The Challenge
Offshore wind energy is a critical pillar in the global transition to renewable energy systems. While the surge in offshore wind is providing much needed green energy, this growth also bears some potential challenges. One of these is increasing safety at the end of life of a growing number of wind turbines in harsh offshore conditions.
With an increasing number of offshore wind turbines set to reach the end of their operational life in the coming years, complexities are set to arise in dismantling and disposing of them safely and sustainably. We have seen in other industries like oil & gas and shipping, that a lack of end-of-life safety management can have significant consequences for humans and the environment. We now have an opportunity to learn from the past and mitigate potential harm through early intervention that includes all affected by end-of-life processes.
About the programme
The Engineering X Safer End of Engineered Life programme seeks to address these potential challenges by raising awareness of the importance of safety at the end of life of offshore wind and to inspire global action now as the sector grows. We draw on our networks’ wide range of expertise and foster inclusive global collaboration to ensure the safe and sustainable end of life of offshore wind.
Join us
Working towards safety at the end of life of offshore wind will take an interdisciplinary community to consider and tackle it. If you are working in and around offshore wind, have experience or expertise in end-of-life management more generally, are from a region now expanding into offshore wind or are simply interested in understanding more about this work, please get in touch by emailing Ann-Sophie Freund, Programme Manager Safer End of Engineered Life: ann-sophie.freund@raeng.org.uk.
We are particularly interested in hearing from:
- Health and safety focused organisations considering offshore wind.
- International organisations pushing for a just transition to net zero.
- Offshore wind industry working on end of life within their companies.
- Academic representatives researching circular end-of-life technologies.
- Other members of civil society globally who are working to improve safety at end of life in offshore wind.
- Regulators across the world who are developing end-of-life guidance.
Key safety challenges and opportunities at end of life of offshore wind
Engineering X has identified six key challenges and opportunities at the end of life of offshore wind. These have emerged from scoping across various sources. While this list is not exhaustive, it demonstrates the wide range of considerations necessary and offers a starting point for future work on this complex challenge. You can download the full statement here.
- Offshore Context: One of the key safety challenges for any end-of-life activity is the remote, harsh and complex offshore environment. Identifying ways to ensure safe late-life maintenance and decommissioning operations for wind installations that have been offshore for decades requires careful planning as well as learning and adaptation from existing offshore end-of-life approaches.
- International Context: As current offshore wind structures reaching their end of life are concentrated in Europe, there is little consideration of the impact of end-of-life practices globally and in low- and middle-income countries in particular. A lack of understanding of what this may look like in other regional contexts could have grave safety consequences in the future.
- Infrastructure and Skills: The existing supply chain, infrastructure and workforce are not yet set up or understood well enough to handle the impending surge in end-of-life activity for offshore wind installations. This is likely to create bottle necks which could affect the safety of end-of-life processes.
- Awareness and Collaboration: Addressing the safety challenges in offshore wind end of life requires the wider system surrounding the sector to see the importance of safe end-of-life management – and to understand the implications if such safe end of life is absent. Awareness is key to enable collaboration across the system, to develop and share best practice.
- Circularity: There is a lack of consideration for the whole life cycle of offshore wind, including the end of life. This means that opportunities are lost to design structures that create minimal resource wastage, due to preventative maintenance, planning for life extension and repowering and collaborative reuse systems. Seizing these opportunities would save costs and resources – as well as potentially minimise unsafe end of life scenarios.
- Regulation: Current regulation governing the end-of-life processes for offshore wind installations is underdeveloped and unclear. This creates significant obstacles for effective planning and budgeting for safety.
Are you working in offshore wind, end-of-life management or from a region expanding into offshore wind?
Working towards safety at the end of life of offshore wind will take an interdisciplinary community to consider and tackle it.
We are growing this community and are particularly interested in hearing from:
- Health and safety focused organisations considering offshore wind.
- International organisations pushing for a just transition to net zero.
- Offshore wind industry working on end-of-life within their companies.
- Academic representatives researching circular end of life technologies.
Join the Engineering X Safer End of Engineering life community below.
Join the community
If you are working in and around offshore wind, have experience or expertise in end-of-life management, are from a region expanding into offshore wind or are simply interested in understanding more about this work, please get in touch.
Safer End of Life for Offshore Wind global workshop 2024
Join global stakeholders from across sectors to consider how the end of life of offshore wind can be made safer and more sustainable.
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