2020 IPF
Virtual, Virtual
April 21 – August 20, 2020 (Tuesday – Thursday)
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A Low-Cost 3D Concrete Printed Suction Anchor
1348858
Jason Cotrell RCAM Technologies
A Low-Cost 3D Concrete Printed Suction Anchor
Floating wind turbines face several challenges associated with high fabrication and installation costs, supply chain availability, installation speed, and mooring impact on environment, military, and fishing industry. Next to the turbine and substructure, the anchors are the most expensive components to manufacture and deploy: e.g., nearly 200 million euros for a 50 MW floating wind plant. In this poster, we present an innovative anchoring solution that promises to reduce anchor CapEx by up to 80%. The Floating Wind Technology Company and RCAM Technologies have developed a 3D-printed Concrete Suction Anchor (or 3DSA). The 3DSA draws from the advantageous characteristics of existing concepts for anchors (including gravity based, suction buckets, and drag embedment) therefore offering use of low-cost material, efficient semi-automated manufacturing, use of existing local supply chain, and innovative installation methods. The 3DSA could be deployed in all water depths greater than 60 m, with virtually any floating substructure configuration (e.g., semi-submersible, barge, spar, and tension leg), and any mooring layout. Furthermore, the 3DSA promises to resist multi-directional loading, reduce mooring footprint, improve installation position precision, and work well with shared mooring and synthetic mooring lines. A summary of upcoming development and testing phases for this product will be provided.
Beyond Heat Maps: Using Quantitative Marine Spatial Planning to Minimize Conflicts between Fishing and Offshore Wind Power Interests
1348865
Alison Bates University of Massachusetts Amherst
Beyond Heat Maps: Using Quantitative Marine Spatial Planning to Minimize Conflicts between Fishing and Offshore Wind Power Interests
Commercial fishers may be disproportionally impacted by offshore wind development compared with other ocean users due to possible conflicts with fishing gear in productive fishing grounds. This analysis provides a quantitative method to inform near-term siting of offshore wind power and facilitate collaboration between the commercial fishing and offshore wind industries to best inform near-term siting of offshore wind. Conflict between offshore wind and commercial fishing of sessile fisheries in the mid-Atlantic, United States, are quantified in a spatially explicit model. Wind energy is quantified by variable cost per unit energy ($/MWh) while the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, and the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fishery are quantified by average annual effort. These data are analyzed for the degree of conflict between commercial fishing and wind energy in Outer Continental Shelf lease blocks. We specifically analyze spatial conflict with high-value fisheries under the assumption that near-term offshore wind power development (~20 years) will benefit from conflict avoidance whereas long-term solutions may require more robust economic analyses when available space for wind development becomes more limited.
BOEM's RODEO Program Overview
1348855
Anwar Khan HDR Inc. Kristen Ampela HDR, Inc.
BOEM's RODEO Program Overview
The objective of BOEM's Real-time Opportunity for Development Environmental Observations (RODEO) Program is to acquire real-time observations of the construction and initial operation of offshore wind facilities to aid the evaluation of environmental effects of future facilities. For Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) wind development, there is no previous experience in the U.S., therefore the analyses and subsequent mitigation measures are based on best available information. These analyses will benefit from real-time, independent observations made during the construction and operation of the nation's first offshore facility located at Block Island, Rhode Island. Data collected from the RODEO Program may be used by BOEM as input to analyses or models that are used to evaluate effects or impacts from future offshore activities. Lessons learned will guide development and management of future OCS wind energy development. Under the RODEO Program, real time monitoring was conducted within the Block Island Wind Farm Project Area during the construction and initial operations. Data were collected for assessment of turbine scour, seafloor disturbance and recovery, airborne noise, underwater sound, visual impacts, benthic community abundance and diversity, and turbine foundation epifouling. Key results and conclusions from the monitoring data analyses will be presented and discussed in this poster.
Characterization of Subsea Power Transmission Cables with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
1348864
Robin Littlefield Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Characterization of Subsea Power Transmission Cables with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Commercial surveys of wind energy sites are currently conducted from crewed surface vessels. The difficulties of operation from a boat or ship and the associated quality of data leave room for significant improvements in survey techniques. This study focuses on power export cable monitoring relevant to the offshore wind energy sector. We explore the use of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) carrying a small magnetometer and side scan sonar to localize and map underwater power transmission cables. By surveying cables with the goal of cable localization, we can circumvent the difficulties associated with AUV based cable-following routines. This method provides a robust approach to cable localization and characterization that can inform subsequent along-cable navigation. These AUV based surveys are designed to provide reliable high-quality data for commercial stakeholders while reducing the need for crewed surface vessel operations.
Cost-Efficient Mass Production of Offshore-Wind-Jackets Requires New Industrial Solutions
1348857
Georg Michels Salzgitter Mannesmann Renewables GmbH
Cost-Efficient Mass Production of Offshore-Wind-Jackets Requires New Industrial Solutions
Salzgitter Mannesmann Renewables GmbH has created a strategy to address a step change in foundation cost reduction through the use of a sustainable industrial supply chain for Jacket foundation manufacturing. This cost reduction has been achieved through the development of an innovative, production focused, standardized Jacket design that combines the utilization standards, mass-produced tubes and the implementation of automatically welding approach for prefabricated components, i.e. nodes and components out of nodes. Within this presentation Salzgitter Mannesmann Renewables GmbH are going to present results about: - Study of cost decline in Jacket manufacturing by usage standardized tubes and serial production approach - Challenges and potentials of robotized welding of nodes
Enhancing Offshore Wind Resource and Site Characterization through Lidar Buoy Deployments
1348873
Alicia Gorton Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Enhancing Offshore Wind Resource and Site Characterization through Lidar Buoy Deployments
U.S. offshore wind (OSW) development is moving forward at a rapid pace. However, enhanced OSW resource and site characterization is needed to better understand metocean conditions, improve siting, and improve performance. To address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) procured two AXYS WindSentinelTM buoys in 2014 to support U.S. OSW development. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) manages buoy operations on behalf of DOE; evaluates the metocean data collected by the buoys to investigate turbulence, validate offshore wind models, and study the impact of sea state on hub height winds; and lends the buoys to qualified parties to acquire wind resource characterization and oceanographic data.The buoys have been successfully deployed off the coasts of Virginia and New Jersey and have undergone significant upgrades in preparation for a 12-month deployment off the coast of California in Spring 2020 in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). This poster will present: (1) an overview of the lidar buoys and metocean investigations conducted to inform OSW resource and site characterization, (2) a summary of the recent upgrades and lidar validation deployment in Winter 2020, and (3) plans for the Spring 2020 deployments off the coast of California.
Forecasting the Next Decade of US Offshore Wind Cable Demand
1348876
John Manock SubCableWorld
Forecasting the Next Decade of US Offshore Wind Cable Demand
The offshore wind industry in the United States has made incredible strides in the last two years, moving the US market closer and closer to the implementation stage for large-scale offshore wind development. This also means that the market is moving closer to procuring large quantities of offshore wind cable (OWC); a critical component to any offshore wind farm. The first major supply contracts for OWC were announced in 2019. Now that there is strong momentum for offshore wind to play an important role in the country's renewable energy mix, a well-developed domestic supply is vital to the smooth deployment of the massive farms that will be needed in the next decade and beyond. This poster will present SubCableWorld's research on the US market for OWC over the next decade. The research shows that the US has the potential to add nearly 14,000 kilometers of offshore wind cable to global demand by 2030. How the domestic supply chain responds to this level of demand in the US will be a key to offshore wind reaching its full potential.
Guidelines for Preparation of a Plan for Lighting and Marking of Structures Supporting Renewable Energy Development
1348871
Angel McCoy Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Guidelines for Preparation of a Plan for Lighting and Marking of Structures Supporting Renewable Energy Development
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(4)(A)) and its implementing regulations (30 CFR part 585) for ensuring that activities on Federal renewable energy leases are carried out in a manner that provides for safety and protection of the environment. BOEM regulations require lessees to include a description of the project design as part of its plan submittals and interprets this project design description to include lighting and marking information. BOEM has developed guidance to make recommendations regarding lighting and marking design for wind energy facilities on Federal renewable energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The information included in a plan is intended to assist BOEM in determining whether the lighting and marking of offshore wind energy facilities: are safe; do not unreasonably interfere with other uses of the OCS; do not cause undue harm or damage to natural resources, life (including human and wildlife), property, the environment, or sites, structures, and objects of historical or archaeological significance; use best available and safest technology; and use best management practices.
Habitat mapping for Essential Fish Habitat assessment at U.S. Offshore Wind Projects.
1348868
Drew Carey INSPIRE Environmental
Habitat mapping for Essential Fish Habitat assessment at U.S. Offshore Wind Projects.
There is a substantial need to characterize and visualize the distribution of the benthic habitats in wind farm and cable route areas. Understanding benthic habitat distribution is necessary not only for engineering logistics but also due to the important ecological value these environments provide, for example, to commercial fisheries. Notably, detailed benthic habitat mapping is a critical component for assessing potential impacts to essential fish habitat (EFH). Working in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, our team has piloted an approach to integrate high resolution multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, and side-scan sonar acoustic data with visual imagery to map benthic habitats for EFH assessment. The acoustic data are used to delineate seabed sediment facies across the area of potential impact. Plan view and sediment profile imagery is used to generate descriptions of the sediment and biota of benthic habitat using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard and ground-truth sediment facies. The resulting benthic habitat maps and descriptions are integrated with an understanding of seafloor dynamics and fish habitat utilization across scales (meters to tens of kilometers) to evaluate species and life stages of fish and shellfish with EFH that may be impacted by each project activity.
Historical Vessel Monitoring System Data Analysis: Law Enforcement Data in an Offshore Wind Context
1348860
Arianna Baker Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Historical Vessel Monitoring System Data Analysis: Law Enforcement Data in an Offshore Wind Context
Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is a satellite surveillance system primarily used to monitor the location and movement of commercial fishing vessels in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and treaty areas. The system uses satellite-based communications from on-board transceiver units, which certain vessels are required to carry. The transceiver units send position reports that include vessel identification, time, date, and location, and are mapped and displayed on the end user's computer screen. NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement manages the system and its purpose is to support law enforcement initiatives and to prevent violations of laws and regulations; however there are other secondary uses of the system such as 1) tracking, monitoring, and predicting fishing effort, activity, and location and 2) verifying/validating data from other sources. BOEM utilizes VMS to analyze historical fishing effort and direction as part of the environmental review of renewable energy projects. BOEM developed polar histograms to assess the orientation of travel within individual renewable energy lease areas. These histograms help assess historical patterns of vessel movement and are a way to quantify the direction of travel.
Navigating Section 106: Cultural Resource permitting, paleolandscapes and proactive solutions
1348869
David Norcott CEWA
Navigating Section 106: Cultural Resource permitting, paleolandscapes and proactive solutions
Alongside the historic shipwrecks and sunken aircraft which most people associate with marine archeology, one of the major cultural resource-types covered by Section 106 are the submerged prehistoric landscapes of the Outer Continental Shelf, inundated due to the rise in sea level since the last ice age. If not handled expertly, all of these can present a significant risk to an offshore renewables project. Specific expertise in the study of submerged paleolandscapes - in addition to highly experienced geophysical analysts to maximize accurate identification of seabed targets - is key to successful and streamlined progress of offshore renewable projects through the permitting system. Combined with in-depth experience of industry-specific activities and timelines, this expertise enables proactive engagement with both the resource and regulator, meaning that targeted, proportionate mitigation works can be scheduled ahead of time, and project risks successfully and economically managed. In this poster we will look at some of the methods used, highlight risks and opportunities, and present exciting results from recent works including those undertaken as part of the environmental permitting process for Vattenfall's combined 3.6GW Norfolk Boreas and Vanguard wind farms in the southern North Sea.
Professional Underwater Noise Abatement
1348877
Mark Coplen AdBm Technology
Professional Underwater Noise Abatement
Complying with underwater noise regulations can be a significant challenge for offshore wind installation projects, requiring modifications to project plans and the use of large, cumbersome and slow to install noise abatement systems. In additions, the acoustic performance of existing systems is marginal and they are unable to be tuned for the particular noise that is being generated in a specific project. AdBm has developed a system of injection-molded HDPE resonators whose acoustic properties can be modified to optimally treat underwater noise. These resonators simply need to surround the sound source, and once they are in place the resonators will passively absorb the noise. The AdBm system is very effective for reducing pile driving noise created during the foundation installation phase of offshore wind farm projects.
Update to the Regulations for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act: What you need to know
1348863
Christopher Moelter ICF
Proposed Changes to Regulations for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act: what you need to know for your offshore wind project
On January 9, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality unveiled their proposed rule titled, “Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.” The final rule was published on July 16, 2020 and represents the most significant change to the NEPA implementing regulations since 1978. Although this continues earlier efforts to streamline the environmental review process made under this administration and its predecessors, the rule includes more wide-ranging changes with significant implications for the NEPA process that are bound to be hotly contested. This poster summarizes the NEPA rule and outlines the critical elements. Each of the key changes to the NEPA regulations are examined and include important implications to offshore wind energy projects and the federal agencies that are responsible for regulating or approving them. The poster also identifies next steps in the implementation of the new rules.
Tethys: Enhancing the Understanding of Environmental Effects of Offshore Wind Energy
1348874
Alicia Gorton Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Tethys: Enhancing the Understanding of Environmental Effects of Offshore Wind Energy
The offshore wind energy (OSW) industry is well established in Europe and is progressing in Asia, the Americas, and Middle East. However, concerns about potential effects of OSW turbines on marine organisms, habitats, and ecosystem processes continue to slow permitting and development worldwide. Better understanding of potential environmental effects of OSW turbines and the available strategies to mitigate those effects may help to resolve these concerns and advance the industry. Tethys (https://tethys.pnnl.gov) is a publicly accessible knowledge base that facilitates the exchange and dissemination of information on the environmental effects of OSW to help inform the wind energy community. Developed and actively curated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Tethys houses, organizes, and makes available thousands of peer-reviewed documents, technical reports, and other media for use by researchers, project developers, regulators, consultants, and other stakeholders. Tethys also acts as a collaborative outreach and engagement platform on which the International Energy Agency's WREN (Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy) initiative's activities are coordinated, recorded, and made accessible. By ensuring that data and information are more widely available, Tethys facilitates the knowledge sharing needed to advance the OSW industry's development in an environmentally responsible manner.
U.S. Offshore Wind Synthesis of Environmental Effects Research
1348872
Alicia Gorton Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
U.S. Offshore Wind Synthesis of Environmental Effects Research
At the direction of the Department of Energy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are partnering on the U.S. Offshore Wind Synthesis of Environmental Effects Research (SEER) project. The multi-year collaborative effort will facilitate knowledge transfer for offshore wind (OSW) research around the world to synthesize key issues and disseminate existing knowledge about environmental effects, inform applicability to U.S. waters, and prioritize future research needs. Research related to monitoring and mitigating impacts from OSW development on wildlife, habitats, and related environmental processes will inform environmental research prioritization among stakeholders, reduce redundancy among stakeholder group activities, and catalyze solution development. The outcomes of this project will build relationships among various OSW environmental stakeholders to support strategic research efforts by increasing communication, encouraging collaboration, and reducing redundancy. Where feasible, work products will identify key areas where misinformation persists and issues that have been thoroughly studied, are well understood, and can be considered low priority or resolved. This poster will present: project impetus, goals, and objectives; stakeholder outreach and engagement efforts; research topics and prioritization; project products and outcomes; and dissemination methods.