“Do you know which came first; the chicken or the egg?” Thorsten Fastenau, Division Manager, from PNE WIND AG asks. The circular cause and consequence question occupies Mr. Fastenau, as he searches for new ways of dealing with the challenges of offshore wind development. Now he believes to have found his way around it with Vestas.
Through partnership
Vestas spoke to Mr. Fastenau at the Service Event in the Netherlands to hear why PNE WIND AG wants to work with Vestas on their project.
“The V112 virtual nacelle, which we tried entering, is just one of the many interesting technologies that help us create the needed development as it allows me to understand the product and challenges in advance.
This partnership with Vestas Offshore allows us to solve the chicken and the egg problem much earlier in the process, because Vestas offers us an extensive testing center and a long line of expertise. These two traits made us enter a development agreement, because we believe that Vestas will be a support for the interface between the developer and PNE WIND AG.” Mr. Fastenau says with an experienced voice.
The economic solution
For PNE WIND AG to create a strong business case they look into cardinal aspects to an offshore wind power plant such as safety, operations, optimized micrositing, project management etc.
Working together with Vestas has been a good experience for PNE WIND AG as they are able to investigate various suggestions before the project is fully outlined:
“This approach also allows finding the best economic solution” Mr. Fastenau ads.
As some markets now risk lower tariffs, developers experience greater pressure to optimize their business, and thus risk assessment plays an even bigger role in planning offshore wind projects.
One of the ways to reduce cost in operations and maintenance is, according to Mr. Fastenau, to use service ships:
“The existing solutions on the market are expensive, but with the new approach that Vestas has introduced today we can cut cost, because the service ships can be rebuilt to suit the customer’s needs with small ribs that allow faster and more flexible access to the turbines. Obviously, the service ship allows higher accessibility to the turbines, because the Service Technicians are at sea and if the weather turns bad then everyone can be sailed in. This also means that we no longer need to pay them while they wait for the weather to change.” He says and continues.
“It gives us a good feeling working with a leader in the offshore industry who has the experience and competence to pave the way towards new solutions. This is why I am glad to work with Vestas - together we are solving the chicken and the egg problem.”
Facts:
- Announced Vestas Offshore as the preferred Supplier for Gode Wind II. A project of 84 x V112 3.0MW Offshore.
- Read more about PNE Wind here: http://pnewind.com/en.html