The Influence of Multiple Working Shifts for Offshore Wind Farm O&M Activities – Strathow-OM Tool

A Bayesian hierarchical assessment of night shift working for offshore wind farms

“…However, there are a few factors characterizing the current state of the offshore wind industry which may stimulate interest in H&S for 24/7 working. namely: Where safety regulations have typically restricted operational practices to be conducted in the daylight (as suggested by Dalgic et al 21 ), there is evidence of at least one large operational OWF moving beyond this regulatory regime. Where early wind farm installations are situated in the most convenient locations closest to shore, the industry will need to explore further offshore sites if it is to meet the ambitious targets it has set. This means that operators may have to look for new ways to improve accessibility. The potential advent and use of so‐called flotels, mothership concepts, Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) and walk‐to‐work schemes for O&M activities for far‐OWFs can facilitate 24/7 working with shorter distances to travel, potentially making it more appealing to operators. It can be argued that the competitive nature of CfD‐like auctions which are proliferating many European countries have driven the cost reduction in offshore wind.…”

“…namely: 1. Where safety regulations have typically restricted operational practices to be conducted in the daylight (as suggested by Dalgic et al 21 ), there is evidence of at least one large operational OWF moving beyond this regulatory regime.…”

“…This benefit is presumably most prevalent in months characterized by high wind speeds, where access conditions are difficult and the opportunity cost associated with unplanned downtime is high. There may also, however, be an indirect cost associated with spreading resources and avoiding redundancy, as noted by Dalgic et al 21 —a benefit which depends largely on the planning and foresight of the operator.…”

“…There are a few studies which address 24/7 working in the literature. Night shifts have been analysed using the StrathOW‐OM cost‐modelling tool, 21 Besnard et al's maintenance support organization model 22 and via a business case by Poulsen et al 23 All studies presented considerable advantages to employing 24/7 working. Dalgic et al 21 simulated different configurations of CTV utilization, presenting their results in a £/MWh format.…”

“…Night shifts have been analysed using the StrathOW‐OM cost‐modelling tool, 21 Besnard et al's maintenance support organization model 22 and via a business case by Poulsen et al 23 All studies presented considerable advantages to employing 24/7 working. Dalgic et al 21 simulated different configurations of CTV utilization, presenting their results in a £/MWh format. They concluded that ‘10 out of the most costly 17 configurations do not have CTV for Night Shift’ and that ‘the number of CTVs during Day Shift and Night Shift is distributed evenly (or close to even) in best configurations such as 4‐4 and 5‐4, because the resources are utilized in an optimum manner with minimum redundancy’.…”