Race Bank Wind Farm’s offshore array will comprise of 91 Siemens’ 6.3-MW wind turbines and is expected to be commissioned in 2018.

Located almost 17 miles off the Norfolk coast, Race Bank Wind Farm’s offshore array will comprise of 91 state-of-the-art Siemens’ 6.3-MW wind turbines and is expected to generate enough electricity for up to 400,000 homes across the UK.

The renewable energy and grid integration consultancy helped bring the project to financial close for Firebolt RB Holdings Limited, the investment holding company owned by Macquarie Capital and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5.

“As one of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms, Race Bank Wind Farm has the potential to make a real difference to the environment by providing clean, sustainable and predictable power for homes across the UK,” said Marc Costa Ros, Project Manager at SgurrEnergy.

Acting as technical advisor, SgurrEnergy’s engineers and consultants provided technical due diligence during the acquisition and project finance phases of the project. SgurrEnergy carried out a review of key technical and commercial aspects of the project including permits and consenting, civil, electrical and mechanical design, project participants, construction and project contracts, project schedule, operations and maintenance, and a financial model review.

The scope of the construction monitoring assignment includes regular monitoring of construction and installation, checking progress and confirming consistency with the final design and undertaking site visits including factory and a construction site visit.

“We are extremely proud to be involved in such a project and look forward to working in close collaboration with Macquarie and the lenders involved in the project as we move into the construction and operation phases,” added Costa Ros.

With offshore works already underway, Race Bank Wind Farm is expected to be in operation by early 2018.

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SgurrEnergy’s innovative software can analyze drone-captured inspection data and convert it into powerful asset information for wind-farm owners and operators.

The renewable energy and grid integration consultancy’s UAVs or drones are equipped with a variety of camera options to provide an accurate detailed assessment of an asset’s condition. The service development was a natural progression of SgurrEnergy’s extensive track record of operating and maintaining sites across the globe, including having conducted projects across 90 countries and six continents.

“SgurrEnergy’s wide range of operational and maintenance services are designed to optimize operational performance and increase the revenue generation of our clients’ projects whilst reducing operational costs,” said Robbie Gibson, Director of Asset Management at SgurrEnergy.

O&M inspections on wind turbines can be carried out up to four times faster than traditional rope access methods, which means there is very limited downtime required. The safety risk to inspection personnel is also reduced significantly, thanks to the UAV’s ability to capture multi-angle, high-definition photos of hard-to-reach spaces.

By using the company’s interactive, online reporting portal, site owners, and operators can identify historical trends, linking defects directly to WTG performance. This solution allows clients to maximize annual energy production on their sites through the identification of defects causing underperformance and reduction of downtime during an inspection campaign.

With this information, clients can better calculate the cost-benefit ratio of when to carry out repairs whilst defects can be viewed by severity classification, defect type and position on the blade. This has been achieved through the support of Wood Group’s digital solutions capability, which provides engineering design and operational management solutions unavailable to other UAV operators active in wind turbine inspection.

“We’re always striving to improve our client offering and by introducing an innovative software reporting system our clients can recognize dangerous trends and make better-informed asset management decisions,” said Gibson.

SgurrEnergy’s UAVs are available as a standalone service or as part of a suite of services supporting project delivery and operation.

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The 30-MW project will use five Siemens’ SWT6MW-154 turbines on floating bases that are tethered to the seabed.

SgurrEnergy, part of Wood Group’s clean energy business, acted as technical advisor for the investment in Hywind floating offshore wind farm. Located off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, it is the world’s first multi-turbine floating offshore wind farm.

This project is an important milestone between demonstration and full commercialization of floating wind. Consisting of five Siemens’ SWT6MW-154 wind-turbine generators (WTGs), the 30-MW wind farm will use floating bases for the WTGs, which will be tethered to the seabed.

This is the first time the Siemens’ SWT 6MW WTG will be used in a floating wind farm, leveraging from the developer’s experience and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) acquired with the 2.3-MW prototype off the coast of Norway.

SgurrEnergy’s consultants and engineers provided technical due diligence services, reviewing the project design, construction contracts, project schedule, financial model and operations and maintenance plan.

During the consultation period an energy yield assessment for the wind farm was also completed.

“This project means a very significant step forward in the floating offshore wind industry, whereby the gap between technology demonstration and commercial bankable projects will be reduced,” said Marc Costa Ros, Senior Consultant at SgurrEnergy. “We are convinced that additional similar projects can and will be built over the next few years, de-risking floating wind and creating attractive investments.”

The project aims to prove that floating wind on a pre-commercial scale is feasible and profitable, leading the way for floating wind farms on a larger scale. With plans for the project to be operational by the third quarter of 2017, onshore construction works have begun and offshore construction is planned for summer this year.

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