As a growing number of nations set ‘Net Zero’ emissions targets in order to tackle the effects of climate change, increasing focus is being placed on decarbonising industry. With the huge growth expected in offshore wind, a sector which will contribute significantly to these ‘Net Zero’ goals, an area that is becoming of interest is the decarbonisation of vessels involved in the 20+ year operations and maintenance (O&M) phase of offshore wind farms.
Anthony Gray, Techno Economic Analyst has written this Analysis and Insights Paper which aims to provide an estimate of annual vessel usage during the O&M phase of modern and future offshore wind farms and therefore define a benchmark for the associated fuel emissions. It is not intended to be a comprehensive Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) as it does not account for embodied carbon, however, the final result may feed into future LCA calculations. Two reference offshore wind farms of different sizes and distances to shore are analysed to investigate emissions produced by Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) and Service Operation Vessels (SOVs).
Download