US researchers are drawing up plans for how operations and maintenance (O&M) technologies and processes can be used at US offshore wind farms.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) and its Sandia National Laboratories and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) believe their industry-informed roadmap will make offshore wind O&M more cost-effective, efficient and reliable.
They will identify current industry knowledge gaps and emerging technological solutions the government could invest in. This would enable sustained offshore wind energy deployment because of higher confidence in the ability to effectively operate and maintain a growing offshore wind energy fleet in challenging environments, the DoE claimed.
The researchers will be seeking feedback from relevant industry stakeholders throughout the spring of 2023.
The US’s offshore wind sector is only now getting off the ground, with just 42MW of operational capacity to date – though construction has started on the country’s first commercial-scale wind farm ahead of commissioning later this year.
President Joe Biden has a goal of 30GW of offshore wind by 2030. The US saw $9.8 billion in investment in offshore wind in 2022, according to the Business Network for Offshore Wind.
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