New risks and rewards in offshore wind energy

The move of wind energy offshore involves unique technical considerations during the project's development. With multiple key stakeholders such as: designers, manufacturers, developers, investors and regulatory bodies, each inevitably focusing on their own areas of interest during project development. This paper focuses on some of the differences between onshore and offshore wind energy technology, the new risk environment in which they operate, and how project certification can provide a useful tool for boosting stakeholder confidence during development while insuring cross-disciplinary integrity for the project as a whole. The European offshore wind energy market is outlined, highlighting the major project developments and the associated market forces that have driven this development. Encompassing it all, the role of project certification is discussed in its key phases being: design basis, design, and manufacturing, installation, commissioning, in-service, and decommissioning. This overview is provided with reference to practical industry experience and the various existing DNV rules currently in publication.