
Fatigue & O&M issues are main design drivers.
40m beyond : Floating Platforms:
Mini-TLP / Spar buoy De-couple
WTG weight from water depth.

New tower & foundation

solutions
reqd for deeper sites

On-Going R&D Exploring Myriad Options

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February 26, 2007

Economics &
Design
Trends/Options

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February 26, 2007

Economics of 500 MW Offshore Wind Park

Assumptions
Advanced turbines: 4, 5, 6, or 7 MW
Swept Area: 2.6 m2/kW
Tip clearance to water: 25m
GunFleet Sands - 12 m water depth, 20 km to shore
90 m/s tip speed
BOP Cost

Capitol Cost per MW

Wind Farm Capitol Cost

Specific Tower Top Weight: 55 kg/MW

$MM

Fab Cost per MW

Cost

W/ 5MW Turbines

Advanced Turbines, Foundations and

Maintainability Required to Drive Costs Down

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February 26, 2007

Questions

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February 26, 2007