Consultancy the Carbon Trust on Monday launched the fourth stage of its Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA), a collaborative research, development, and deployment program.
The joint initiative was established back in 2008, between the Carbon Trust and nine offshore wind developers with the aim to reduce the cost of offshore wind to be competitive with conventional energy generation, and to provide insights regarding industry standard and best practice health and safety requirements.
Launching the fourth stage of the project, the Carbon Trust said Tuesday that all industry partners returned to participate and fund collaborative research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects.
Partners for Stage 4 are EnBW, Equinor, Ørsted, RWE Renewables (including the former renewables business of innogy), ScottishPower Renewables, Shell, SSE Renewables, and Vattenfall.
According to the Carbon Trust, since its establishment, the OWA program has carried out more than 180 projects internationally.
"Over this period, rapid cost reductions have led to wide-scale deployment of offshore wind and the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) has significantly fallen. Technology RD&D efforts have played a significant role in this achievement, with 2018 analysis showing that OWA-supported innovations could deliver a 15 percent reduction in the LCOE over a project’s lifetime, which translates to a £34bn saving for the European offshore wind industry based on 2030 build-out targets," the Carbon Trust said.
The next phase of the OWA aims to continue the cost reduction of offshore wind, overcome market barriers, develop industry best practice, trigger the development of new industry standards and support the international expansion of offshore wind.
OWA projects will be focused around the areas of access and logistics, cables, electrical systems, foundations, and energy yield and performance. This builds on previous work areas, but broadens the program’s remit in line with developments in the offshore wind sector and the growing international market, the consultancy explained.
Jan Matthiesen, Director, Offshore Wind, the Carbon Trust, said:"Offshore wind is at an exciting stage of deployment, with project investment reaching new heights in the first half of this year. But with growing ambition comes new challenges, and our experienced team and partners are ready to find and support the next generation of solutions.”
Georgios Stamatelopoulos, Senior Vice President – Generation, Energie Baden-Württemberg AG commented: "Further reduction of costs is a constant factor of success in future offshore wind projects both in mature and emerging markets. EnBW is a strong supporter of the fourth phase of the industry-led OWA program and appreciates the inclusion of wind farm operation-related aspects in the work program that are becoming increasingly important for the competitiveness of offshore wind.”
Danielle Jarski, Renewables Director of Engineering, RWE, said the OWA had "driven remarkable progress within our industry, supporting the transformation of offshore wind from an embryonic, subsidized sector to one that is competitive and future-proofed."
"We now represent the combined expertise of two former OWA partners all under RWE Renewables, and we are looking forward to continuing this cooperation to support the global expansion of offshore wind," Jarski said.
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