Protection as the best line of defense
As wind farms move further offshore, how can they be protected from corrosion while keeping costs down and maintenance time to a minimum?
To find out what solutions might be available to help solve this conundrum and get an overview of where the market may be heading next, the team from PES Wind spent time talking to our very own Laura Hall, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager and Dinko Cudic, Business Line Director, Renewables here at Seal For Life.
Here’s a short insight into the conversation our experts had with PES about offshore wind farm corrosion protection solutions:
PES: A warm welcome back to PES Laura and Dinko. I’m looking forward to catching up and hearing about your plans for 2022. Seal For Life has featured with us before of course, but to refresh memories, could you just give some brief background to the company and your involvement in the wind industry?
Laura Hall: Thank you for having us. Seal For Life as a group is home to 15 different brands, offering critical infrastructure protection across multiple industry sectors. We have a number of brands operating in the renewable energy sector, from solar to wave and tidal, district heating to on/offshore wind. It is an exciting time for us with our growing business.
Within the wind industry two of our brands have been active in providing vital protection to on and offshore wind turbines, Easy-Qote and Oxifree.
PES: We’ve spoken previously about the need for protecting turbines and other wind farm equipment from the risk of corrosion. This becomes an even bigger challenge as the wind farms move further offshore and therefore are fewer shallow waters, is that right?
LH: That’s correct. The move to offshore has been accelerating for two reasons; space close to shore and capitalising on the power of the wind.
Many offshore installations are currently situated near the shore, in predominantly shallow waters. This allows for easier access to install and maintain. However, with that space becoming an issue, the next few years will see a move to deep water installations, further away from the coast. Whilst these developments will benefit from the stronger winds, they will also be subject to harsher conditions. Strong winds and bigger waves will add pressure, not just to the installation phase, but ongoing operation and maintenance too.
“There is no doubt preventative action is the best action”
PES: Is helping to solve this problem a big focus for Seal for Life now?
LH: Absolutely. Across the group we are focused on the growing renewable energy sector as a whole. With such strong targets set by various countries in the past 12 months alone, you can clearly see the shift to using greener energy. The UK has just seen the launch of a world-leading National Floating Wind Innovation Centre in Aberdeen at a cost of £9m, dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of floating offshore wind throughout the UK.