Siemens Gamesa, an offshore wind turbine manufacturer and operations and maintenance (O&M) provider, has entered into an agreement with Acteon, a marine and subsea solutions provider, to jointly provide a fully integrated offshore wind turbine O&M package for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project. It is the first offshore wind project installed in U.S. federal waters.
Siemens Gamesa and Acteon will work together to fully optimize the wind turbine service and balance of plant O&M work scopes to provide cost-effective and integrated asset management services at the 12 MW, two turbine installation. Bundling the above water and subsea balance of plant services with the wind turbine service results in a reduction in turbine downtime for planned maintenance activities and a lower cost of energy.
“We are utilizing our experiences across our global offshore presence to be the first OEM to package these capabilities for the U.S. offshore market,” says Michael Hughes, head of offshore operations of the Americas at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
“By delivering the full O&M package, we provide numerous benefits such as a streamlined and optimized maintenance plan during the most ideal weather periods, full utilization of the project’s existing O&M workforce and more efficiently share the projects logistical assets across these work scopes. Ultimately driving down the cost of offshore wind energy,” he adds.
Optimizing the use of the logistical assets will be of utmost importance for overall project economics. This partnership enables Siemens Gamesa to optimize the use of required vessels, while reducing the amount of downtime for the turbine.
Siemens Gamesa will utilize its own technicians for performing the above water balance of plant inspections, while Acteon will support the subsea general visual, marine growth and anode inspection. This will utilize a low-logistics inspection class remotely operated vehicle (Seatronics VALOR) providing a complete overview of the structural integrity of the asset.
The CVOW pilot project is owned by Dominion Energy. It is located approximately 27 miles offshore. Both Siemens Gamesa SWT-6.0-154 offshore wind turbines are safely installed, with first power expected to be generated shortly.
Photo: The CVOW pilot project turbine
