Heerema has launched a joint industry project (JIP) to develop and optimise methodologies for the decommissioning of offshore wind farms, to enable developers to create robust strategies for the lifecycle ending phase.
The Clearwind JIP will primarily focus on the offshore decommissioning of Wind Turbine Generators (WTG) and foundations, including the development and evaluation of various decommissioning methodologies and research into optimised logistics.
This could include an overview of the regulatory framework; evaluation of novel and existing decommissioning methodologies for wind turbines; foundations and optimised logistic scenarios; robust CAPEX estimation methods; and a roadmap for planning and executing future offshore wind decommissioning projects.
With an operational lifecycle of approximately 30 years, we are now approaching a new phase in the industry: decommissioning, Heerema said.
By 2040, in Europe alone, approximately 1,000 turbines are expected to have been decommissioned, with this number rapidly increasing to 6,000 by 2050.
Accurate CAPEX estimation requires assessing regulatory requirements, port and vessel capacities, equipment constraints, recycling methodologies, and marine environmental impacts.
Heerema’s goal is to enhance participants’ understanding of offshore decommissioning methodologies by considering all these aspects and enabling them to plan ahead for decommissioning through a robust process.
In the first phase of the JIP Clearwind, Heerema aims to identify the timelines, rules and regulations, and specify the scale of the upcoming decommissioning phase.
A broad perspective on decommissioning technologies will be investigated in collaboration with equipment suppliers, contractors, developers, and regulatory bodies.
This will be followed by the integration of novel and existing technologies, logistics, CAPEX estimation and process development.
Heerema added that its main focus will be to address the critical challenges of the decommissioning phase and to find opportunities to reduce these uncertainties drastically.
We aim to optimise offshore decommissioning and to develop guidelines and recommendations for decommissioning.