Function
Onshore logistics involves support and resources to the wind farm operations, including quayside infrastructure, warehousing, logistics and operational planning.
What it costs*
About £1.3 million per annum for a 1 GW wind farm.
Who supplies them
The wind farm operator will establish OMS port facilities during the installation process, as many support vessels active during the operational phase will operate from local ports. The wind farm owner will typically occupy quayside facilities, operating on a long-term lease with the owner of the port infrastructure.
Key facts
Typically, wind farm owners will look to use the nearest port that meets its specifications to minimise transfer times and reduce the risk of time being lost due to bad weather. Nevertheless, owners will typically competitively tender the contract for the provision of port services. For wind farms further from shore, the use of offshore accommodation and other facilities (possibly shared with other wind farms) becomes more attractive.
Port location is critical – far from shore port requirements will differ from a wind farm that is operated using CTVs and workboats only.
Consideration is given to the scope for future expansion to support additional project phases.
Port facilities are required to be flexible to accommodate variable demand with maintenance and service campaigns and site activities. Ideally, the warehousing and logistics buildings are close to the quayside to minimise the time loading support vessels.
24/7 access from a chosen port in all states of tide will increase flexibility to perform maintenance and service operations without delay to enable weather windows to be exploited – this may require port agreements to include requirements for dredging to maintain adequate water depths.
Safe means of transfer onto vessels is needed – this often requires the installation of pontoons to ensure a level access route in all tidal conditions.
A 1 GW wind farm may employ up to 100 people onsite, of which about half will be turbine technicians. The availability of skilled and experienced technicians is a crucial factor in the successful operation of an offshore wind farm for wind farm owners and operators. OMS facilities need 24 hour access, 365 days a year.
As well as the port facility, operators will use remote land based support, such as specific engineering advice and support, performance monitoring and constant control room monitoring.
Each support vessel will need a berth of up to 30 m. A 1 GW wind farm may require the operation of between four and seven vessels, depending on the distance from the wind farm to shore and the maintenance and service strategies chosen, although up to 10 berths may be specified in order to provide capacity for peak periods. Uninterrupted access requires the availability of a non-drying harbour with minimal tidal restrictions.
An onshore base consists of:
- Administration facilities and operations room
- Lifting equipment, for example forklifts (600 kg) and small cranes (1 t) to move components from the harbour to the vessel
- Workshop facilities, workbench areas and tool storage
- Stores, with small components that do not need specialist vessels to facilitate use
- Wet and dry rooms, with space for personal protection equipment
- Oil store, gas bottle store and waste management facilities
- Fuel bunker or electric charging stations for vessels, and
- Parking spaces.
What’s in it
- Facilities management