Full Story Of Hywind Scotland – World’s First Floating Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of a YouTube video.
I’m posting this, as I spent an enjoyable few months, doing simulations for a similar structure from a company called Balaena Structures, that had been founded by two engineering professors from Cambridge University.
Their structure was to be used as an oil or gas platform.
- It would have been built horizontally in a dock, where you might build supertankers.
- It would have been launched and then erected to a vertical position.
- Equipment would then have been craned on top.
- The professors also talked of it being held in place by means of the gumboot principle and the large weight.
- It was also designed to be reusable.
Sadly, they never sold an example.
I said more about my involvement with Balaena Structures in Are Floating Wind Farms The Future?.
Cerulean Winds Is A Different Type Of Wind Energy Company
I introduced Cerulean Winds in a post called What Is INTOG?, but I have decided it is too important a concept to be buried in another post.
Cerulean sounds like it could be a sea monster, but it is actually a shade of blue.
This article on offshoreWind.biz is entitled Cerulean Reveals 6 GW Floating Offshore Wind Bid Under INTOG Leasing Round.
These are the two introductory paragraphs.
Green energy infrastructure developer Cerulean Winds has revealed it will bid for four seabed lease sites with a combined capacity of 6 GW of floating wind to decarbonise the UK’s oil and gas sector under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.
This scale will remove more emissions quickly, keep costs lower for platform operators and provide the anchor for large-scale North-South offshore transmission, Cerulean Winds said.
Note.
- It is privately-funded project, that needs no government subsidy and will cost £30 billion.
- It looks like each site will be a hundred turbines.
- If all the sites are the same, they could be 1.5 GW each, with the use of 15 MW turbines.
- Each site will need £7.5 billion of investment. So it looks like Cerulean have access to a similar magic money tree as Kwasi Kwarteng.
This paragraph describes their four hundred floating bases.
The steel floating bases would constitute hundreds of thousands of tonnes of steel, which unlike cement fixtures, can be floated out from shore which is said to be ideal for the UK.
Building those bases, is a very large project.
On their web site, Cerulean Winds have a page entitled Targeted Oil And Gas Decarbonisation.
This the page’s mission statement.
Cerulean Winds, a green energy & infrastructure developer, is leading a pioneering bid to reduce carbon emissions from oil and gas production through floating offshore wind.
These three paragraphs describe the scheme.
Cerulean Winds pioneering bid proposes an integrated floating wind and hydrogen development across four offshore floating wind farms located West and East of the Shetland Islands and in the North and the South of the Central North Sea (CNS). The objective of the project is to generate electricity from floating wind farms located far offshore on otherwise unallocated and uneconomic seabed areas in order to power oil and gas platforms with green energy.
Cerulean Winds’ dedicated power transmission network will offer both green electrons and green molecules to oil & gas production facilities across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) with surplus energy used in the production of green hydrogen. This dual approach allows the project to support all ages of oil and gas platforms with constant, reliable power and minimal brownfield modifications.
The optimised scale at which Cerulean Winds’ proposed scheme operates makes it the world’s largest decarbonisation project. It offers green energy to operators for asset power generation, delivered through an affordable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Another big advantage is the scheme does not require any public subsidies, but funded entirely through private investment.
That is sensational.
Effectively, they’re building four 1.5 GW power stations in the seas around us to power a large proportion of the oil and gas rigs.
I do have some thoughts.
Who Pays For This Massive Project?
This project overview on the Cerulean web site is entitled The Cerulean Winds INTOG Scheme and it gives many more details of the project.
I will refer to this page as the project overview in the subsequent text.
This is the first sentence of the first paragraph.
Our basin-wide scheme represents more than £30 billion of private investment in a single strategic infrastructure project.
Consider.
- The London Olympics in 2012 cost £9 billion.
- The Elizabeth Line will probably cost around £20 billion.
- The Channel Tunnel in 1994 cost £9 billion.
This project is a lot bigger than these.
Will your spare fifty pounds, still be in your mattress, when Cerulean Winds has put its £30 billion together?
I think so, as this is the last sentence on the page.
The scheme is ‘private wire’ and will not require Government subsidies… being funded entirely through private investment, with no cost to the tax payer.
There will of course, be tax rebates available, as they are for any business from the smallest to the largest.
Green Hydrogen Will Be Produced Offshore
The project overview says this about green hydrogen.
The scheme would use floating offshore wind to power oil and gas assets with surplus energy converted into green hydrogen. Cerulean Winds recognise each brownfield site has a different set of requirements and this would give operators the flexibility to electrify some Brownfield assets without the need to interrupt existing production or shutdown. It would also safeguard oil and gas jobs and create new green energy jobs within the floating wind and hydrogen sectors within the next five years.
The operator will have a choice of energy – electricity or hydrogen.
How Will The Project Earn An Income?
It appears that the project, will have a number of income streams.
The main stream, is described in this sentence from the project overview on the web site.
We have a deep understanding across the energy sector and will partner with the operator to agree the best way to achieve decarbonisation targets at the lowest possible cost. Our approach offers both green electrons and green molecules to the platforms through an affordable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
It looks like the oil and gas companies that own the rigs will be significant contributors to Cerulean’s cash flow.
Green electrons (electricity) and green molecules (hydrogen) will also be brought ashore and sold to various operators and the grid.
What Happens To The Gas That Is Currently Used To Power The Oil And Gas Rigs?
I do wonder, the gas, which will no longer be needed to power the rigs will give a boost to the supply to UK consumers.
They’ve thought of that one.
Under a heading of Reducing Gas Imports, this is said.
The project also aims to maximise recovery of energy from offshore platforms. With few exceptions, each platform have their own gas turbines for power generation, burning gas extracted from the reservoirs. Approximately 10% of the gas produced each year is used in offshore power generation. By replacing the need for gas power generation with a supply of clean, green energy, Cerulean Winds’ project frees important volumes of gas produced by platforms for consumption and reduces the UK’s import of gas from overseas.
This project, when it is fully implemented could increase UK gas production by up to ten per cent.
What’s In It For The Rig Operators?
They will have some benefits.
- They will cut their carbon dioxide emissions.
- They will sell about ten percent more of the gas they extract.
- Decarbonisation will not necessarily mean large capital expenditure on the rig.
- I also suspect, that some conveniently-placed rigs will be used to send excess hydrogen from Cerulean Winds’ electrolysers to the shore.
Some rig operators will make money from decarbonisation.
When Will The Project Be Complete?
This is the first paragraph on the project overview.
Our basin-wide scheme represents more than £30 billion of private investment in a single strategic infrastructure project. The locations will be West and East of the Shetland Islands and in the Central North Sea (CNS). They will become operational by 2028.
So we don’t have to wait for ever!
What Happens To Cerulean’s Project, When The Oil And Gas Runs Out Or We Stop Using Oil And Gas?
There would now be four 1.5 GW wind farms in the North Sea, that could be connected to the National Grid.
Conclusion
It looks like Cerulean Winds are a very different energy company.
Do All Wind Turbines Have To Be Similar?
I feel this is a reasonable question to ask.
But do all wind turbines have to look like those in this picture?
Wikipedia lists three main types.
- Horizontal Axis – Those in the picture are of this type, as are all the large wind turbines I’ve seen in operation.
- Vertical Axis – Wikipedia shows several examples.
- Unconventional Types
Recently, I have come across some which would be placed in the last group.
Hybrid Offshore Wind And Wave Energy Systems
This article on the Journal of Physics is entitled Review of Hybrid Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Systems, is a study from serious academics.
This is the abstract.
Hybrid wind wave systems combine offshore wind turbines with wave energy on a shared platform. These systems optimize power production at a single location by harnessing both the wind and the waves. Wave energy is currently at an earlier development stage than offshore wind. Research in this area is focused in wave energy converters being used for platform motion suppression of floating offshore wind turbines. Wave energy converters can passively shelter offshore wind turbines from waves and can also be actively controlled to reduce the system loads. Additionally, a small amount of supplemental power may be generated, which can be used for offshore wind turbine local power needs. There may be future benefits to these hybrid systems, but at this stage wave energy may increase the project cost and risk of offshore wind turbines. Hybrid wind wave system research and development is discussed, with a focus on floating offshore wind turbines. Additionally, two ocean demonstration scale hybrid wind and wave systems are discussed as case studies: the Poseidon Wave and Wind system and the W2Power system. Hybrid wind wave systems show potential to be part of the future of offshore wind energy.
Note.
- Wave energy development is at an earlier stage than offshore wind.
- Wave energy converters can passively shelter offshore wind turbines from waves and can also be actively controlled to reduce the system loads.
- There is more about Poseidon on this page on the Tethys web site.
- There is more about W2Power on the Pelagic Power web site.
The last sentence of the abstract is significant and I believe that hybrid offshore wind and wave energy will play a significant part in the future of offshore energy.
Wind Turbines With Added Storage
Critics and cynics of wind power always ask, what happens, when the wind doesn’t blow.
It is generally accepted, that the best thing to do is to pair a wind farm with some form of energy storage.
Technologies and solar and/or wind farms with energy storage are starting to be proposed and/or installed.
- In Cleve Hill Solar Park, I wrote about a solar farm, a wind farm and a battery sharing a grid connection.
- In First Ever Gravity Green Energy Storage System Set For North Yorkshire Town, I wrote about a battery being installed where two massive wind farms connect to the grid.
- In How To Store Excess Wind Power Underwater, I describe a Dutch system called an Ocean Battery.
- In UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, I wrote about adding Marine Pumped Hydro to offshore wind farms.
More energy storage will be added in the future in or near to wind and solar farms.
Twin Turbines
This document from the Department of Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy lists all the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4 results for the supply of zero-carbon electricity.
One of the projects allocated a Contract for Difference, was the 32 MW TwinHub wind turbine, which I wrote about in Hexicon Wins UK’s First Ever CfD Auction For Floating Offshore Wind.
A full scale twin turbine hasn’t been built yet, but it does seem promising and the visualisations are impressive.
Scroll down on the TwinHub home page to see a video.
World Wide Wind
I’ll let the images on the World Wide Wind web site do the talking.
But who would have thought, that contrarotating wind turbines, set at an angle in the sea would work?
This is so unusual, it might just work very well.
Conclusion
There will be other unusual concepts in the future.
Ørsted Signs Two ‘Industry First’ Monopile Contracts For Hornsea 3 Foundations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Ørsted.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Ørsted, the world’s most sustainable energy company, has signed two ‘industry first’ contracts for the fabrication of XXL monopile foundations for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm.
I have a few thoughts about the press release.
XXL Monopile Foundations
These four paragraphs describe Hornsea 3’s XXL monopile foundations.
Subject to Ørsted taking a Final Investment Decision on Hornsea 3, the contracts have been finalised with Haizea Wind Group, through its subsidiary Haizea Bilbao, and SeAH Wind Limited, a UK-based subsidiary of SeAH Steel Holdings (SeAH).
Ørsted will be the first major customer at SeAH Wind’s new monopile facility in Teesside, and the agreement with Haizea marks the company’s first XXL monopile contract with Ørsted.
The deal with SeAH represents the single largest offshore wind foundations contract secured by any UK company. Haizea’s agreement is the largest single contract ever secured by Haizea Wind Group.
Each of the huge foundation structures for Hornsea 3 will weigh between 1,300 and 2,400 tonnes and measure in at between 83 and 111 metres in length. Monopile production is expected to start in 2024.
Note
- These are huge steel structures.
- But then the water depth appears to be between 36 and 73 metres.
- It looks like the orders are shared between Spanish and Korean companies
This article on offshoreWIND.biz, is entitled Beyond XXL – Slim Monopiles For Deep-Water Wind Farms.
These are some points from the article.
- XXL-Monopiles have been successfully used for water depths of up to 40 metres. Now wind farm developers need monopiles “beyond XXL”.
- The extension of the range is needed, mainly to enable the use of larger turbines, deeper water, and harsher environmental situations.
- These monopiles will allow turbines of up to 15 megawatts with rotor diameters of up to 230 metres.
- This monopile design automatically induces the idea of design and fabrication optimisation to ensure that monopiles continue to lead the ranking of most economical foundation systems.
In the 1970s, I was involved with a Cambridge University spin-out company called Balaena Structures, who were using similar much larger structures to support oil and gas production platforms.
I was just doing calculations, but I do wonder if these XXL monopile foundations, owe things in their design to work done by structural engineers, like those I met at Cambridge fifty years ago.
The Anonymous Widower 