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BWEA Wave & Tidal 09Wave and Tidal Supply Chain SeminarNaREC generously hosted this BWEA half day seminar at The Hilton Hotel in Bath on 29th April 2009 BWEA have directly addressed the supply chain issue through the appointment of a supply chain officer, Rhys Thomas can be contacted on 020 7901 3029 or via email r.thomas@renewable-uk.com. Over 100 industry personnel expressed interest in attending this seminar; this alone speaks volumes about the awareness in and importance of securing the supply chain for Wave and Tidal Energy in the UK. This is made particularly pertinent as the industry is now moving into demonstration stages and pre-commercial projects. The seminar was split into two sessions, the first focusing on instillation cost drivers, mooring works using ROVs and coating for renewable marine applications. The second session focused upon cable instillation and grid connection, as well as power take off and the application of FRPs. Andrew Mill (Head of the BWEA Marine Strategy Group) opened the seminar and provided a back drop by stating that as an industry we are seeing some failures, but emphasised that this is how industries learn and grow, pointing an example in the aviation industry; the failure of Comet led to the success of Boeing. Of key note was the potential transferable experience the UK has from oil and gas. Hope was also taken from the current budget statement that there is £405M for low C technologies including marine, highlighting government support for renewables. Oliver Wragg, BWEA Wave & Tidal Development Manager, presented to the group on the background of BWEA and their involvement in the Wave and Tidal Industry. This presentation can be viewed here. Below is a list of all the presentations made on the day, along with key questions and answers that arose during discussions. To view individual presentations follow the links below. To view a list of all the parties that expressed interest in the seminar please click here. Session 1 (click on the PDF logos to view the presentations)
Session 2 (click on the PDF logos to view the presentations)
Question & Answer Session1 – How have passed industries coped with challenges of the Marine Environment? Oil and Gas rigs deal with the problems of marine instillation by using large plant, however this can cost up to £10,000 per day to hire. The point that it was important to incorporate the factors on instillation and maintenance into the design phase of the project was stated. It is also thought that a well planed deployment phase, which links with specified deployment craft, is important. As global location of plant will be a factor. It was also pointed out that installing at depths of 40-50 meters was much more challenging. It was also noted during this discussion that developers may be caught by price rises from initial planed costs, e.g. Oil. 2 – Is an ROV cost effective for a small or large array and what would the lead time on a device be? Typical market cost for a work class ROV, workhorse of the current oil and gas industry is about £2 million. For this you will normally get the subsea bits (ROV and TMS –tether management system, as shown in the earlier photographs), a launch and recovery system (comprising A-frame, umbilical winch, HPU), control cabin and spares. Its likely that it would be more beneficial for an installer rather than a device developer to own and operate such equipment. Average lead time for a standard work class ROV system is currently about 22wks but depending on the system and supply chain could be less. For a very large special projects starting from a blank piece of paper, such as Lay Burial Tractor 1 which was delivered to Mayflower, these could typically take about 6 months. 3 – Does the paint industry conduct anti fouling tests? In order for paint companies to conduct tests, individual developers would have to contact paint companies to discuss requirements and engineer test. 4 - Who conducts testing of composite coupons? Currently this is undertaken by the companies manufacturing the end product. 5 – Have ADCPs been used whilst laying cables? It was thought that this would be of little benefit. However it was noted that it could be of benefit to produce models of wave climates, to highlight potential good weather windows. There could also be mileage in producing a sea bed movement map, in order to highlight areas to lay cables. Potential of conducting a research project focused on the fatigue characteristics of tidal turbines was raised. 6 – How long does it take to lay cable to connect W&T devices to grid? If the tides and ground are very bad it can be as slow as 30 meters per hour. If tides are particularly bad, then it will be necessary to wait for slack tide. The point for waiting for weather windows was also made, this lead to the thought that it may be necessary to cross reference environmental data to highlight favourable weather windows; similarities with grid connections were drawn. BWEA made the point that it was very important to promote health and safety to self regulate; rather than rely on some one else to come and regulate us. The importance of updating the anonymous near miss data base was accentuated. It was thought that it would be important to consolidate with the oil and gas industry, specifically the UKOA. To discuss health and safety matters please contact Chris Streatfeild, BWEA Director of Safety. Email c.streatfeild@renewable-uk.com. Although we have taken best care to ensure the accuracy of these notes, please inform us if you feel any alterations are required. Contact: Supported by the Society for Underwater Technology |
