Turning each breath of wind into green energy
In Germany, the company Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore manages the entire life cycle of offshore wind farms, from design to construction, commissioning and operation.
Offshore wind is a form of renewable energy generated by turbines located more than 10km from the coastline. It’s a sector in which Europe has big ambitions. Indeed, the European Commission has set itself a non-binding target of generating 300GW of electricity across the various member states by 2050*.
As for Germany, its target is to achieve 30GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore started planning the alpha ventus project, the country’s first offshore wind farm, back in 2006. The German company manages the entire life cycle of offshore wind farms, from design through to construction, commissioning and operation.
“Developing offshore wind energy offers many opportunities, but it also involves enormous technical challenges,” says Irina Lucke, director of Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore. The lifetime for this type of facility is normally 20 years. “To ensure that an offshore wind farm remains operational for as long as possible, it’s important to provide good maintenance from the first year,” notes Dirk Warnecke, head of operations at Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore.
Turbines need to be constantly monitored. Artificial intelligence therefore plays a key part in offshore wind farm maintenance by correlating several data blocks relating to turbine components. This information then helps to predict component failures and to prepare for potential turbine replacements a year in advance.
Since it started operating in 2006, Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore has been continuously developing its expertise in the offshore wind sector. So far, the company has built three offshore windfarms totalling around 4GW that are under technical management during the operational phase.
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