TenneT is seeking feedback on a potential initiative to jointly house management and maintenance services of offshore grid and energy assets.
The transmission system operator will share information and ideas with wind farm and oil and gas operators, to gauge their interest in a collaborative model.
By 2031, TenneT expects to have realised 17 offshore grid connections with an installed capacity of more than 21GW of offshore wind in the Dutch North Sea, all of which will require regular maintenance.
Materials, personnel, installations and vessels for maintenance and management are scarce, but when parties act together and start sharing these resources, they can be used more efficiently, the TSO said.
Oil and gas operators already have cooperation, while offshore wind farm operators still arrange this themselves, or procure these services separately, it added.
Resources are becoming increasingly scarce and vessels cannot always be used efficiently, sometimes resulting in long waiting times for maintenance.
Erik Hiensch, responsible for operations and maintenance offshore at TenneT, said: “We notice that many parties are facing the same challenges as TenneT, which is why we want to investigate whether we can develop a new cooperation model.
“As an offshore transmission system operator, we play an important role in the development of offshore infrastructure and want to take the lead in this initiative.”
As well as achieving efficiency by sharing vessels, personnel and materials, it can save asset owners money too, through jointly organising services on a larger scale.
Hiensch added: “We are approaching the ‘Sharing of Offshore O&M Services’ plan in two phases.
“First, we will show relevant parties what we are planning and gauge who wants to participate.
“On April 23, TenneT is organising an information meeting for this purpose to talk to interested parties.
“If there is enough interest, in the second phase we will discuss where, in case of cooperation, the most opportunities lie and what the practical, financial and legal sides look like to implement the plan.”