As colleagues from across the industry gather in Hull for RenewableUK’s Smart & Sustainable O&M Conference 2024, our Head of Sustainable O&M, Katharine York, guides us through some of the main discussions and debates that are set to dominate the event.

So much of what we see and hear about offshore wind focuses on the future, and understandably so, but given that we are now 20 plus years on from the first offshore wind turbines going into the water, I want to shine a light on equally important challenges facing our existing capability.

The complex landscape for O&M is primed for expansion and diversification as the fleet of offshore wind farms ages, grows, and moves further from shore.

The earliest UK offshore wind farms are reaching the end of the support they were originally provided under the Renewables Obligation scheme. This reduction in guaranteed income during the later years of operation will drive down O&M budgets and provoke a review of the maintenance philosophy, and the fact that those original turbines will shortly be coming to the end of their life limits the timescale for recouping the costs of further capital investment.

As a result, a more efficient and cost-effective approach to O&M will be essential to keeping these sites operational for their full lifetime. These early sites, with their smaller turbines, lack the economies of scale enjoyed by the later wind farms that were secured via the extraordinary cost reduction delivered by the CfD process. Even those, though, will be challenged to find new and better ways of operating to ensure economic sustainability. Options include mixed strategies involving owner-operators, OEMs, and nimble third-party service providers offering flexible alternatives to traditional strategies mirroring those from older industries such as oil & gas.

Assuming that reduced income in later life is not a barrier, wind farm owners will also be considering whether and how to extend the operational life of their assets, a step that will be an essential part of the UK meeting its ambitious goals for offshore wind. Life extension will create demand for engineering and economic analysis, additional condition monitoring, and re-engineering. As original parts become obsolete and harder to replace, processes such as reverse engineering, refurbishment and pattern parts will be adopted from other industries.

Another challenge on the horizon is how to recover materials from wind farms at the end of life in an environmentally sensitive manner that makes best use of component parts, from the steel, copper, and rare earth elements to the high-profile composites in wind turbine blades. Metals are traditionally considered easy to recycle, but are bulky to transport and store, and expensive to recycle within the UK. Adoption of materials passports such as that shared from the Circular Economy for the Wind Sector joint industry programme will be essential to enable alloys to be segregated and materials to retain the highest value when reprocessed.

As the offshore wind industry continues to expand, there is something else to consider: data. The vast quantities of data generated during O&M are being used to make predictions on main component health and to optimise daily maintenance activities based on assessments of turbine accessibility and the impact on production. Improved monitoring of sea conditions will reduce failed transfer attempts and support O&M decision-making. Data exploration can reveal hidden causes of lost production and comparison with equivalent wind farms to inform understanding of reliability, performance and optimisation of technician deployment.

Condition monitoring and predictive insights are building resilience to failures in critical components such as cables, blades and transformers. Enhanced monitoring will reduce uncertainty and allow timely intervention to minimise production losses and control exposure to risk.

Robotic and autonomous systems will be an essential component of future O&M strategies to support offshore workers and reduce their exposure to hazardous tasks. Sites further from port or in deeper waters pose logistical challenges, especially for inspection of subsea components. The rise of autonomous vessels will transform subsea mapping, environmental surveys and underwater inspections, enabling the offshore wind industry to function at scale.

And, what about jobs and skills? We are going to need to see new and innovative methods of training to enable workforce growth to keep pace with demand. A projected 70,000 new entrants will be required to meet UK 2030 targets alone [https://www.owic.org.uk/publications/owic-people-%26-skills-plan], with shortages identified in key areas such as electrical, mechanical and maritime skills, HV systems, SCADA engineering, consenting and digital specialisms.

Finally, we must not lose sight of the environmental imperative of creating a section that is as sustainable as possible. We already know that major offshore wind owner-operators such as Ørsted and RWE have committed to the decarbonisation of their vessel operations, stimulating the demand for zero-emissions vessels of all sizes and the provision of alternative fuels at ports and offshore. Ports such as Aberdeen and Grimsby are forerunners in adapting to these demands and installing onshore charging capability. Offshore charging has been demonstrated as technically feasible but is yet to be implemented as a permanent feature of an offshore wind farm.

Since the first days of offshore wind, O&M has been a dynamic and innovative part of the lifecycle, offering enormous opportunities to the supply chain. These business opportunities continue to grow and diversify within the UK and globally, generating enormous potential for technology development and export.