Fowind Study Report - 29 06 2016 - Pages - JWG Update - v2
Fowind Study Report - 29 06 2016 - Pages - JWG Update - v2
Fowind Study Report - 29 06 2016 - Pages - JWG Update - v2
PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
AND LOGISTICS STUDY
June 2016
SUPPLYTABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAIN,
PORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND
LOGISTICS STUDY
Foreword ..............................................................................................................7
4. DECOMMISSIONING .................................................................................................
111
Air gap Distance between water level and top of vessel and safe clearance
AMSL Above mean sea level
Beam The maximum width of a vessel or other floating body
Bollard Pull The force which a tug can exert upon its load when towing
CGS Concrete gravity structure
CSI Container security initiative
CTV Crew transfer vessel
Draft Depth of the keel of a vessel
GBF Gravity based foundation
GBS Gravity based structure
GRP Glass reinforced polypropylene
H&S Health and safety
HLV Heavy lift vessel
HLCV Heavy lift cargo vessel, often called a geared vessel as it has its own lift gear
HSE Health, safety and environment
IAC Inter-array cables
ISPS IMO International ship and port facility security code
LAT Lowest astronomical tide
LOA Length overall, of a vessel
MPs Monopiles
MSL Mean sea level
NM Nautical miles
O&M Operation and maintenance
OWA The offshore wind accelerator project, hosted by The Carbon Trust
OWF/OWP Offshore wind farm (called offshore wind parks in Germany)
OSS/OSP Offshore substation or offshore substation platform
PPE Personal protection equipment
ROV Remotely operated vehicles
Scour Erosion of material adjacent to the structure due to water movement
SHLV Sheerleg heavy lift vessel
SPMT Self-propelled modular transportation
Spring tide The highest tides of the lunar tidal cycle
Storm surge Increase in mean sea level due to atmospheric pressure variations
T&I Transport and installation
TEU Twenty-foot equivalent units, a measure of container vessel size
TIB Transport and installation Barge
WFSV Wind farm support vessel
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 7
FOREWORD
On behalf of the project consortium, we are pleased to present the Supply chain, Port infrastructure and Logistics
Study for the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which is an important outcome of the Facilitating Offshore Wind in
India project’s second year. The four-year project aims to put together a roadmap for developing a sustainable and
commercially viable offshore wind industry in India.
This report first provides an overview of the key supply chain elements required for offshore wind and undertakes
an initial review of the potential for Indian companies to enter the market. Following on from the supply chain
assessment a port infrastructure and logistics assessment is provided, identifying key component specifications,
vessel requirements, installation strategies and port infrastructure required from manufacturing to installation and
through to the operation and maintenance of an offshore wind farm. The report culminates with an offshore wind
port readiness assessment for Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and provides an insight into project decommissioning.
India, already a key global player in the field of installed onshore wind capacity, is under increasing pressure to meet
its energy deficit – a growing concern due to a booming population – using indigenous and low carbon sources.
While costs of offshore wind projects are still high, there are clear indications that they can be brought down
substantially through experience and economies of scale. The rewards in India have the potential to be great: a strong,
steady resource that can play a major role in supplying clean energy to the major load centres in coastal cities and
industrial areas within Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
With the recent approval of India’s Offshore Wind Policy by the Union Cabinet in October 2015, the impetus and
added incentive for offshore wind development remains very positive. This is indeed an exciting time to explore the
future of offshore wind in India and we hope you find this Supply chain, Port infrastructure and Logistics assessment
for Offshore Wind Farm Development in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu a useful resource.
ABOUT FOWIND
The consortium led by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) is implementing the Facilitating Offshore Wind in India
(FOWIND) project. Other consortium partners include the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP),
DNV GL, the Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), and the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE).
The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), an autonomous R&D institution under the Indian Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, is a knowledge partner to the project since June 2015.
The project seeks to establish structural collaboration and knowledge sharing between the EU and India on offshore
wind technology, policy and regulation and serve as a platform for promoting offshore wind research and development
activities. The project focuses on the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for identification of potential zones for
development through preliminary resource and feasibility assessments for future offshore wind developments, as well
as through techno-commercial analysis and preliminary resource assessment. The project consists of a total of seven
work packages.
This Supply chain, Port infrastructure and Logistics study has been developed as part of Work Package 3. A separate
study covering the grid infrastructure for Gujarat and Tamil Nadu is also being completed as part of Work Package 3.
The aim of the Grid Infrastructure study is to evaluate the amount of grid integrated renewable energy sources that can
be reliably incorporated into the grid in regional transmission and distributions networks, and consider the associated
costs.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Supply Chain, Port Infrastructure and Logistics Study has been developed as part of FOWIND’s Work Package 3.
The overarching objective is to develop further understanding of typical ports, vessels, infrastructure and supply chain
requirements for offshore wind project development. Specifically the report delivers:
The supply chain assessment identifies the extensive procurement list that would be required to develop a typical
offshore wind farm. The specific supply chain requirements and considerations for major offshore wind project
phases/packages (e.g. development, turbines, support structures, electrical elements, construction and O&M) are
further defined. The remainder of the assessment focuses on identifying key global players and providing a
commentary on current and potential Indian suppliers that might have capability to enter the local market.
Given the relative immaturity of the Indian market and the supply chain the local assessment is conducted at
high-level and would need to be re-visited when specific projects are identified.
The port infrastructure and logistics assessment commences with an initial preparation phase where; estimated Indian
project specifications (from the FOWIND Pre-feasibility reports), component specifications, vessel requirements and
possible installation strategies are defined. Following this initial preparation phase the port screening phase is executed,
which provides a desk-based study, considering the suitability of offshore wind ports in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to
supply the potential offshore wind project demand for construction and O&M operations. The final stage provides a
more detailed port readiness assessment which includes reports from site visits conducted at the most promising ports.
Key findings formulated during the course of this Supply Chain, Port Infrastructure and Logistics Study can be
summarised as follows:
The report provides extensive details and commentary regarding typical offshore wind
component specifications, the range and suitability of construction vessels, different installation
strategies and explanations for the suitability of common port infrastructure for offshore wind.
Following the port readiness assessments it can be concluded that no single port estate in India
is currently suitable to facilitate all offshore wind construction activities without some level of
adaptation or with the strategic use of multiple port estates.
Early consultations should be made, during the development process, with port authorities to
establish any current and future conflicts of interest with regards to spatial planning and their
appetite to facilitate offshore wind.
Gujarat – the most promising port estates appear to be Hazira (marshalling, manufacturing
and O&M) and Pipavav (marshalling, OSS manufacturing and O&M ).
Tamil Nadu – the most promising port estate in close proximity to the proposed development
zones appears to be Tuticorin (marshalling and O&M). Kattupalli could have some potential
for substructure and offshore substationto manufacture, but has significant access restrictions
to the most favoured development zones.
Zones A to G4 are effectively land-locked by the very shallow Palk Strait, and should
Kattupalli or Chennai ports be mobilised, it would require any components to be
circumnavigated large distances around the island of Sri Lanka.
In both Gujarat and Tamil Nadu it is also likely a number of smaller ports would be suitable
for O&M support and could play a strategic role during the operation of specific projects.
4
http://www.fowind.in/publications/report
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 11
In February 2015, the Indian government announced its This report aims to support key offshore wind
plans to almost quadruple its renewable power capacity stakeholders in India, including local developers,
to 175 GW by 2022 as part of the plan to supply operators, government bodies, R&D institutions,
electricity to every household in the country1. This fabricators, vessels owners, port operators and wind
includes 60 GW from wind energy. India already has a turbine OEMs. The overarching objective is to develop
strong track record in onshore wind, with an installed further understanding of typical ports, vessels,
capacity of 26743.61 MW or 26.74 GW according to infrastructure and supply chain requirements for offshore
the MNRE (world’s fifth largest wind energy producer) wind projects. Specifically the core objectives of this
at the end of March 20162.The sector has faced several report can be summarised as follows, to provide:
challenges including national policy instability and
state-specific issues linked to land acquisition and grid n an overview of key supply chain elements required for
integration. However, both onshore and offshore wind offshore wind;
energy are anticipated to play a vital future role in n an appraisal regarding the feasibility of the local
moving the country into a low carbon economy. supply for key components in the medium and long
term;
During 2013, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy n an overview of key infrastructure and logistical
(MNRE) in India launched consultations on its policy for requirements for an offshore wind project during
Offshore Wind under the previous government3. development, fabrication, transportation, installation,
It is heartening to see that the new government in Delhi operations and maintenance and decommissioning;
is even more committed to vastly increasing the n an appraisal of suitability and readiness of India’s
exploitation of India’s not inconsiderable renewable
existing port infrastructure for offshore wind
energy sources, and building a strong and increasingly
development.
equitable economy on the basis of clean, indigenous and
increasingly competitive renewable energy sources.
This study will form an important input into future
The offshore policy and various guidelines on resource offshore wind feasibility investigations. The study is based
assessment, clearances, for setting up of offshore wind on a comprehensive review of existing literature
projects was approved by the Union Cabinet in available in the public domain, and on applied experience
October 2015. The objective of the policy is to promote and knowledge gained in over 10 years of commercial
development of offshore wind farms. The nodal ministry European offshore wind projects.
for overall monitoring of offshore wind development in
the country will be the Ministry of New and Renewable Section 2 - The Supply Chain Assessment provides an
Energy. overview of the key supply chain elements required for
offshore wind farms and undertakes an initial review of
The FOWIND project consortium is working closely with the potential for Indian companies to enter the market.
the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the National
Institute of Wind Energy, key centres and state based Section 3 - The Port Infrastructure and Logistics
agencies to develop a roadmap for offshore wind Assessment details the port infrastructure and logistics
development in India, with a focus on the states of required from manufacturing (i.e. wind turbine and
Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The on-going discussions on
foundation, etc) to installation and the subsequent
developing offshore wind in India are encouraging
operation and maintenance (O&M) phase of an offshore
and the FOWIND project is providing technical support
through its preliminary assessments and feasibility wind farm. A port screening and port readiness study is
analysis while increasing stakeholder awareness and conducted for Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
involvement.
Section 4 - Decommissioning provides a high-level
The FOWIND consortium’s Supply Chain, Port introduction to the processes and operations likely to be
Infrastructure and Logistics Study for both Gujarat and implemented when decommissioning an offshore wind
Tamil Nadu, is a key deliverable from the project’s second farm at the end of its 20 to 25 year design life.
year and follows on from the FOWIND Pre-feasibility
Study Reports issued in mid 20154. 1
http://www.makeinindia.com/sector/renewable-energy
2
NMRE - http://mnre.gov.in/mission-and-vision-2/achievements/
3
http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/
National-Offshore-Wind-Energy-Policy.pdf
4
http://www.fowind.in/publications/report
12 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
The development of an offshore wind farm from design A skilled workforce will be required for design
to fabrication to installation and through to operation development, project management, fabrication,
is a complex puzzle with an extensive supply chain transportation, installation, commissioning, operations
containing multiple interfaces (see Figure 1). & maintenance and decommissioning.
Interfaces can range from large primary interfaces In Europe, offshore wind projects have a Europe wide
such as the wind turbine to foundation connection, to and indeed global supply chain. The procurement
interfaces as small as a fire detection device fitted within process is driven by various factors, but primarily cost
an offshore substation; requiring consideration of (commercial factors) and quality (technical factors).
mounting points, connection into the station’s low Quality and hence risk reduction is particularly important
voltage system and HSE requirements. with regards to the selection of suppliers with a solid
and proven track record in offshore wind. This is seen
In order to better illustrate the diversity and magnitude across the European markets and now also in emerging
of a typical project’s supply chain an offshore wind markets such as China, where for example in a number
procurement list has been formulated to document of projects we are seeing developers reducing project
some of the important ingredients required to realise risk profiles by selecting offshore wind turbines from the
an offshore wind farm from fabrication through to limited number of suppliers with proven track records
operation (see Table 1 and Table 2). This list is illustrative rather than selecting less-proven local WTG OEMs.
rather than comprehensive and aims to give the reader Local content is of course important in many markets
a background level understanding. The procurement but this can often be driven by political incentives and/or
list focuses on the physical materials and component directives rather than a pure cost versus quality decision.
requirements rather than specific specialist consultants,
contractors or man-power that is required during all the It is anticipated that the supply chain in India would
key project development stages. Each item on this list develop in a similar fashion to other emerging Asia-
comes with a whole host of complex interfacing, risk, Pacific markets (e.g. China, Taiwan, Japan and South
health & safety and environmental considerations. Their Korea). During the early stages of development it is
implications and interactions must be carefully evaluated probable that skill and equipment gaps will exist within
during project development. the supply chain and global procurement strategies will
be required. As the local supply chain develops, gaps
The importance of procuring specialist contractors with will gradually be closed by the emerging local suppliers.
their experience should not be underestimated However, due to the diversity, complexity and
(e.g. design-houses, fabrication contractors, specialisation in the offshore wind supply chain, in the
transportation and installation contractors etc). medium and long term a global supply chain will likely
still play a significant role for offshore wind in India.
n Generator n Steel of suitable grade (or concrete n Transformers (if AC) n Array cables
n Gearbox & reinforcement if GBS) n Converters (if HVDC) n Export cables
n Main shaft n Interface flanges n Reactors n Cables hangers
n Small engineering n Crew access system (ladders) n Cable supports n Yaw bearing
n Nacelle auxiliary systems
components n J-tube n Earthing materials
n Small engineering
n Fasteners n Scour protection n Panels, cable trays, tracks, clamps
components
n Conditioning monitoring n Sacrificial anode and supports
n Fasteners
system n Temporary covers n Fire and blast protection systems
n Conditioning monitoring
n Structural composite n Earthing system n Low voltage supplies system
materials n Condition monitoring system n Navigation aids n Structural composite
n Lighting protection n Shims (for levelling) n Fuel tanks materials
n Pitch system n Scour protection material n Safety system n Lighting protection
n Etc.
* This list is illustrative rather than comprehensive and aims to provide background level understanding.
The procurement list focuses on the physical materials, equipment and component requirements rather
than specific specialist companies, contractor or manpower.
* This list is illustrative rather than comprehensive and aims to provide background level understanding.
The procurement list focuses on the physical materials, equipment and component requirements rather
than specific specialist companies, contractor or manpower.
The remainder of section 2 provides an overview of the The section is structured to follow the main work
various aspects of the supply chain that are required to packages involved with offshore wind, namely:
construct and operate an offshore wind farm. Given the n development
relative lack of maturity of the Indian offshore wind n wind turbines
market and the supply chain, most of the focus is on n support structure/foundations
global suppliers, but commentary on current and n electrical elements
potential Indian suppliers is provided where appropriate. n installation and commissioning
Substation Substation Offshore Cable route Construction Substation Substation Virtual Contract
concept noise cable route (onshore) & traffic basic design basic design operations negotiations
(offshore) (onshore) & inst. options (onshore) (offshore) (onshore) modelling (technical)
Land agent Access Contract
Financial Grid Legal - Legal - Legal -
Commercial model application & options agreements Risk mapping landowner planning contracting
negotiations
(onshore) (commercial)
PR/ Fisheries Stakeholder Community Policy Industry Vessel Fabrication
stakeholder/ liaison liaison engagement lobbying
PR/media
engagement definition plant WTG design
supplier (for providers) design
Figure 3 - Development activities
16
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 17
Key existing onshore met mast suppliers in India may Figure 4 - ADCP (left) and wave buoy (right)
be positioned to enter offshore sector, based on a
preliminary market assessment, some of these include:
The duration of survey campaign depends on the
Shah Infra Tower, Aditya Enterprises and RK
n accuracy of data desired. Minimum measurement period
Windmast of one month is recommended for currents/water levels
in order to cover a complete lunar cycle and its effect.
Fabrication of the met mast support structure could be
a useful way for Indian fabricators to gain an early For waves a minimum of 6-12 months onsite
foothold in the market. Existing Indian suppliers of measurement would be required. ADCPs can be
deployed at a specific location by lowering it from a
meteorological sensors for the onshore wind industry will
survey vessel and then anchoring using heavy weights.
also be well positioned to move into the offshore sector.
In many cases sea divers are used to accurately place the
ADCP on position. The fleet of engineers/technicians
In Europe, some early projects directly deployed onshore includes but is not limited to oceanographer,
met masts offshore, but with limited consideration of skipper/crew and sea divers.
the additional dynamic loading from waves which then
resulted in additional fatigue loading causing early failure Some of the key players in India based on a preliminary
or structural concerns for some of these masts (especially market assessment include:
when masts are deployed on slender and flexible National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Geological
monopile foundations). Survey of India (GSI), Ocean Science & Surveying
(formally known as Egs Survey), Fugro Survey (India),
2.1.1.2 Oceanographic surveys Indomer, CGG, and Petroleum Geo-Services.
A detailed oceanographic model of the wind farm site
will be required to inform various design, construction 2.1.1.3 Geophysical and geotechnical surveys
and operational aspects of the project. These validated Geophysical surveys for offshore wind farm
models are used to predict for example wave and current development will typically include but not limited to
parameters across the site. Models are validated against bathymetry surveys in order to capture the water depth
existing data points and also data gathered from on-site variations within a specified area, side-scan sonar survey
oceanographic surveys. to map the seabed profile, sub-bottom profile survey
(see Figure 5, top) in order to understand stratigraphy of
Oceanographic surveys shall typically include soil below seabed up to a limited depth, magnetometer
measurement of the intensity of current, tidal variations, survey to locate any existing buried metallic substances.
wave pattern and heights of waves. Normally it can be Also, grab sampling is recommended to have a better
carried out by ADCP (Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler) geological understanding of seabed soil. Grab samples
which can be seabed mounted (see Figure 4, left) or ship can be subjected to visual geological inspection, soil
bottom mounted. Seabed mounted systems are always particle and classification analysis.
preferred over the ship bottom mounted; however there
is a risk of theft or sand wave movement. Periodic Normally specialist survey vessels are available or other
acquisition of data shall reduce the risk. Wave buoys vessel types can be converted for this operation by
(see figure 4, right) are also used and measure sea carefully retro-fitting surveying equipment. The selection
surface displacements from inferred motions of the buoy. of vessels based on the anticipated sea condition is the
Various fixed instruments can also be attached to prime factor in order to have vessel stability within the
offshore platforms (e.g. vertically oriented radar and desired range. Survey equipment must capture the data
laser altimeters). with minimal disturbances.
18 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
The fleet of engineers/technicians shall include but not Geophysical surveys help to define the extent and
limited to oceanographer, marine geologist, electronics location of geotechnical investigation. The depth of
& communication engineer, hydrographic surveyor, and borehole may vary from 30 to 80 m depending on
geophysicist. High-end equipment like a multi-beam foundation design requirements. A range of laboratory
echo sounder for bathymetry, dual frequency side scan tests are then performed on collected soil samples to
solar, sub bottom profilers (such as boomer/sparker) are establish the engineering properties of the soil/rock.
available in prevailing markets. The capacity and accuracy
of survey equipment shall be carefully selected based on Jack-up vessels are available which can be mounted with
the extent of data required. drilling rigs and other in-situ test equipment in order to
perform the desired investigation program. Jack-ups can
Some of the key players based on a preliminary market be towed to location via tugboats and fixed on defined
assessment in India include: Ocean Science & Surveying co-ordinates using their in-built hydraulic legs.
(formally known as Egs Survey), Fugro Survey (India), The minimum length of legs and spud-can bearing
Indomer and Petroleum Geo-Services. capability in the seabed shall be carefully studied in order
to have safe and efficient operations. Towing of jack-ups
Geotechnical investigation ideally shall follow the in a rough sea condition is not recommended. Many
geophysical survey. It includes drilling of boreholes at companies have also successfully operated drilling ships
pre-defined coordinates, collecting in-situ disturbed and mounted with high efficiency dampers for geotechnical
undisturbed soil samples, in-situ tests like cone drilling. The fleet of engineers/technicians shall include
penetrometer test (CPT), standard penetration test (SPT), but not limited to geotechnical engineer, geologist,
dynamic cone penetration test (DCPT), seismic resonance Jack-up operator, towing expert and skipper/crew.
and etc. For more representative in-situ test data CPTs are
favoured over others such as SPT and DCPT (see Figure 5, Some of the key players based on a preliminary market
bottom). assessment in India could include: Fugro Geotech (India),
DBM Geotechnics & Construction, Comacoe, and
Oceanking Survey Services.
Some of the leading environmental consultancies in In general the purpose of an external consultant would
the EU include: ERM, Natural Power, NIRAS and Royal be to:
Haskoning.
n Provide experienced advice to the owner/developer
Some of the key players based on a preliminary market n Help reduce the project risk profile
assessment in India could include: AECOM, Chilworth n Help optimise the project for cost of energy
Technology, ERM, Engineers India Limited and Royal
Haskoning. General Consultants or Owner’s Engineer can assist with
the following:
2.1.3 Design and engineering
In addition to the environmental elements, there is a n Delivery of Engineering, Environmental and
huge amount of engineering and design work that is Commercial tasks
required to install such large structures in the hostile n Supporting the Project Management Office
marine environment. Offshore wind experience here is n 3rd party independent reviews
vital, although could at a stretch be transferred over
time from onshore wind or offshore oil and gas. 2.1.3.2 Third party review and certification
The blue sections in Figure 3 show the various In some markets (such as Germany) project certification is
engineering elements that need to be completed. mandatory, while other developers may choose to obtain
project certification to help minimise risk. This is where
Some of the leading engineering consultancies in the an independent third party reviews the approach taken
EU include: Atkins, COWI, DNV GL, LIC Energy, OWEC, by the developer against a predefined standard.
Ramboll, and Sgurr . It should also be noted that a This then gives comfort to the regulatory authorities
number of these have local offices in India. and/or investors that the project is fit for purpose. It is
not yet clear whether the Indian market will mandate
Some of the key players in India include companies project certification.
with existing wind and large infrastructure engineering
experience such as; Aker Solution, Arup, Engineers India In addition, turbine manufacturers typically need to
Limited, L&T Construction and Saipem India Projects. obtain type certification. This is to reduce the technology
Lessons learnt from other emerging markets such as risk of the project and give confidence to developers and
China have shown that there is steep and challenging investors.
learning curve at the beginning of the offshore wind
industry. A number of leading local engineering 2.1.4 Commercial and legal work
consultancies have subsequently teamed-up or formed There is a significant amount of legal and commercial
joint ventures with leading and experienced European work required to reach investment decisions involving
engineering consultancies. millions and potentially billions of Indian rupees. Typically
the developer would manage the business case in house
2.1.3.1 General Consultant and Owner’s Engineer but may employ external advisors to support. Legal firms
It is unlikely that owners/developers will have sufficient support all elements of the process.
internal human resources to conduct all of the vast
number of the project management and technical/
commercial development tasks (see Figure 3). In this
situation it is common for a developer to contract an
experienced General Consultant and/or Owner’s
Engineer.
Table 3 shows the latest offering to the market for a 2.2.1 Turbine assembly
selection of leading manufacturers. Beyond this, plans Before transport to site for installation, the major
are developing for 10 MW turbines by the end of the components of the wind turbine generators (WTG) must
decade. be finished and assembled into the final product at
specialist coastal facilities by the OEM.
Wind turbine OEMs design the wind turbine but are then These are hugely important sites, both in terms of
effectively ‘assemblers’ bringing together parts from a investment (~1000 Crores Indian Rupees) but also
range of sub-suppliers. through the development of supply chain hubs in the
nearby area. Investment on this scale is primarily driven
The main elements of the supply chain are: by market size and a strong order book and would
therefore be linked to the expected market demand in
n Turbine assembly
India.
n Blades
n Towers
Entry into the offshore market is extremely challenging, Major OEMs with in-house capability include Siemens,
requiring huge financial and technical resources. A track MHI Vestas and Senvion. ALSTOM has a partnership with
record is vital, yet very expensive and time consuming to LM Blades while Euros and SSP have also supplied blades
obtain. Major players including Samsung and GE have to the sector.
all initially entered but then exited the market due to
these challenges. Any existing Indian OEMs supplying the Suzlon began its first blade manufacturing facility at
onshore market must be aware of these challenges, and Daman (UT), India in 2002. They have since added four
will need to be supported almost entirely by the domestic more blade manufacturing facilities in Pondicherry (UT),
Indian market. The hurdle of offshore track record (risk) Dhule (Maharashtra), Bhuj (Gujarat) and Padubidri Udupi
is an important factor but could be partially mitigated by (Karnataka). It is understood that should the offshore
local content requirements, cost advantages and O&M wind market develop with a sufficient pipeline Suzlon
advantages from local OEM suppliers. Similar to the could consider development of a purpose built offshore
Chinese market, it is likely that many of the early projects wind turbine manufacturing facility within a suitable port
will use both European and local OEMs. estate.
Source: NREL
Regarding the key supply chain risks for steel foundations Offshore paint coatings are highly specialised and
the following should be carefully considered: are typically Epoxy based (sometimes glass-flake
reinforced to extend the lifetime). Suitable coating
n Steel grade systems are only available from a limited number of
Offshore wind structures are subjected to high levels suppliers with extensive track record, e.g. Jotun,
of dynamic loading and subsequent fatigue damage. International and Hempel.
Wall thicknesses can be large (e.g. >100mm in large
monopiles) and design temperatures are low. To resist n Flange supply
this fatigue loading and prevent brittle fracture special Similar to the wind turbine the foundation to
high-grade tough offshore steels are required. These WTG interface flange is a specialist item that must
are only available from a limited number of suppliers be manufactured to precise tolerances. See Section
(e.g. Dillinger, Tata, JFE and Nippon). Furthermore the 2.2.1.
thickness of the material for jacket nodes must be
tested and typically even higher grades are required n Cast nodes
for similar thicknesses in other structural parts Jacket structures that are heavily loaded may push the
(e.g. legs and brace members). design limits of fabricated nodes (X and K joints). Cast
joints enable a superior fatigue detail classification due
n Welding qualifications and automation to the smoother construction and subsequent reduced
All welds within an offshore wind structure must be stress concentrations. If cast nodes are required this
completed to specific Welding Procedure will add significant cost and specialist suppliers would
Specifications (WPS) and these procedures must be need to be identified. See Section 2.2.1.
qualified with suitable Procedure Qualification Records
(PQRs). Fabricators have a significant advantage if they n Anode supply
already hold suitable weld PQRs. The ability for a Anodes or cathodic protection is an effective
fabricator to produce double sided full penetration method of protecting steel in the zones where it is
welds would also be advantageous due to the permanently submerged. It is widely used in the
significant fatigue benefits. All welders must be maritime and oil and gas industries. Hence multiple
suitably qualified. suppliers exist.
n Grout seals
These contain the grout at the base connection and
their integrity is a high risk during installation. As seen
on a number of early projects, failure of gout seals
can severely cost projects financially, due to vastly
expensive vessels waiting on-site while remedial
repairs are completed. There are two main types:
1. Passive seals – thick rubber wiper seals held in place
by the pressure head of grout, 2. Active seals –
inflatable bags that once activated underwater fill the
annulus. Due to the high risk nature, grout seal design
and supply is typically left to a hand-full of specialist
companies e.g. Crux and Trelleborg.
In Gujarat the mean depth varies from 15 m to 43 m and Smaller monopiles are relatively easy to manufacture and
in Tamil Nadu to depth varies between 11 m and 53 m existing Indian suppliers of rolled tubes should be able
within the identified development zones in each State. to enter the market. Larger fabricators in India, such as
This suggests that a range of foundation concepts could Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Essar Projects, may already
be used, subject to further consideration of site specific have capability to roll the larger diameter/thickness
factors. Reference can be made to Table 1 and Table 2 tubulars required for XL monopiles. However, the largest
to further understand the procurement complexities that monopiles currently being designed in the EU may
India may face with regards to the foundation supply exceed the capability that many existing fabricators in the
chain. Indian market have at present. As a result to boost local
content more conservative designs (using smaller turbines
in shallower water) may be preferred for earlier sites.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 25
Source: SEACORE
Source: ABB
However, the electrical layout for the wind farm will vary
primarily on the size of the wind farm and the distance
to shore. For smaller projects, closer to shore (~ <10 km)
it may be possible to remove the offshore substation,
using an array cable(s) to transmit the power directly
to an onshore substation. For projects further offshore
(~ > 50-100 km) and hub arrangements (where multiple
wind farms connect into one offshore connection), Source: Nexans
High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems are used.
These have higher capacities and reduce losses over Figure 13 - Offshore wind export and array cable types
distance but are more expensive to install. Only Germany
has to date installed HVDC systems offshore. 2.4.2 Offshore substation
The following sections focus on HVAC as this is the The offshore substation steps the voltage up from the
technology that will be expected to be used in Indian array cable operating voltage to the export system
offshore wind for the foreseeable future. operating voltage, provides switching devices to connect
or disconnect equipment and protection equipment to
2.4.1 HVAC cables respond to faults. This plant includes transformers,
Electrical cables are typically made up of three copper reactors, switchgear, control, fire protection systems
cores set into an XLPE (cross linked polyethylene) base, and low voltage auxiliary systems. All this equipment is
surrounded by steel wire armouring. Fibre optic cables contained in a large fabricated topside structure which
provide a communication channel for the wind farm. usually includes two or more stories and is installed upon
a support structure (usually a jacket). Topsides are
For array cables, 33 kV array cables have been used to around 30 m x 30 m x 15 m (LxWxH) and can weigh
date, although there is significant R&D, qualification over 1,000 tonnes. Depending on the size of the project,
work and future projects using larger capacity WTGs there may be more than one offshore substation.
that will utilise 66 kV cables.
Technology risk is considered relatively low. The supply
Export cables typically operate at 132 kV but increasingly for AC plant globally is not solely related to the demand
220 kV is being used. Typical requirements for a 132 kV in the offshore wind market. This has the advantage of
(AC) three core 800 mm² cable include: providing a deep pool of design and manufacturing
resource but also puts offshore wind in competition for
n Capacity: approximately 175 MVA supply at times of high demand from other sectors.
n Diameter: 214 mm Instead the size and mass of the topside (see Figure 14)
n Weight: 87 kg/m is a major manufacturing, logistical and installation
challenge. To date almost all substations have been
Technological improvements being considered include bespoke designs. Designers must carefully consider the
higher ratings, more dynamic ratings and greater durability of electrical equipment installed offshore.
condition and vibration monitoring. To mitigate damage and risks from the harsh offshore
environment, equipment is typically housed inside
The HVAC cable market has traditionally been tight multiple containers or the topside is fabricated as a single
(particularly for higher voltages) and is dominated by fully sealed unit. Offshore substations contain more
a few very well established players such as Nexans, interfaces and equipment than any other part of the
Manufacturer
Prysmian, JDR cable, Van Oord, ABB and NKT. High offshore wind farm, hence careful management of the
barriers to entry exist including significant technical and complex and typically global supply chain is required.
manufacturing capability and high investment costs.
Yet existing Indian manufacturers of cable (including
Polycabs and Universal Cables) are likely to be able to
enter the market.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 27
Source: HFG
Source: SEACORE
Figure 14 - Greater Gabbard substation topside, 480 MW
8
http://www.siemens.com/press/en/pressrelease/?press=/en/pressrelease/
2015/energymanagement/pr2015030151emenhtm&content[]=EM
28 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Historically installation vessels have been a major 2.5.3 Cable installation vessels
bottleneck for the sector with few purpose built vessels Installation of power cables for offshore wind is similar
and demand from a buoyant oil and gas market driving to installation of telecoms cables and umbilical’s in oil
up prices and reducing capacity for offshore wind and gas. Yet despite this cable installation has and
developers. However, over the past few years around continues to remain a significant issue for the sector with
20 purpose built vessels have been ordered, most of an often-cited statistic that 80 % of insurance claims to
which are now coming on stream. Examples include: date have been from cable faults.
A2Sea’s Sea Challenger and Sea Installer, Van Oord’s
Aeolus, Seajacks’s Scylla and Swire Blue Ocean’s Pacific A range of vessels has been used in the market including
Orca. vessels and barges. Recently commissioned vessels
include SIEM Offshore (Installer) and Aimery and the
It is worth noting that for smaller turbines there is a CLV Ndurance.
surplus of suitable jack-ups and installation vessels, due
to the move in Europe towards larger turbines. In India, cable installation vessel operators currently
active in the telecoms or oil and gas sectors would be
As a result over-supply in the market is likely, at least for well placed to move into the offshore wind market.
the next couple of years, although Asian demand could
potentially reduce this. This can be seen by the recent 2.5.4 Offshore substation installation vessels
announcement that Seafox 5, a state of the art The sheer size and mass of the offshore topside requires
installation vessel, will move to the oil and gas market that specialist heavy lift crane vessels are used (unless a
for a year or so. Looking longer term, specifications may float-over method or self-installing topside design can
need boosting for more challenging sites in deeper water be utilised). There is widespread experience of installing
and next generation wind turbines. oil and gas topsides in India, and substation topsides are
very similar in dimensions and weights to smaller oil rigs.
2.5.2 Foundation installation vessels The vessels used in the Indian marketplace to fulfil this
Three different types of vessel have been used to install role should be suitable to be used for offshore wind as
foundations. These include: well.
2.6 Operations and maintenance crew transfer vessels are used to ferry technicians to
A large range of activities is required in the O&M phase the site every day. These are typically catamarans in the
of a wind farm (see Figure 16). These include onshore range of 15 to 24 m length, classed to transport up to
and offshore logistics, day-to-day maintenance of the 12 technicians and associated parts and equipment, with
offshore assets (turbines, foundations, electrical cruising speeds in the order of 20 knots. Crew vessels are
elements) and operation and back office administration primarily limited by sea state, often preventing access to
in keeping with the running of a large (wind) power offshore assets in rough weather. At more exposed sites
plant. helicopters are sometimes used to support crew transfer
vessels for works requiring rapid response and relatively
The majority of the work is focused on addressing the small parts or equipment during periods of more
scheduled and unscheduled maintenance requirements onerous weather. For large wind farms further offshore
of the wind turbines. Meanwhile foundations (typically more than about 40 nm from the O&M port),
generally require infrequent inspections and remedial offshore-based concepts are starting to emerge with
works, virtually all of which can be undertaken in a accommodation provided near the wind farm and
scheduled fashion, since foundation failures of sufficient technicians working for extended periods offshore
severity to cause turbine stoppages are very rare. (akin to the oil and gas sector). The rest of the section
The majority of foundation maintenance is typically assumes the first strategy is used.
focused around periodic statutory inspections, marine
growth and guano removal, paint coatings and cathodic 2.6.1 Crew transfer vessels
protection inspections and small remedial tasks such as The sector has seen rapid development in vessel
painting and repairs of secondary steelwork and auxiliary design. First generation vessels were 18 to 24 m fishing
devices (e.g. davit cranes, ID signs etc.). Occasionally or guard vessels, which had the minimum of
more substantial works are required on the foundations, modifications. Second generation vessels were those that
such as scour pit inspections or remediation, but again were specially designed workboats conforming to MCA
these can typically be scheduled without incurring category 2 of MGN 280, and ISO 12217 for offshore
significant production losses. wind. More radical third generation designs have been
proposed through the Offshore Wind Accelerator
Unlike foundations, failures in sub-sea cables can lead competition including SWATHs (small-waterplane-area
to substantial periods of lost production, and therefore, twin hull) and, SES (surface effect ships) and these are
albeit rare, unscheduled outages of cables are treated slowly starting to enter the market.
with considerable urgency. Periodic seabed surveys will
usually be undertaken every few years to monitor the There is a thriving and competitive industry in the
burial status of the cables and assess the risks due to manufacture of personnel transfer vessels. Leading EU
external aggravation, such as anchor strikes or trawling suppliers include Alnmaritec, Alicat, CWind and Damen.
activities etc. In India, existing yards and manufacturers should be
able to transition to build offshore wind transfer boats,
The primary supply chain activities are around crew although it may be sensible to utilise the existing vessel
transfer vessels, portside infrastructure and offshore design experience from the EU in the short term.
technicians. Spares are often required but usually
provided by the original OEM, with a limited market to 2.6.2 Ports
date for third party providers, and which is therefore not O&M ports are much smaller than those required for
discussed further. Much of the turbine-related work is construction and are situated as close to the site as
monopolised by the turbine OEM’s who have the turbine- reasonably possible to minimise day to day transit time.
specific skills and expertise to undertake the work and Shore-side services are vital to support offshore logistics
an existing supply chain set up to provide the parts and and all offshore wind farm O&M activity needs access to
other services as required. However, works associated port facilities such as load-out and work boat mooring.
with balance of plant items, such as foundations and See Section 3 for more details.
cables, are sufficiently diverse that specialist contractors
are often used for these works, opening up opportunities 2.6.3 Technicians
for local business. Suitably qualified and experienced personnel are
crucial to undertaking effective O&M. Technicians
The key logistical challenge is getting technicians to site, typically travel out to site every day by boat, transfer
with the distance to shore driving different strategies (see across to the turbine, climb the turbine, undertake the
Figure 16). Close to the O&M port (less than ~40 Nm) maintenance work and then repeat as appropriate.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 31
It is quite physical work in a hostile environment and from other emerging markets it is anticipated local
there are various certificates and accreditations that companies will require some collaboration and capacity
are required. A large number of training providers have building with experienced organisations, particularly
opened up to meet the demand and now include courses during the local market’s embryonic development years.
provided by manufacturers (such as Siemens), higher
education courses and commercial training providers. To some degree the size of the local project pipeline will
Roughly, the sector needs between 0.5 and 1.5 full time dictate the level of localisation. If a large project pipeline,
equivalent jobs per operational turbine. combined with attractive incentives, develops in India
then the local supply chain will almost certainly grow in
Turbines typically come with a five year warranty from parallel and indeed attract both local and overseas OEMs
the manufacturer and during this period, the OEM will to develop their business within the region.
typically employ the majority of technicians on site.
After the warranty period is over, the owner operator In Europe the offshore wind supply chain is now
can opt to extend the OEM warranty agreement or takes becoming large and highly specialised. This has involved
over responsibility for the plant and directly employ the moving beyond what can be manufactured in existing
technicians. Some more ‘hands-on’ owners are taking facilities and led to the development of purpose built
responsibility earlier and/or having jointly employed ports and optimised manufacturing facilities. The need
technicians working on the wind farm during the for cost reduction has for example seen the recent
warranty period. development of serial production facilities for jacket
foundations, XL monopiles (6 to 10 m diameter) and
2.7 Supply chain conclusions purpose built installation vessels. Doing so requires a
There are a number of areas where there is good huge amount of investment and therefore confidence
potential for Indian companies to move into the in the market, but these new developments present an
Source: SEACORE
offshore wind sector, in particular, aspects of the excellent opportunity for India to accelerate learning-
development process, the fabrication of support curves as their local offshore wind market develops.
structures and offshore substation topsides. Due to the Table 4 on the next page summarises the findings from
complexities of developing offshore wind and lessons this supply chain study.
32 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Element Some of the leading Some of the potential companies who could
companies in EU enter market in India based on preliminary
market assessment
Site surveys Fugro, Gardline and Intertek (many of The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), National Institute of Ocean
whom are already active in India) Technology (NIOT) and labs of the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research. Publically funded institutions could initially offer some support.
CGG, DBM Geotechnicians, EGS Survey, Fugro Survey (India), Indomer and
Petroleum Geo-Services.
Wind resource BiFab, Bladt, MT Højgaard and Essar and L&T. Other fabricators/shipyards e.g. Bharati Shipyard and
assessment - Met mast SIF-Smulder Cochin Shipyard will likely have capability for these structures.
foundation & platform
Wind resource Carl C and Francis & Lewis Current onshore suppliers with possible potential to enter offshore wind
assessment - Met masts market: Aditya Enterprises, RK Windmast, and Shah Infra Tower.
Oceanographic Nortek and Planet Ocean Nortek are active in Asia. Other suppliers exist offering equipment on lease
assessment - sensors terms or purchasing terms.
Consenting and ERM, Natural Power and NIRAS and AECOM, Chilworth Technology, ERM, Engineers India Limited and Royal
planning Royal Haskoning Haskoning.
Design and Arup, Atkins, COWI, DNV GL, Aker Solution, Arup, Saipem India Projects, Engineers India, L&T
engineering LIC energy, Mott MacDonald, OWEC, Construction.
Ramboll and Sgurr
Wind turbines As of late 2015, the leading player If a sufficient market develops leading OEM suppliers might consider
is Siemens, followed by MHI Vestas, investing in a local offshore wind base in India.
Senvion (formerly of Suzlon), ALSTOM
and Areva Gamesa. Most of the major OEM’s operating in India have multi-megawatt offshore
turbine platforms operating globally. Areva Gamesa, MHI Vestas and GE
In addition there are a number of Energy India through its acquisition of ALSTOM Power in 2015.
Chinese players (including Goldwind,
Ming Yang, Sinovel and others) and Suzlon Energy has rights to license and build the Senvion 6.XM series
Japanese manufacturers (Hitachi). machine.
Blades for offshore LM Blades, Euros and SSP Suzlon, INOX rotor blade, LM Wind Power and Vestas.
wind turbines
Casting & forgings Brück, Euskal Felguera Melt, Fonderia Bharat Forge, Heavy Forgings, L&T Special Steel, Kalyani forge, SE Forge,
Vigevanese, Metso, Siempelkamp, and Synergy Green Industries may be able to move into the sector.
Torgelow and VTC
Gearbox and Key suppliers of gearboxes are: Bosch ZF Coimbatore, Winergy are prominent gearbox suppliers in India.
generators Rexroth, ZF Wind, and Winergy. ABB-India is the leading supplier of generators in India.
Leading manufacturers of generators
include ABB.
Towers Ambau, Welcon and CS Wind Typically in India local OEMs manufacture towers. Windar, Anand, Batliboi,
and DN Wind Systems, L&T, GWPL may be able to scale up to cater for the
offshore market.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 33
Monopiles Bladt, EEW, Steelwind, Bilfinger, SIF, Smaller monopiles are relatively easy to manufacture and existing Indian
and Smulders suppliers of rolled tubes should be able to enter the market.
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Essar Projects may be well positioned to
enter this segment with some knowledge transfer. Other local fabricators/
shipyards may have capability for at least smaller diameter MPs.
Jacket foundations Bladt, EEW, Smulders, Bifab, and In India large-scale fabricators/shipyards active in the oil and gas industry
Navantia are well placed to transfer across.
Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Essar Projects, Bharati Shipyard, Cochin Shipyard,
and EEW may be able to enter this segment.
Gravity base concrete\ GBS Concepts: High barriers to entry exist including high investment costs in
foundations Strabag - Boskalis and GBF are leading manufacturing facilities.
developers of lifted concepts, while
BAM – Van Oord and Gravitas Offshore L&T have a long history in construction of reinforced concrete structures
are progressing floated concepts and a facility in Kattupalli which is suitable for their manufacture and
GBS Fabricators: launching.
MBG, Monberg & Thorsen – (Now MT
Højgaard), Skanska, Ballast Nedam,
Bilfinger Berger, Aarsleff, Pihl –
Foundations and Jan De Nul.
HVAC cables Nexans, Prysmian, JDR cable, Van Oord, High barriers to entry exist including significant technical and
ABB and NKT manufacturing capability and high investment costs. Yet existing Indian
manufacturers of cable, including Polycabs and Universal Cables, are likely
to be able to enter the market.
Offshore substation Main suppliers of electrical equipment High barriers to entry exist including significant technical and
are Siemens, ABB, Alstom and CG manufacturing capability and high investment costs. Yards manufacturing
Power. topsides for oil and gas in India and the Middle East may be well placed
The support structure is fabricated by to manufacture topsides for offshore wind. Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Essar
large yards including Heerema, Bladt, Projects, Dolphin Offshore Enterprises and other fabrication yards/
Bilfinger, Harlan and Wolff and Semco shipyards in India may be able to enter this segment.
Maritime.
ABB, Siemens, Alstom are reasonably active in electrical components,
systems and services including the wind power industry and established
sectors such as Oil & Gas, Marine and Power generation.
Onshore substation Onshore substations for offshore wind farms are almost identical to
substations for other power generating technologies and so any existing
suppliers in India should be able to move into the market.
Specific recommendations with respect to the readiness of local companies in the offshore supply chain can
be undertaken in future studies. In European experience these detailed reports are confidential in nature and
respond to specific commercial and technical queries from the contracting party or company.
34 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Ports are strategic hubs in the offshore wind farm 3.2.1 Introduction
supply chain, since all components, plant and transport This study considers the primary operations for which
operations must transit through these facilities. port facilities are required when constructing and
Therefore, they must provide suitable infrastructure in operating an offshore wind project, namely:
order to meet the specific requirements of the offshore manufacturing, marshalling (or staging), and O&M.
wind industry. This section aims to provide definitions for the five main
types of offshore wind port, specifically ports for:
The characteristics of available ports and vessels are
critical for defining and optimising Offshore Wind n wind turbine (WTG) manufacturing (see Section 3.2.2)
Installation Strategies and Logistical Operations. n WTG foundation manufacturing (see Section 3.2.3)
This Port Infrastructure and Logistics study details n offshore substation manufacturing (see Section 3.2.4)
the port infrastructure and logistics required from n operations and maintenance (see Section 3.2.5)
manufacturing (i.e. wind turbine and foundation, etc) n marshalling (or staging) (see Section 3.2.6)
to installation and the subsequent operation and
maintenance (O&M) phase of an offshore wind farm. It should be noted that an individual port estate may
have the capability to handle more than one or even
The study expands upon the previous FOWIND all of the above port operations. Nevertheless different
Pre-feasibility study reports for Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, operations and components have different handling
and focuses on defining and investigating and storage requirements and as such ports must be
the following key areas: considered on a case by case basis. For example different
stages of the manufacturing and installation process are
n offshore wind port types (Section 3.2) likely to require different crane specifications, quayside
n anticipated offshore wind project specifications for loadings and quayside water depths. Hence when
India (Section 3.4) selecting offshore wind ports it is critical to work
n anticipated offshore wind component specifications backwards from the anticipated envelope of offshore
(Section 3.5 wind components to be handled during each stage of
n definition of available vessel types for offshore wind the offshore wind project(s).
(Section 3.6
Clearly the location of the port facilities with respect to
n possible installation strategies (Section 3.7)
the offshore wind farm site(s) has a big impact when
n typical port infrastructure descriptions (Section 3.8)
selecting suitable port estates. Therefore before
n port screening and port readiness in Gujarat and Tamil
assessing the ability of port infrastructure for handling
Nadu (Section 3.9) offshore wind farm components, it is necessary to have
a thorough appreciation of the most common logistical
The primary objective of this study is to develop an methods by which wind farm components are handled.
understanding of the existing port infrastructure
capabilities available to support offshore wind energy Large wind farm components are generally manufactured
projects in the Indian states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. in proximity to port facilities, given the difficulties of
The port infrastructure and logistics assessment handling such large components and the need to reduce
methodology is described in Section 3.3. the large transit distances to the offshore project site.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 35
assumption is that option 1 is the preferred option for are required, e.g. skilled welders, coating specialists
transportation of wind turbine (WTG) components from and machinery operators
a manufacturer’s facility to a developer’s marshalling n Location – close proximity to supply chain preferable
smaller materials/components
n Raw material supply chain – in the case of steel
In general, the specialised offshore wind farm installation Cost benefit analysis will reveal which of the two
vessels have charter rates of several times those of cargo scenarios (option 1 or option 4) is preferable.
vessels, so to minimise overall installation and O&M costs, This involves a comparison between:
it is vital that voyage durations for the main installation
vessels are kept to a minimum. n the installation vessel’s charter (and fuel) costs directly
between (1) foundation (FND) and (2) wind turbine
Offshore windfarm installation vessels have been (WTG) manufacturers and offshore windfarm (OWF) as
optimised primarily to install components, whereas illustrated in Figure 23
n the cost of cargo vessels from foundation and wind
modern cargo vessel designs are ideally suited for
transporting large and heavy components over long turbine to a marshalling port (MAR) and additionally
distances. By using a combination of (1) cargo vessels incurring the double-handling costs, and port fees
for the long distance logistics from manufacturers to etc. associated with using the marshalling port (MAR),
marshalling ports, and (2) wind turbine installation vessels as well as the costs of the wind turbine installation
(WTIVs) for shorter installation cycles, an optimal solution vessels (WTIVs) between marshalling port (MAR) and
for offshore windfarm logistics and transport and offshore windfarm (OWF) as illustrated in Figure 23
installation (T&I) and potentially O&M has evolved, see
Figure 23. It is also worth considering the possible risk of damage
during re-handling and storage, and the potential
programme disruptions any delays associated with
remedial works might incur. The cost benefit analysis
OWF - Offshore windfarm should incorporate modelling of any additional items
FND - Foundation manufacturer
from the risk register associated with the various
WTG - Wind turbine manufacturer
MAR - Marshalling or construction port strategies.
WTIV - Wind turbine installation vessel
3.3 Port infrastructure assessment
methodology
OWF
Figure 23 - Marshalling ports: reduce installation vessel Section 3.9.5 provides a high-level screening of possible
voyage durations
O&M ports, based on those identified in the FOWIND
Pre-feasibility reports. O&M activities can generally be
facilitated from minor ports with minimal infrastructure
development compared with the demands of a
construction port; hence only a high-level screening
was conducted which should be re-visited when specific
projects are identified.
FOWIND
FOWIND Pr
Port infrastructure assessment
2. PREPARATION PHASE - Component specifications, vessel requirements, installation strategy (Sections 3.5 - 3.7)
3.4 Project specification At this stage of the ports assessment study precise
dimensions and masses of foundations are not required,
3.4.1 Introduction but upper-bound values of each variable are
In order to assess the suitability of port infrastructure established to an appropriate level of detail (see Sections
for offshore wind activities in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu it 3.5.3 and 3.5.5. If the development is at an early stage,
is important to first define the envelope of project estimates must be used, based on past experience and
specifications that are anticipated within the regions engineering judgement. For the purposes of this study the
(termed the demand). Key project parameters to be WTG foundation mass and other pertinent information is
defined include: established, like the megawatt capacity, and build-rate,
including any multi-seasonal phased development options.
n wind turbine MW capacities
n project MW capacities It should be noted, based on the assessment conducted
n minimum distance to existing substation by the FOWIND consortium and presented in the Gujarat
n water depth and Tamil Nadu Pre-feasibility study reports4, eight
n foundation types considered and estimated masses preliminary zones have been identified in each state for
n requirement for an offshore substation the development of commercial scale offshore wind
farms. As a result of the high level of uncertainty
The basis for defining the range of anticipated offshore associated with the preliminary constraints data
wind project parameters has been established from (in particular seabed conditions and oceanographic
the recent Pre-feasibility Reports for Gujarat and Tamil parameters) and the lack of on-site wind measurements
Nadu4. A summary of the anticipated envelope of project to validate the modelling process (note a LiDAR device
parameters are provided in Section 3.4.2. is expected to be deployed in 2016 to conduct wind
measurements), it must be stated that the results and
conclusions presented in this Supply Chain, Port
Infrastructure and Logistics study could be subject to
change as the FOWIND project develops and updated
input data becomes available.
4
http://www.fowind.in/publications/report
40 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
3.4.2.1 WTG and project capacity assumptions 3.4.2.3 Tamil Nadu project specifications
Two indicative project capacities of 150 MW and 504 MW Table 6 summarises the envelope of assumed offshore
have been considered during the Pre-feasibility studies, wind project parameters presented in the Tamil Nadu PFR.
since these are broadly representative of typical European These form the basis for inputs into the Port Infrastructure
commercial offshore wind developments. Similarly, two and Logistics assessment.
generic wind turbine generator sizes of 4 MW and 6 MW
have been considered in the FOWIND Gujarat and
Tamil Nadu PFRs. These capacities are representative of
established (4 MW) and current (6 MW) offshore wind
turbine designs.
Required for an offshore substation OSS likely to be required (assumed required for projects >20 km
from shore and/or >100 MW capacity
Required for an offshore substation OSS likely to be required (assumed required for projects >20 km
from shore and/or >100 MW capacity
3.5 Component specification It is most common for turbines to be installed in six lifts:
n lower tower section n blade 1
This allows the formation of a database for the range of The largest wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) will
different sizes and weights of: have capacity for around 10 complete sets of components
‘Siemens SWT 3.6 - 120’ or five complete sets of
n wind turbine generator (WTG) components components ‘Senvion 6M’s’, including tower sections,
n foundation components nacelles, hubs and blades. The port requirements have
been assessed on the basis of a large wind turbine
Consideration must also be given to component sizes and installation vessel (WTIV).
weights of:
The following sections contain component dimensions
n offshore substation (OSS) for generic wind turbines of particular 4 MW and 6 MW
n cables (export and inter-array IAC) nameplate capacities. These are not specific models on
the market, and the analysis will need to be repeated
The following Sections to 3.5.7 define the general when specific turbine models are decided upon to confirm
handling methods, port requirements and estimated that the conclusions drawn remain valid.
component sizes and weights for consideration in the
Port Infrastructure and Logistics study. 3.5.2.2 Blades
The lightest components used are the blades but their
3.5.2 Wind turbine generator components long lengths make them one of the most challenging to
handle, particularly onshore.
3.5.2.1 Introduction The following tabulated information (Table 7) contains
Wind turbine generators can be installed in a number of blade dimensions for generic wind turbines of particular
different ways as shown in Figure 25. 4 MW and 6 MW nameplate capacities.
Generic wind
turbine size
3-4 Lifts
2 Lifts Single lift
Parameter [MW]
Current practice
‘Star Assy’ proposed proposed
4 6
Figure 26 - Blade handling trailers for road haulage and handling in port estates
Source: DuluthShippingnews
Source: Fotolibra
n Quayside
There is only a light-weight requirement for haulage,
but since for manoeuvring it is likely that a 2-bogey
unit will be used, which concentrates load and
therefore increases the requirement for deck strength.
The maximum individual length of a blade will dictate
the quayside length, and multiple blade storage
alongside the vessel to be loaded will be required.
n Depth
Blades are generally carried long distances as deck
cargo on heavy-lift cargo vessels. These large
transportation vessels will have a significant draft
requirement within the port facility.
n Mobile cranage
Wind turbine blades today weigh in the order of tens
of metric tonne, however, these weights are likely to
increase as technology trends push towards larger
offshore machines. It is likely that transport vessels will
load-out significant numbers of blades however blade
Source: Wireropeexchange
weights are well within the capacity of suitable mobile
Figure 30 - Three blade load out cranage.
n Load-out
Large heavy-lift cargo vessels are best used for
transporting blades from the manufacturer to the
marshalling port. They are increasingly fitted with
container-twist-locked frames and loaded in groups
of three at a time, which requires significant cranage
lift-weight capacity and outreach only found on larger
heavy-lift crane vessels. The installation vessel then
typically carries out transportation from the
marshalling port to the wind farm.
Source: Renewableenergyworld
Source: Earthandindustry
Storage of the towers involves laying them on their sides Figure 34 - Tower section storage
with bespoke frames providing support at either end and
in the middle of the tower section (depending on tower In port estates it may be more appropriate to handle
section length), as presented in Figure 34. tower sections using Self Propelled Modular Transport
units (SPMTs), see Figure 35.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 45
SPMTs generally come in 4 or 6 axle units, with individual As the tower is vertical when fitted, rather than engage
axle capacities of between 15 and 40 tonne. They can be in offshore up-ending during the final installation, it is
built into long configurations, and with a few transport best if the tower is transferred to the offshore site in
cradles, can be used to transport tower units. Great care an upright position. However, as depicted in Figure 36,
is needed to ensure that corrosion protection coatings during transportation of tower components from the
applied to the tower sections are not damaged, so soft manufacturer’s facility to the staging harbour, it is usual
faces are provided on these cradles. In general SPMTs can to transport the tower sections horizontally.
operate on ground with 10 tonne/m² bearing capacity,
but by increasing the number of axles used, lower ground The upper flange of each tower section has bolted
bearing capacities can be accommodated, but at a cost connections which are designed to take the considerable
premium. thrust loads of the turbines, so these form ideal points
for locating lifting attachments. These are usually fitted
3.5.2.3.2 Load-out to the tower sections before being loaded onto the deck
Load-out of wind turbine towers is undertaken by of the installation barge and left in place; they are only
vessel-based cranage or, in the case of non-self-propelled removed (and stored until arrival of the next towers) once
transport barges, port-based cranage. Towers are usually the tower has been installed in position.
fitted with lift frames at either end of the tower sections
which provide lift points for the lifting frames. The frames Offshore the towers are heavy and long, and, with the
also allow for towers sections to be stacked on board the rolling movements of a vessel, are capable of exerting
heavy lift transport vessel, as presented in Figure 36. significant loads on the transport vessel’s deck. As stated
above, the towers are often transported in a vertical
position. Ideally, if the whole tower were to be fitted
together, this would require only one offshore lift.
However, the very long and heavy structure may be too
heavy for the crane to lift when in one piece; therefore,
transportation in smaller sections is necessary.
Source: Wikimedia
n Depth
Transportation will probably be via barges, but may Wind
turbine size
use HLCVs so the draft of the latter has been used as Parameter [MW]
the limit, this may be reduced if barges are used. 4 6
n Haulage
Tower sections may well be transported by SPMT or
heavy haulage trailer, a minimum number of axles
will likely be used to save costs, which may lead to
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 47
3.5.2.4.2 Load-out
Load-out of wind turbine nacelles will be undertaken by
vessel-based cranage or, in the case of non-self-propelled
transport barges, port-based cranage, as presented in
Figure 39. The transport vessel shall be required to moor
against the quayside.
Figure 37 - Siemens SWT 3.6 on SPMT trailer It can have a further function, which is to speed
connection to rolling and floating transport. There will
be some form of bolted or welded connection on the
3.5.2.4.1 Onshore transportation and storage underside, which is designed to marry with a pre-installed
Wind turbine nacelles are manufactured under the cover mating part, fitted to a structurally sound area of the
of a fabrication facility which has suitable gantry cranes deck. This ensures rapid assembly and offshore removal
to lift and transfer components that constitute the of sea lashings, and helps to precisely align the cargo
nacelle (gearboxes, generators, etc.). Upon leaving the with the under deck stiffening of the vessel’s structure.
fabrication facility, nacelles are usually transported around
the port facility using SPMTs, as shown in Figure 37. The sea-lashing frame may also form a lifting cradle,
to which lifting tackle on a custom spreader beam
Bespoke frames are mounted on the tower-top flange arrangement attach, for swift lifting during loading
which provides support for the lay-down of the nacelles. and unloading. This optional functionality may add
The nacelle is pre-assembled before offshore considerable weight to the frame, and it may be
transportation. It will be watertight and effectively preferable simply to attach lifting tackle to the upper
complete when leaving the manufacturer’s facility. structure of the nacelle.
Source: Renewableenergyfocus
Source: Vattenfall
n Quayside
Nacelles are usually transported by SPMT so it will be
possible to vary the number of units used to ensure
that ground bearing pressure is within acceptable
limits.
n Depth
Nacelles are generally carried long distances as deck
cargo on heavy-lift cargo vessels, possibly the same
vessels used to transport blades. These large
transportation vessels will have a significant draft
requirement within the port facility.
n Seabed
Large offshore wind farm installation vessels may
well collect turbines from manufacturer’s premises
so jack-up capacity will be required of the quayside.
Figure 40 - Monopiles and transition pieces in port storage area
Measurements of the soil strength adjacent to the
quayside will be needed to ensure that layering of
sub strata does not include thin hard layers of soils
overlaying weaker soils to avoid jack-up leg
punch-through.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 49
Wind n Headroom
Design turbine size The headroom requirement for the installation port
depth Parameter [MW]
[m] was based upon the assumption that there is a strong
4 6 possibility that a jack-up vessel or feeder barge will be
TP (Transition Piece) mass [t] 280 550
used to carry the monopile from the port, and carry
TP min number of SPMT axles 12 22
out the installation. During marine transit the legs are
_
TP Storage area [m2] 82 101
above the water, so they are unlikely to be able to pass
TP Bearing area [m2] 11 13
under many bridge decks and power lines. For this
TP Bearing pressure [t/m2] 25 42
reason it is important that the vessel options are well
understood when considering available staging ports
Monopile mass [t] 500 1,076 for a project. Overhead clearance of at least 40 m or
Monopile min number of SPMT axles 20 44 more is typically required. There is no such
Monopile base diameter [m] 5.5 6.5 requirement for the manufacturing base.
20
Length [m] 56 66
Storage area [m2] 435 578 n LOA
Total bearing area (10 block supports) [m2] 40 40 There is a range of overall lengths for heavy lift cargo
Bearing pressure under blocks [t/m2] 13 27 vessels approaching 170 m, so to ensure future-
proofing it is suggested that a figure of 170 m LOA
Monopile mass [t] 675 1,464
port access be used, as this will be adequate for all but
Monopile min number of SPMT axles 27 59
a small minority of these vessels.
Monopile base diameter [m] 6 7
30
Length [m] 69 79
n Quayside
Storage area [m2] 568 729
The usual method of transport of monopiles is SPMT
Total bearing area (10 column supports) [t/m2] 40 40
units (see Figure 41) imposing ground-bearing
Bearing pressure under blocks [t/m2] 17 37
pressures of approximately 20 tonne/m². As has been
Table 10 - Monopile specifications and port requirements previously stated, this is not an absolute limit but is
a reasonable capacity, which will be able to
accommodate most types of units.
The following information details the port requirements
for manufacturing facilities as well as staging ports:
n Width
The access channel width requirement should be
qualified by stating that port access widths are
customarily quoted as being the widest beam of
two equally sized vessels which can pass through the
narrowest part of the port approaches, whether this is
the port’s dredged access channel, harbour entrance
or other restriction.
Figure 41 - Monopile onshore transport using SPMTs
n Heavy-lift cargo vessel drafts
It will be necessary for heavy transport to transit the
monopiles between the manufacturer and the n Mobile cranage
staging port if the monopiles are fabricated overseas. If the cranage is placed so that the outriggers are
The transportation of monopiles using heavy lift cargo adjacent to the quay wall, the sheet piling in an
vessels will ideally require approximately 8 m to Chart unsupported quay wall would experience loadings
Datum of water. which may be enough to collapse the quay. It is
customary for monopiles to be lifted by two cranes in
n Installation vessel drafts a lift configuration referred to as being “top-and-
It will also be necessary for either an installation tailed”. The individual lift-weights are reduced by half,
(jack- up) vessel to transit the monopiles between the so figures of 1,000 tonne have been included to cover
staging port and the wind farm site or for bunged various anticipated lift configurations. The lift-weight
monopiles to be towed by a tug. The transportation of transition pieces is significantly less than that of
of monopiles using a jack-up vessel will ideally require their associated monopiles. There is therefore a
approximately 6 m to Chart Datum of water. reduced cranage requirement of 400 tonne.
50 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
n Seabed
The seabed adjacent to the quayside will have a finite 3.5.4 Foundations - jackets
capacity to support loads, and may or may not be Jacket structures for offshore wind turbine purposes are
suitable to support a jack-up vessel, if it wanted to usually manufactured and delivered directly to the wind
self-load from the quayside using the on-board crane. farm site using deck barges. Once mobilised at the wind
farm site, a suitable installation vessel is used to install
n Haul routes the structure. The present section details the port
The exact transit routes by which heavy loads are to requirements for the manufacture, storage, and load-out
transit from any storage areas to the quayside need to of the jacket structures.
be defined, and the deck strength of any paved areas
assessed to ensure that they are sufficient to support In the European market to date, all projects that utilise
SPMTs and their payload. jacket foundations have involved turbines of greater
than 4 MW. However, jackets are planned to be used in
n Storage PR China and Taiwan for smaller turbines where ground
Areas that are used for long-term storage of conditions or vessel lift capacities are not conducive to
monopiles will be required to have sufficient deck the installation of monopiles.
strengths to accommodate the feet loads of storage
frames. SPMT loading and unloading methodology is In addition, it is unlikely that jackets would prove an
to pass under the load to be lifted and then jack optimal solution for a turbine in water depths of less than
up their upper load-bed, to raise-up and lift the 30 or even 40 m, given the trend towards XL monopiles
payload. After transit to the destination, the jacks are in recent years. However given the embryonic nature of
lowered and the load is then again supported on the the offshore wind industry in India and the possibility
ground by the frame, and the SPMT is free to move of fabrication restrictions for XL monopiles in the early
out from under the load. Transition pieces are usually development years, dimensions for jackets supporting
stored vertically, which avoids damage to paintwork. 6 MW turbines in water depths of both 30 and 40 m
This means that the plan area required is about below LAT have been considered. As with China
10 m x 10 m to allow access around the structure. Mainland and Taiwan, this is not to say that 4 MW WTGs
deployed on jacket foundations could not be utilised if a
suitable combination of environmental and supply chain
conditions are found to exist in India.
Wind
turbine
n Storage
Design
depth Parameter size The likely means of transport will still be SPMTs, but
[m] [MW] the ground bearing pressure required by SPMT units is
6
likely to be lower than for monopiles, or can be
Jacket mass [t] 613 arranged to be such, as the jacket is much larger in
Pin piles (4) mass [t] 328 size and of reduced weight. This means SPMT
Number of SPMT axles 25 arrangements can be set up which imposes ground
Jacket leg separation [m] 17 bearing pressures of approximately 10 tonne/m2.
30 Height (leg base to TP) [m] 48 This figure is not an absolute limit but a reasonable
Storage area (laid down) [m2] 1.302 capacity, which will be able to accommodate most
Storage area (standing) [m2] 441 types of unit.
Bearing area (4 block supports to distribute load) [m2] 48
Bearing pressure under blocks [t/m2] 13 n Mobile cranage
If the cranage is placed so that the outriggers are
Jacket mass [t] 684
adjacent to the quay-wall, the sheet piling in an
Pin piles (4) mass [t] 328
unsupported quay-wall would experience loadings
Number of SPMT axles 28
which may be enough to collapse the quay. It is
Jacket leg separation [m] 23
unlikely that the jacket structure will be lifted by a
40 Height (leg base to TP) [m] 58
single crane, and two cranes and spreader beams are
Storage area (laid down) [m2] 1.674
envisaged. The maximum dead mass will be in the
Storage area (standing) [m2] 729
order of 700 tonne, so with half-load per crane a
Bearing area (4 block supports to distribute load) [m2] 48
figure of 350 tonne has been taken.
Bearing pressure under blocks [t/m2] 14
n LOA
Barges are likely to transport up to three jacket Source: Recharge news
3.5.5 Foundations - gravity base structures It however seems possible that GBSs may be feasible in
Gravity Base Structures (GBS) transmit wind turbine loads Tamil Nadu, given the known presence of coral-rock
to the sea bed using the mass of the structure to provide below ground and the problems which piling related
lateral stability. This simple concept makes GBSs suitable noise-pollution could cause, given the environmental
for a range of water depths. However, due to their size, sensitivity of the area.
they are difficult to handle and are therefore transported
directly to the wind farm project site from the chosen It is clear from these specifications that the biggest
manufacturing facility. requirement that GBS foundations impose upon ports is
their sheer size, particularly their weight. To date, three
Table 12 displays generic specifications for GBSs at methodologies have been developed for GBS
an assumed design depth of 40 m below LAT and construction. Each of these methods has its advantages
supporting a 6 MW turbine. These are example and disadvantages and their appropriateness varies
specifications of generic foundations and are intended with GBS design and port capabilities. The methods are
only to inform port requirements. Much of the experience described in Sections 3.5.5.1 to 3.5.5.3 with the port
of gravity bases at offshore wind farms are at relatively requirements for each concept.
shallow depths of < 25 m, but the range at which GBS
designs are now considered feasible extends to deeper 3.5.5.1 GBS Construction on quayside
waters. Construction on the quayside will often require
reinforcement of the quay as both the total mass and
GBSs can be considered for shallow waters in India under the bearing pressure applied are significant. An example
the right seabed conditions where hard scoured and of a project where reinforcement was required is
fractured rock sea-beds are suitable. Whilst it seems Thornton Bank, located in Belgian waters (see Figure 45).
unlikely that GBS’s will prove a favoured solution in
Gujarat, since the ground conditions are not known to be
suitable across the identified development zones A to H,
it should be noted that further seabed data is required to
substantiate this conclusion in future FOWIND studies.
Wind
Parameter turbine
type Parameter size Source: SECO
[MW]
6 Figure 45 - Construction of GBS on the quay
(Thornton Bank)
Total mass without ballast [t] 5,970
General Diameter [m] 39
Area of base [m2] 1,260
Construction of GBSs adjacent to the quayside allows the
Clearance around base during construction [m] 10 structure to be lifted directly for installation using a heavy
Construction area (per GBS) [m2] 3,481 lift vessel such as the Rambiz or Svanen. The wall of the
Quayside Bearing area (quayside construction and storage) [m2] 504 quayside may need to be reinforced due to the forces
construction Bearing pressure (quayside construction and imposed on it during this load-out. If it is not possible to
storage) [t/m2] 12 site the substantial construction area required adjacent to
Number of SPMT axles required to transport GBS 239 the quayside then SPMTs can be used to haul the GBS for
load-out.
Un-ballasted bearing pressure distributed [t/m2] 5
Dry dock Clearance around base during dry dock Average bearing pressure for the port is the mass of
construction construction [m] 3 the un-ballasted structure divided by the area – typically
Minimum width of dry dock [m] 45 approximately 60 kPa or 6 tonne/m2. In addition, if
Clearance around base during barge construction [m] 2 transport by SPMTs is necessary, the mass of the GBS
Minimum barge width [m] 27 or 32 will be distributed through the wheels of the SPMT with
Barge
Barge length [m] 97 or 121 an axle load of up to 30 tonne per axle. Whether this is
construction
Harbour area (per barge) [m2] 4,300 acceptable for individual ports is dependent on quayside
Barge draft [m] 5 but load spreading can help meet this requirement.
n Headroom
The headroom requirement has been based upon
the assumption that a large sheerleg vessel will be
used to carry out the installation. Svanen requires Source: LORC
clearance of over 100 m, so it cannot realistically pass Figure 46 - GBS lift off construction barge using Eide 5
under any marine structures. Therefore, unlimited heavy-lift barge
headroom is specified.
3.5.6 Substation
The offshore substation consists of a topside
(see Figure 48, right) containing the electrical equipment
and a foundation (see Figure 48, left) which supports the
topside.
the topside mass compared with having one platform but compared with the wind turbine foundations. If possible
it also provides redundancy for the electrical distribution these synergies may result in less costly manufacturing
Parameter
system. A further example is in Germany where many and installation.
projects are >100 km offshore and HVDC transmission
is utilised. In this case offshore substations are required In deeper waters or in cases of very large substation
to both step-up AC voltages from the array but also to weights where the project’s turbine foundation concept
convert AC to DC electricity for transmission to shore. cannot be viably used for the substation, jacket
For example the Borwin 1 substation, weighing 3200 foundations are often selected. While this report provides
tonne, is only performing the AC to DC conversion, the figures for foundation port requirements, substation
voltage already having been stepped up by the Bard 1 foundations will typically be larger and heavier. Also, they
offshore substation. are less tapered, due to the large area of the substation.
The following criteria need to be investigated when The following criteria need to be investigated when
constructing the topside of an electrical substation constructing the foundation of an electrical substation
onshore: onshore:
n Width n Width
Port access channel of suitable width for installation Port access channel of suitable width for installation
vessels (> 75 m). vessels (> 75 m)
n Headroom n Headroom
Port access channel with unlimited headroom (based Port access channel with unlimited headroom (based
on Svanen). on Svanen)
n Depth n Depth
Water depth suitable for installation vessels (> 6 m Water depth suitable for installation vessels (> 6 mLAT)
LAT).
n Quayside
n Quayside Quayside reinforced for assembly and storage of the
Quayside reinforced for assembly and storage of jacket (> 1,000 tonne at 20 tonne/m2)
topside (> 2,500 tonne at 20 tonne/m2).
n Load-out
n Load-out (1) RoRo load out would require a heavily reinforced
(1) RoRo load out would require a heavily reinforced quayside similar to those required for an O&G jacket,
quayside similar to those required for an O&G topside, e.g. 20 tonne/m2 (2) Lifted load-out typically requires
e.g. 20 tonne/m2 (2) Lifted load-out typically requires heavy lift crawler cranes (3) Lift and carry load-out
two heavy lift crawler cranes working in tandem uses the installation vessel to directly lift jacket from
(3) Lift and carry load-out uses the installation vessel to the quay.
directly lift topside from the quay.
3.5.6.3 Self-installing substation port requirements
3.5.6.2 Substation foundation port requirements Notable deviations from the above requirements are
Offshore substation foundations are typically jacket self-installing and floating substation designs (see next
structures weighing 700 to 1000 tonne. However page, Figure 49, left). Self-installing designs come with
monopiles or GBS foundations are also possible and have an incorporated jacking foundation, where the legs can
been deployed. For the purpose of this study jackets are simply jack up at site to secure the substation in place.
considered henceforth. Floating designs can be attached to a pre-laid base-frame
upon installation (see next page, Figure 49, right). Both
The first approach in selecting a substation foundation designs require only transport to site, which can be done
is to verify whether the wind turbine foundation type by tug, after they are placed in the water at the port.
selection can be extended to the substation (possibly As such, port requirements are reduced to either the
scaled up or slightly modified), which will reduce costs. crane capacity to place the substations in the water, a
The lower the substation’s weight, the smaller the change sufficient slipway, or a dry dock within which to construct
in design required for the substation foundation the substation.
56 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
3.5.7 Wind farm electrical plant Where pre-wound cable drums are used, each will be
Electrical cabling for an offshore wind farm includes loaded with enough cable to connect at least a string of
both the inter-array cables connecting strings of wind wind turbines. The total load out of array cable may be
turbines to the substation and the export cables split across a number of drums.
connecting the offshore substation to the onshore
substation. Both cables can be produced by a single Manufacturing port requirements are the same as for
manufacturing port facility. Where a staging port is used, export cables, as similar cabling vessels will be used, and
the cable vessels and cable handling impose similar similar infrastructure is required to handle the cabling.
requirements as encountered at the manufacturing port. One additional requirement of the port, if the capacity to
lift cable drums is desired, is for a heavy crane.
3.5.7.1 Array cables
Array cables are lighter than export cables, weighing The following criteria need to be investigated for
approximately 20 to 40 kg/m depending on the location Manufacturing Port requirements for Array Cables:
within the array and the material (copper is heavier than
aluminium). n Width
Port access channel width for cable installation vessels
It is more common for array cables to be stored at a (> 28 m).
staging port as they are lighter, can be transported in
shorter lengths, and are more flexible and therefore less n Depth
onerous to handle. In addition to being wound onto an Water depth suitable for cable installation vessels
on-board carousel, turntable, or cable tank, array cables (> 5 mLAT).
can also be lifted pre-wound from the port to the vessel
deck. By lifting the cables on drums, using the staging n Quayside
port becomes more practical. Quayside length adequate for installation vessels
(LOA > 100 m).
For array cabling, the advantage of using a staging port is
that it allows the cabling to be transported using a HLCV n Workshop
rather than a specially equipped cable vessel. Such a Long fabrication workshop (>100 m x 10 m) and the
vessel can travel faster, with lower fuel burn. facility should be located adjacent to quayside.
n Width
Port access channel width for cable installation vessels
(> 28 m).
Source: ABB
n Quayside
installation to occur directly from the manufacturing port
Quayside space for crane and cable storage or
(see Figure 51).
carousel.
As discussed above, the majority of export cable
installations will be performed by transiting to the site
directly from the manufacturer. The demands export
cable manufacturers place on ports are driven by the
availability of premises for fabrication near the quayside
for direct load-out of cables, and for large areas for the
manufacturing of cables. In addition, the ground must
have reasonable strength to withstand the mass of the
cables (these are closely coiled, with an AC export cable
weighing approximately 70 to 100 kg/m).
Figure 52 - Busy scene during construction of Thanet OWF It should be noted that the actual vessel overall
dimensions have been used to establish whether a port
passes or fails the initial screening. In reality, a safe
clearance would be required on both the vessel beam and
its draft etc, but since there is a range of vessels in each
class considered, it is reasonable to suppose that at least
some specific vessels within each class would be suitable.
Hence the vessel selection criteria within the port study
(Section 3.9) is simply based on the key vessel
characteristics.
9
IMCA IMCA M 203 - Guidance on simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) - www.imca-int.com
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 59
Parameter
The remaining Sections 3.6.2 to 3.6.8 describe the key Section 3.6.10 presents a high-level preliminary
characteristics for different offshore wind vessel classes. screening for vessels known to be available in India.
Section 3.6.9 describes the suitability of different Section 3.6.11 summarizes typical vessel port access
vessel classes for different construction activities. requirements in terms of draft (depth) and beam (width).
60 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
n rectangular
Figure 55 - Fugro Seacrore’s Excalibur towed jack-up installing
a monopile n lattice type
The towed jack-up or self-elevating platform (SEP) is The stable-base provided by a jack-up barge (JUB) is
effectively a dumb barge with a heavily stiffened hull equivalent to working onshore, and if an onshore crane
retro-fitted with jack-legs. Early usage of these vessels is retro-fitted, onshore lift-specifications can be used
was primarily focused on inshore marine construction (except when lifting from floating plant or another
where a flexible deck layout was required to meet site dynamic lift). Dynamic lifting offshore is not
specific needs. However today jack-ups used in the wind recommended practice for onshore cranes. This stability
industry have permanent fitted cranes. makes JUBs ideal for installing the nacelles and blades
of turbines, which are the most precise lifts required
As offshore wind projects have grown is number, MW anywhere on a project due to strict bolt alignment
capacity and complexity (e.g. larger capacity farms, tolerances and insensitivity to the wave state. Hence
larger/heavier WTGs with higher hub heights and bigger jack-up barges (JUBs) effectively dominate this area of
foundations) a new class of jack-up vessel has evolved to work.
meet these specific industry demands and have become
known as the Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV), Historically there were fears regarding offshore wind
see Figure 56. vessel shortages, and if installation rates do indeed
increase to previously planned levels, jack-up vessels
Jack-up vessels are often referred to as jack-up barges will likely be restricted to turbine installation work, and
or JUBs and may be fitted with a number of propulsion attract a premium, while floating solutions will be used
types: for the majority of other activities.
n diesel or diesel/electric propellers, with or without
There are a few JUBs with longer legs, and a number of but it is unlikely to prove suitable for 6 MW classes due
new-builds are joining the marketplace with capacities to crane capacity and deck area limitations. Small vessels of
carry out the larger 6 MW+ class turbine installation work this type with longer legs are likely to find favour for the
in water depths from 30 to 45 m. It is noteworthy that pre-piling of jacket foundations in deeper waters.
lattice legged jack-ups are the vessel of choice for the oil
and gas industry for water depths over 50 m. This is due Larger vessels like the NG 9000C (examples including
to a reduced mass to stiffness ratio and reduced wave Brave Tern and Bold Tern, see Figure 59) are capable of
loading on the legs, and vessels designed with both installing both 6 MW class turbines and most piled
marketplaces (O&G and wind industry) in mind are foundations. There have been several studies on
generally of the lattice legged type. installing substations in sections utilising the main WTIV
vessel, but to date in Northern Europe, where there are
An example of a jack up vessel design with a good several heavy lift vessels suitable for lifting oil and gas
combination of leg length to overall size for pre-pilling topsides, modular substation installation has not been
and small wind turbine installation is the Gusto MSC adopted. Similarly there exist quite a large number of
NG2500x (see Figure 57). This is a relatively small barge, offshore oil and gas installations off the Indian coast so
but with 60 m depth working capacity in benign waters the single-lift installation may again be preferred.
and 48 m in harsh conditions. But it will at least be prudent to revisit whether the local
installation cost drivers may make modular substation
installation a preferred option in India.
3.6.3.2 Possible offshore wind roles Many smaller jack-up vessels are not capable of either
Dynamic Positioning (DP) jack-ups are capable of most providing the under-hook height to install larger turbines
roles on wind farm sites, but their stability means that (which occasionally require lifts in excess of 100 m above
they dominate the turbine installation role. MSL) or their on-board cranes have insufficient lift
capacity.
Most jack-up barges in use in the wind industry have
been designed by Gusto MSC, and their model codes are A large number of new-build WTIVs with cranes in the
used henceforth for simplicity. The NG 2500x model has lift capacity range of 800 to 1,500 tonne, and capable
been used for 4 MW class WTG machines (Figure 57), of working in +40 m of water have entered the offshore
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 63
Length 132
Beam 39
Draft - laden 6
Air draft (with jackets on-board) 100
Lift capacity (tonne) 800
This type of vessel is mainly designed for heavy-lifting in Figure 60 - Sheerleg crane-vessel working in tandem with a
jack-up piling vessel
sheltered waters like harbours, rivers and estuaries, but
the larger vessels (over 500 tonne) usually have some
limited capability to operate offshore, in varying levels of Recent experience on one site led to weather related
sea-state. programme delays due to the sheerleg’s metocean limits
for foundation placement on the seabed. It is unlikely
Vessels of this type are available in Northern European that Sheerlegs will be used widely in this role far offshore
waters up to 3,300 tonne capacity and widely in anything but summer weather windows and or due
available across the Asia region. They can transit in seas to a lack of available and suitable vessels. Sheerlegs are
with significant wave heights of well over 1 m, but are however often used during the installation of offshore
generally limited to carrying out lifting operations in substation topsides due to the one-off nature of this lift
seas of between 0.5 and 1 m significant wave heights, as presented in Figure 61.
depending on craft size.
Table 16 illustrates the key features and dimensions of a
Since lifting is always over the end of the barge, sheerleg typical Sheerleg.
cranes require less beam than ship-type crane vessels of
an equivalent lift capacity which can carry out 360°
fully-rotating lifts. This is a major advantage in ports with
64 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Length 70
Beam 32
Draft - laden 6
Air draft 85
Lift capacity (tonne) 1,800
3.6.5.1 Vessel characteristics They have been used successful by the oil and gas
Cargo vessels deliver loads rapidly and cost effectively industry for a wide variety of offshore installation
around the world, and by fitting heavy cranes to the duties. Figure 63 shows a screenshot from an animation
vessel, they can collect and deliver cargo from ports of a jacket installation, during which the vessel carries
which do not have adequate crane capacity to handle not only the jacket structure but also the pin piles, piling
the shipment. Often these are individual large units spread and grouting spread. Likewise tripods would
for chemical plants or transformers for power station appear to be another potential application.
projects – and are described as project cargo. The two-crane tandem lift configuration largely avoids
problems with the limited under-hook height with which
Some of these vessels have been fitted with dynamic many single-crane vessels struggle with when installing
positioning (DP) meaning they have the capacity both to deeper water structures.
deliver components rapidly to offshore sites, at speeds of
15-20 knots, and also lift and position them accurately.
Essentially DP is a computer-controlled system which
compares Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite
location data with the desired position of the vessel,
as set by the helmsman. DP takes control of all vessel
propulsion to pilot the vessel to the desired location,
or onto the desired course at the set speed etc.
Dimension Value [m] The stabilisation legs are a hybrid between the passive
spud-legs, which are clamped in position, and jack-legs,
Length Parameter which actively jack the vessel out of the water. There is
144.1
Beam 26.7 some level of downward pressure exerted by the legs,
Draft - laden 8.1 which helps to react the overturning moments associated
Air draft (with jackets on-board) 100 with the lifted loads.
Lift capacity offshore (tonne) 1,000
The origins of these vessels mean that they have good
Lift capacity in port (tonne) 1,800
hydrodynamic hull forms and transit rapidly and
economically. This has allowed some projects to collect
Table 17 - Key dimensions DP2 Heavy Lift Cargo Vessel,
Jumbo Javelin turbines from the manufacturer’s load-out facility and
deliver them straight to site in reasonable cycle-times,
with the additional saving of the costs of a
A number of these vessels are also equipped with construction mobilisation and storage port. It has also
dynamic positioning, including: won them feeder vessel duties on at least one recent
project.
n two of Jumbo Shipping’s J-1800 class
n both of Jumbo Shipping’s K-3000 class new builds
n both of SAL Shipping’s type 183 vessels
Vessel suitable √
Parameter
Vessel may be suitable under certain circumstances e.g.
modification or special marine operations required ~
Vessel unsuitable
X
Leg-stabilised
cargo vessels
crane vessel
Parameter Water
barge
Activity depth
[m]
< 10 ~ ~ √ ~ ~ √ √
10 — ~ ~ √ ~ ~ ~ √
Monopile driving
20 — X ~ √ ~ ~ ~ √
> 30 X ~ √ ~ ~ X √
30 — ~ ~ √ √ ~ √ √
Jacket/tripod pre-piling 40 — ~ ~ √ √ ~ √ √
50 — ~ ~ √ √ ~ √ √
30 — ~ √ √ √ ~ X √
Jacket installation 40 — X √ √ √ ~ X √
50 — X √ √ √ ~ X √
10 — ~ ~ √ √ √ X ~
20 — ~ ~ √ √ √ X ~
Tripod installation 30 — X ~ √ ~ ~ X ~
40 — X ~ √ ~ ~ X ~
50 — X ~ √ X X X ~
10 — ~ √ √ √ √ √ √
20 — ~ √ √ √ √ ~ √
Transition piece installation 30 — X √ √ √ √ X √
40 — X √ √ √ √ X √
50 — X √ √ √ √ X √
10 — X X X X X √ √
20 — X X X X X ~ √
Turbine installation 4MW 30 — X X X X X X √
40 — X X X X X X √
50 — X X X X X X √
Substation topside X √ √ √ ~ X X
MAXIMUM
Strategy description
Beam Draft
Alternative bolted monopiles have also been seen in Transition pieces are generally up-ended and transported
some projects in Europe and China. In shallow sites these vertically; this is primarily to protect and prevent damage
can involve monopiles directly bolted to the turbine to the attached secondary steel components (platforms,
tower with secondary steel attached using cages that are boat fenders, ladders and anodes).
friction fitted over the monopile (for example, Kentish
Flats Extension, UK). Alternatively in deeper sites a bolted Monopiles can be installed using the following vessels:
monopile to transition piece can be used (for example, n Towed deck barges, with or without spud-legs – this
Humber Gateway, UK). requires dynamic offshore lifts (cheap spud-legs offer
some stability for offshore lifts - multiple vessel
The remainder for this section focuses on installation options)
strategies for grouted MP to TP connections. n Jack-up barges (static offshore lifts, more expensive
installation barge/jack-up
n Using a feeder vessel to transport the piles out to the
site
72 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Source: CRG
Figure 69 - Jack-up upending a monopile in preparation Figure 70 - Piling frame on Excalibur awaiting a floating monopile
for piling
The most common monopile installation methodology is 3. Up-end pile using vessel crane or up-ending tool
to use a jack-up vessel as a piling guide, and to use the (typically using JUB or WTIV or sheerleg vessel);
on-board crane to both lift the pile into a guide-frame 4. Drive monopile to design depth using suitable piling
(also called the piling gate), and place the hammer on hammer (typically using JUB or WTIV);
top for pile-driving, as shown in Figure 69. 5. Place scour protection material if required;
6. Clean pile of marine growth (using manual equipment
Lifting the pile vertical usually requires cranage with a lift or specialist pile cleaners);
capacity in excess of the mass of the pile. Two exceptions 7. Transport (vertically) TPs to installation site (various
to this vessel crane lift-capacity limitation exist: vessels suitable);
8. Lift transition piece onto pre-installed monopile
n A technique called semi-buoyant lifting, in which (various vessels suitable) and level using hydraulic
the pile is plugged and the lift-weight seen by the jacking system;
installation crane is reduced. This technique 9. Attach grouting lines and fill grouted annulus (either
potentially allows installation vessels with relatively TP installation vessel equipped with grouting spread or
small lift capacities to install heavy foundations. It does separate grouting vessel).
however require complicated marine operations
planning and supervision, and is not a preferred Monopile diameters installed to date have varied from
technique for most installation sites. 4 m upwards and diameters of 8.0 m or larger are being
n A specialist piling frame, for example as seen fitted to discussed for installation in wind farms in the future, with
jack-up Excalibur in Figure 70, which has a jack-up forged piling hammer anvil diameters being the limiting
pile-guide which lifts and rotates the pile into the factor. At present there is a piling anvil effective limit of
vertical, independently of the crane. approximately 7 m diameter.
If the installation vessel does not have cranage in excess A key design factor is the fatigue life of the monopile
of the mass of the pile, it is possible to use a different circumferential and transition piece attachment welds.
vessel which does have the required cranage in Great care must be taken regarding the planned driving
conjunction with the installation vessel as a piling barge sequence during monopile design, as driving the pile
(see Sheerleg crane in Section 3.6.4, Figure 60). too hard could reduce the fatigue life of the monopile
below which is needed for the 20 to 25 year wind
In summary the typical installation sequence for driven turbine operational design life.
monopile and transition pieces is as follows:
1. If scour protection is required place filter layer on
seabed before monopile driving;
2. Transport monopile to installation site (typically dumb
barge or WTIV or bunged monopiles);
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 73
3.7.3.2 Drive-drill-drive technique This significant advantage must be offset against the
The ground conditions of some sites include layers of likelihood that there will be environmental constraints
harder material which cannot be driven through without placed on the discharge of the drill uprisings. During
damaging the pile. The installation technique in these drive-drill-drive operations at early wind farms off North
circumstances is “drive-drill-drive”. This technique Wales, foundation contractors were allowed to discharge
consists of driving the pile down to the harder layer, the cuttings straight over the side of the barge, to form
before using a large-diameter reverse circulation drill, an added layer of scour protection around the bottom
to remove the upper layers, and then drilling through the of the pile. This allowed large plumes of turbid water to
hard layer, generally at a slightly smaller diameter than form, and with the strong currents at the site, the impact
the pile to ensure subsequent good contact between the would have been felt well downstream from these sites.
pile and the soil. The drill is then removed and the pile is It has been shown that this had little measurable material
driven down to its target depth. environmental impact in this case and it is understood
that it may be accepted in future developments, and may
This technique is clearly far more time-consuming than form a test-case for other sites, although there may be
simply driving the pile, and given the fact that jacket-leg stricter constraints placed on works by other jurisdictions.
piles can be made far more robustly, and driven through
harder sub-strata, it would appear logical to revert 3.7.4 Jackets structures installation strategy
to jacket foundations if monopiles cannot be driven. Jacket foundations may be installed with pre-installed
However, given the large cost differential between the or post-installed piles (see Figure 71). Post-installed piles
monopile and steel tubular jacket-structures, and the sea have the advantage that one vessel could be used for the
bed preparation which they sometimes require, it is often entire operation but the foundations will likely be heavier
economical to carry out drilling operations rather than as a result of the attached pile sleeves. Pre-installed
to install jackets. Jackets may also not be best suited piles enable two vessels to be operating simultaneously
due to structural dynamic effects; their inherent high (shorter installation time) and lighter jacket structures as
structural stiffness can make it challenging to meet the sleeves are not required to resist pile driving forces.
wind turbines natural frequency window when jackets
are deployed in shallow waters.
3. Jacket installation
The template is then removed and the jacket is lowered
into the piles. Stab-ins on each of the jacket legs fit
internally into the pre-driven piles, as shown in Figure 73.
Figure 72 - Small pile-driving jack-up, with yellow under-slung The jackets typically arrive on site by the means of a
pre-piling template capable feeder barge, a suitable jack-up barge (JUB)
such as a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) will be
3.7.4.1 Pre-installed piles pre-stationed and jacked up at the installation location,
Pre-installed pile types are becoming favoured for larger the feeder barge will then go alongside for the WTIV to
jacket projects in Europe for the following key reasons: lift off a jacket and install it.
2. Pin-pile installation
A degree of sea bed levelling may be required prior to
the arrival of the jacket and this would be undertaken
using dredging equipment with high-resolution sonar.
The requirement for sea bed dredging will be wholly
driven by the results of any geological campaign at
individual turbine locations.
Next, a piling template is lowered onto the sea bed.
The template is assumed to be part of the jack-up spread
and is re-usable for each turbine location (see Figure 74).
Piles are individually lowered into the pile-guides and a
suitable hydraulic hammer is used to drive them to their Figure 73 - Jacket leg stab-ins at point of insertion into
design depth. pre-piled foundation
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 75
n Barge construction
If the GBS is constructed on a barge, the barge needs
to be taken to the site, where a sufficiently powerful
heavy lift crane vessel is required to lift it from the barge
and onto the sea bed.
Often, the ground at the site needs to be prepared would be unsuitable to operate in onerous far-offshore
before the GBS can be placed on the sea bed. In order waters. Some semi-submersible installation barges have
to improve the soil bearing capacity, dredging is often also been proposed as solutions.
performed to remove the layer of quaternary deposits.
This can be carried out using a fall-pipe vessel or even a 3.7.5.2 Floated GBS´s
grab-crane, the GBS is then lifted onto the prepared area There has been much research and development work
of seabed. done on the potential for buoyant gravity base
structures. A number of designers have been tendering
The prevailing ground conditions in Gujarat are believed for work, and amongst these, the BAM and Gravitas
to be pile-able cohesive soils of reasonable strength, the (see Figure 78) designs are two of the front-runners.
prevailing seabed ground conditions off Tamil Nadu are However to date, apart from a few met masts which
known to include areas of rock with over laying sands, have been deployed in this way, no large scale
albeit in some areas a layer of coral rock, which may be deployment of this foundation type has been seen on
soft enough to pile through. an offshore wind farm.
In these latter areas it is anticipated that gravity based The significant advantage that floating designs have
structures may be considered as viable alternatives to over lifted designs is clearly that during the transport
more conventional piled steel foundations. This is also and installation phase there is no requirement for
due to the close proximity of numerous environmentally anything other than tugs to tow the device, thus saving
sensitive sea areas, with populations of a variety of significantly against the costs associated with expensive
protected marine mammals. installation vessels.
3.7.5.1 Lifted GBS’s Heavy lift cargo vessels (HLCV) are generally used to
This method involves installation using very large heavy transport wind turbine generator (WTG) components
lift vessels (HLVs). The installation can be carried out with from the manufacturer’s port(s) to the marshalling port.
the vessel directly cycling between port and the wind As described in Section 3.5 wind turbine generators can
farm site or by the method shown in Figure 77 where be installed in a number of different ways.
multiple foundations are pre-loaded onto a barge and
transported to the installation site. Ideally a buffer stock of two complete cycles of the
installation vessel is stored, and preassembly of rotors can
If the water depth is larger than 10 to 15 m, the mass be carried out, if required. This level of storage is probably
of the GBS increases rapidly, and it is then necessary to the optimal quantity, and only experienced contractors,
have a very large HLV. A modification to the Eide 5 dumb who are very competent at construction programme
barge (see Figure 77), involving the addition of a bespoke planning, are capable of achieving such a low level of
lift-frame, allows installation of GBS’s of up to 1,800 storage. For the purposes of the ports assessment, it will
tonne in the relatively benign waters of the Baltic sea, be assumed that approximately half of the project’s WTG
but like other craft based upon dumb barges, this vessel units may be stored at any one time.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 77
4
http://www.fowind.in/publications/report
Figure 80 - Wind turbine installation vessels
78 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
n Self-installing substructure and topside The cable would be stored in either a static cable tank or
A novel method (used in BARD Offshore 1, Germany) a powered cable carousel. The cable installation vessel
to avoid the use of HLCVs. Both the substructure and would also be equipped with cable handling equipment
buoyant topside are designed to float and are then to control the tension during the cable lay and to provide
towed to site; where the substructure is then lowered holdback to control the rate of cable pay-out.
to the seabed and following this the topside is raised
clear of the water using an in-built jacking system. Dedicated cable laying vessels are generally based upon
vessels rather than barges. Export cables are loaded at
n Subsea base frame and floating jack-up topside the manufacturer’s premises in a single length of possibly
In this method a lattice base frame (substructure) is tens of kilometres, and taken direct to the offshore wind
pre-installed on the seabed and the buoyant/enclosed farm site. There is a strong likelihood that the export cable
topside is floated over and using in-built jack-up legs laying vessel may never actually visit any port in the area
is installed and raised clear of the water (used for the of the OWF site, unless they are using the port as a safe
BorWin Beta HVDC converter station, Germany). haven. They are therefore unlikely to represent the most
onerous vessel when assessing the port.
n Topside float-over installation
This approach has strong synergies with the O&G The following procedure is to install the export cables
industry in the Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East. from the shore landing point to the offshore wind farm:
A jacket substructure is pre-installed with two
up-stands. The heavy topside is then floated out by n The cable installation vessel arrives at a location close
barge. During high water the barge is located between to the shore landing point approaching the shore at
the two jacket up-stands, de-ballasted and the topside high water;
lowered and located into position. Following this the n The cable end is passed from the cable installation
topside is jacked-up clear of the water (used for SylWin vessel and connected to a tow wire from an onshore
Alpha HVDC convertor station, Germany). winch. The cable end is then floated off from the
vessel and towed towards the shore. When the cable
end reaches the beach it is pulled up to the cable
onshore jointing chamber;
n The cable end is then secured at the joint transition pit;
manner;
n When the cable reaches the cable termination point,
the following procedure can be used to install the 3.8 Port infrastructure
inter-array cables:
3.8.1 Introduction
n A cable barge or a specialist cable installation vessel Sea ports exist across the world and to some degree
would be mobilised to the project site. The cables their facilities have become standardised. As an example,
will be supplied either on cable reels or as a continuous containers are standardised items and therefore container
length; ports for receiving and distributing this cargo will have
n The vessel transits to site and takes up station adjacent similarities across the globe. This section of the report
to a wind turbine structure. A cable end is then floated describes standard types of port infrastructure that can
off from the cable reel on the vessel towards the wind be found in ports surrounding India and describes their
turbine structure and connected to a pre-installed suitability and adaptability for offshore wind operations
messenger line in the J-tube; (see Sub-section 3.8.2). The section also introduces the
n The cable is then pulled up the J–tube in a controlled requirements for international port compliance
manner. When the cable reaches the cable termination (see Sub-section 3.8.3).
point, the pulling operation ceases and the cable joint is
then made; When specific facilities were assessed as part of the port
n The cable is laid away from the first J-tube towards the study (see Section 3.9) only the characteristics of the most
J-tube on the second wind turbine structure; capable berths were considered, but when projects reach
n If the cable is being buried simultaneously with the lay the detailed planning phase, each possible berth will need
of the cable, this would be achieved with the use of a to be included.
subsea cable plough. Alternatively, the cable would be
laid into a trench in the seabed and buried later using The physical requirements for offshore wind ports are
a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) which is purpose often more onerous than for more traditional cargo.
built for cable burial. Figure 87 presents the Global Wind turbine components are large structures, which
Marine ‘Eureka’ ROV, an example of this type of vehicle; impose significant bearing pressures on the ground
n When the cable installation vessel nears the J-tube surface and also require significant storage space at the
on the second wind turbine structure, the cable end port. The most common example of this is the ground
is taken from the reel, ready for pulling up the second bearing capacity in the storage area and at the quayside;
J tube; some of the down selected ports in Gujarat and Tamil
n The cable end is attached to the messenger line from Nadu will require soil strength improvements before they
the bell-mouth of the second J-tube. The pulling can fully support offshore wind project construction.
operation is repeated in the same manner as was
employed at the first J-tube; In areas where self-propelled modular transporters
n It is probable that a ‘lay loop’ of cable would be laid on (SPMTs) are to be used, a minimum bearing capacity of
the seabed close to the second J-tube to accommodate 10 tonne/m2 is recommended to allow storage and
the slack, or over-length allowance (as the final cable transportation of wind farm components. Also, to
end is released from the cable drum). support the lifting and/or movement of onshore cranes,
either in the storage area or at the quayside, additional
ground strength is likely required and will be determined
by the size of the load and specifications of the crane.
11
IHS Fairplay Port and Terminals Guide
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 81
3.8.2.1 Break bulk facilities components of the same size as project cargos, but there
Break bulk cargo or general cargo are goods that must are tens or hundreds of these components. Onshore and
be loaded individually, but they are not containerised offshore wind have therefore become major players in
or in loose bulk (like coal or iron ore). It usually takes the global project cargo logistics market.
the form of some type of cargo in protective packaging Project cargos tend to be transported onshore using
which may be a crate, a drum, a bag, or it may be on self-propelled modular transport units (SPMTs), which
a pallet. Facilities to handle this sort of cargo generally have individual axle loads which generally vary between
have rail-mounted or wheeled harbour cranes, which 15 and 40 tonne, and require 10 tonne/m2 bearing
vary in capacity from as little as 10 tonne to a the larger capacity. A general cargo berth with in excess of
capacities of the Gottwald Model 812 or Liebherr LHM600 10 tonne/m2 bearing capacity would be suitable for load
which have around 200 tonne capacity. Earlier this year out of offshore wind components. Additional SPMT units
Liebherr launched the LHM 800 which has a capacity of will spread the load and lessen individual axle loads, and
308 tonne, but harbour cranes are generally towards the likewise reduce the bearing capacity requirement, but
lower end of the lift capacity range quoted. at a cost premium. Although it is possible that this will
make a particular berth usable which would otherwise
appear to be of insufficient strength.
There is a category “project cargos” described within Since the whole loading and unloading arrangement is
shipping and logistics which refers to the extra-large run as a highly efficient computer-controlled operation,
components. These are generally major items in there is no appetite to share the facility with other types
particular construction projects, hence the name. of cargo, so container berths are not likely to be used by
Typically, there are only one or two unique items of this the offshore wind industry where other suitable facilities
type per project. Offshore wind however tends to have are available.
12
Gottwald Model 8 - http://www.terex.com/port-solutions/en/
products/harbour-cranes/mobile-harbour-cranes/model-8/index.htm
13
Liebherr LHM 800 - http://www.liebherr.com/MCP/en-GB/
products_mcp.wfw/id-11603-0/measure-metric
82 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Source: Wikipedia
Coal and iron ore are very common in major Indian ports
(see Figure 90). They are stored in open bulk mounds
and because of the sheer areas which are often required;
these may be several hundred metres inshore from the
berth. Transport of this material is typically facilitated
using long conveyor belt systems which by their nature
give rise to low headroom clearances around the port
estate. Both coal and iron ore are dirty cargos and whilst
coal can be cleaned-off by a simple jet-wash, iron ore
tends to be magnetic, and adheres to the metal Source: Hindustan Shipyard
components of wind turbines. If precision machined
Figure 91 - Dry dock facilities
parts become impregnated with iron dust there is great
potential for damage. For this reason turbines are unlikely
to be unloaded or stored in areas where bulk coal or iron key facilities identified in the port selection study.
ore are handled. It is recommended to investigate the potential use of
floating dry docks which can be mobilised at harbour
The major issue with bulk cargo facilities is that the facilities that have the capacity to accommodate GBS
conveyors effectively act as a barrier to the transit of production.
“high and heavy” cargos (and most wind turbine
components are in this category). Ports tend to put the 3.8.2.5 Liquid facilities
conveyor systems to one side of their port estate to Liquid cargos are offloaded and transported by pipelines
minimise the impact of the headroom restriction. for several hundreds of metres and stored in large
clusters of storage tanks often referred to as tank farms.
3.8.2.4 Dry-dock facilities
In most cases the presence of dry dock facilities for In the same way as the conveyor systems for bulk cargo
repairing ships is largely irrelevant for offshore wind handling, these pipe line systems tend to form an
farms. However, there is an opportunity to cast gravity effective barrier to wind farm components. Again ports
based structures (GBS) in a dry-dock and then flood the tend to put their liquid cargo berth at one extremity of
dock to launch the structures. The launch can either their site or another, and ports handling both types of
involve a float-away method if they are buoyant or to cargo therefore become bounded by liquid facilities on
allow access to a heavy lift vessel if they are not. In Tamil one side and bulk on the other.
Nadu the rock seabed may make the consideration of
GBSs more attractive, so dry docks may be worthy of
consideration, however no dry docks existed within the
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 83
3.8.2.9 Multipurpose facilities n possible installation strategies (in turn defining likely
By their very nature multipurpose berths are more n vessel specifications (used to define minimum port
complex to assess, and if they are considered, would requirements to facilitate operations)
n standard port infrastructure specifications and
require individual assessment. Some berths have both
liquid and general cargo facilities, and some are used suitability for offshore wind
for handling bulk and project cargos as well.
This desk-based screening study has utilised the above
Multipurpose vessel is another name given to vessels like preparation phase information to consider the suitability
heavy lift cargo vessels. They are generally more suited of ports in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to supply the
to project cargo handling than the lighter duty general potential Indian offshore wind project demands for
cargos and break bulk cargos. There is an expectation construction operations. This screening process (see
that “high and heavy” cargos will use these berths, Section 3.9.2) was developed further during the more
and haul routes will be specified to allow for the axle detailed port readiness assessment (see Sections 3.9.3
loadings associated with SPMTs rather than conventional and 3.9.4) which included site visits to promising ports.
road haulage.
In terms of maritime limitations, some technical
3.8.3 International port compliance requirements stem from the physical dimensions of the
vessels used for either the construction phase or for
3.8.3.1 ISPS Compliant transportation (as logistical elements of the supply chain,
The IMO International Ship and Port Facility Security code described in Section 2); in these contexts the following
ensures that cargos can be transported internationally items need to be considered:
n vessel beam
and since at the present time there is no Indian offshore
n laden and un-laden draft (water depth required by
turbine manufacturer there is a strong possibility that
there will be a requirement for importation, which will the vessel should also include an additional amount for
require an ISPS compliant port. safety, and changes in level, and silting up)
n their overall length (to a lesser extent)
Section 3.9.5 provides a high-level screening of possible timbers are 30 cm by 30 cm and can distribute load
O&M ports, based on those identified in the FOWIND nearly uniformly over their area.
Pre-feasibility reports.
It is also assumed that blades are stored in stacks of three
3.9.2 Construction port screening and the frames are supported by 4 m long blocks at
The Ports Screening Process involves the comparison of both ends. In deck strength requirement calculations, for
two sets of data, (1) the requirements which the project nacelles, it is assumed that similar transport frames with
components, vessels and installation strategies place four columns would support the structure and would rest
upon the port; and (2) the physical dimensions and on timbers the length of half of the nacelle.
characteristics of the port to meet the demand. This is
assessed in a quantified and systematic approach in order The transition pieces are assumed to rest on a frame,
to assess the supply and demand of port infrastructure. which rests on four columns, the mass distributed over
This involves establishing: two pieces of baulk timber as long as the diameter of the
n the port infrastructure characteristics required by each transition piece. The monopile foundations are assumed
combination of turbine model/foundation type/ to be stored on ten columns at five points along the
construction strategy foundation, each column resting on a 4 m long piece of
n the port infrastructure capacity of the most capable baulk timber. It has often been found to be cheaper to
berth within each of the various ports within support monopiles on multiple parallel bunds (see Figure
reasonable geographic proximity of the development 96), but this approach may not be suitable for all ports.
Source: www.mlm.uk.com
zone SPMTs can then drive between the bunds and lift the
monopiles as required.
Lastly a comparison of the two is made to establish
which ports are suitable to facilitate which types of
installation strategies, without any requirement for port
redevelopment. Further studies could then establish a
cost gap-analysis to evaluate how much it would cost to
bring any given port’s facilities up to the requirements
of any particular approach to transport and installation
(T&I), and this would allow a project level cost-benefit
analysis to be based upon the value of the identified
capital expenditure.
Figure 96 - Monopile storage on bunds, of the same height
3.9.2.1 Key assumptions as an SPMT
It is assumed that components will be raised off the
ground during storage, as shown in Figure 95. This Lastly, the jacket foundations are assumed to be stored
enables self-propelled modular transport (SPMTs) to upright or on their sides, at the manufacturer’s premises,
manoeuvre underneath, jack-up to take the mass of the and each of the four contact points resting on 12 m2
component, and transit to the quayside for load-out. load spreading mats. It should be noted, however, that
A sufficient gap must therefore be left for the SPMT it is not recommended for the jackets to be stored at
beneath the component. The typical method to achieve the staging port, but loaded immediately onto a barge
this is to use transport frames with metal columns to from the manufacturing port and kept there until ready
raise the component off the ground and baulk timbers for installation. Jacket foundations are particularly fragile
to distribute the load to the ground. In deck strength and this method avoids multiple handling and potential
requirement calculations, it has been assumed that baulk damage.
86 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
3.9.2.2 Screening ports in Gujarat The five selected facilities of interest are as follows:
The State of Gujarat has over 1,600 km of coastline
(the longest in India) and a significant number of n The Adani port facility has potential to be used as
developed and protected harbours. In the FOWIND wind turbine marshalling facility during construction
Gujarat Pre-feasibility study report a total of 38 ports n Larsen and Toubro’s fabrication facility in Hazira
have been identified in the Gujarat region (see Figure 97). would be a possible fabrication site for several types
of offshore wind foundations and possibly substation
topsides
n The Port of Pipavav has facilities to accommodate
of various jack-up and dynamically positioned vessels in with a dedicated terminal for oil, iron ore and general
such conditions. This work has been largely driven by the cargo and 24 hour 7 day operations, and a passenger
embryonic tidal energy industry in the UK and its terminal. Closest development zone is H, which is
requirement to install tidal stream generators in these approximately 290 km.
harsh tidal conditions. GeoSea recently conducted an n Tuticorin - the port of Tuticorin is provided with an
extreme current trial in Raz Blanchard, France where the oil & coal handling jetty and 24 hour 7 day operations,
jack-up Goliath was successfully stationed in 10 knot general, break-bulk, container and bulk cargo handling
(5 m/s) in 56 m of water, see Figure 100. This expertise facilities, dry and liquid cargo storage facilities and
and the lessons learnt could well be leveraged to great a passenger terminal. Closest development zone is A,
advantage during marine operations planning for which is approximately 20 km.
installations in the Gulf of Khambhat.
Source: Maritimejournal
offshore wind (Sections 3.9.3.2 to 3.9.3.6) It can be seen that Bhavnagar is unsuitable for any
n reports key findings from the port estate visits vessel to pass through its narrow access channel, but
in Gujarat (Sections 3.9.3.2 to 3.9.3.6) that all vessels can operate at Hazira and Pipavav, and
most vessels can operate at Port Okha fully laden at most
3.9.3.1 Installation vessel port access requirement states of the tide, but HLCVs and OSV can only operate
chart - Gujarat partially laden or tidally restricted. A further restriction
The vessel port access requirements which represent the at Port Okha is that the quayside deck strength is
most common ones used in offshore wind installation currently unsuitable for heavy project cargo traffic, and
were described in Section 3.6.11. port infrastructure development would be needed before
the facility could be used. Alternatively construction
The minimum width of vessel which can access each port work could be carried out using floating storage vessels
and the depth at high and low tides are plotted versus moored alongside existing quays but this flexibility would
the four ports (note L&T shipyard Hazira considered come at a cost premium.
mainly for manufacturing purposes only) with the most
potential for offshore wind construction in Gujarat, see 3.9.3.2 Adani container port at Hazira
Figure 103. Adani Hazira port is a privately owned container port
located on the west side of the Hazira peninsula. An
If the vessel is to the LEFT and BELOW the entire line entrance channel connects the port with the deep water
associated with a particular port then it is both: of the Sutherland Channel. Allowing for the arrival and
n narrow enough to fit into the port’s tightest marine departure of ships up to a draft of 13 m. Development
access requirement, and zones D and F are approximately 13 km away from the
n it’s fully laden draft is less than the water depth at any port. The layout and aerial view of the port can be seen
state of the tide, meaning that the vessel can operate in Figure 104 and Figure 105 respectively.
at that port at any state of the tide, and whether it is
un-laden or fully loaded The straight approach channel has a clear width of
700 m at the seaward side tapering off to a width of
If the port is to the LEFT of the vessel, the port is not 470 m between the breakwaters at the harbour
wide enough to allow the vessel access. entrance, to allow unobstructed and easy passage of
ships.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 89
- steel yard
- liquid terminal
Infrastructure - covered storage
- open storage
- containers
Available facilities
Parameter
Break bulk facilities √ RoRo facilities x
A heavily piled central area under the northern quay With suitable offshore wind development density in
means that the port can be considered suitable for Gujarat and given the size of the port it is also possible,
handling heavy project cargos using self-propelled subject to availability, that manufacturers might give
modular transporters (SPMTs). The quay has a high consideration to locating their operations here to serve
freeboard, so all loading and unloading would have to the wider Gujarat offshore wind zones. However the lack
be by crane, and RoRo options would require substantial of available development land at the site could be a
ingenuity. factor in any such decision.
The southern quay is of approximately 950 m in length During the construction phase, the port is suitable as a
and is adequately wide to accommodate the container wind turbine marshalling facility, and could also
cranes and transport tractors and trailers, but little else. accommodate foundation marshalling of monopiles and
There is no storage adjacent to the quay. transition pieces as well as jackets and pin-piles.
A major issue regarding access is the tidal streams, which The water depths at this port are deep enough for
have a north – south direction but can be five to six knots conventional or heavy-lift cargo vessels to bring in
according to the IHS guide. The port of Magdalla slightly offshore wind turbines for marshalling. If cabling were
upstream on the river to Surat and Hazira port entrance supplied pre-cut and transported upon individual cable
has a tidal range of 6.5 m15. reels, the port could easily cater for the cargo vessels
which would most likely transport these, and their
There is the Hazira bird sanctuary limiting the northern loading, off-loading and storage, as well as any offshore
development of the port estate, although some potential supply vessels which might be used to install them.
for reclamation appears to exist to the east.
Close proximity to a coal-fired thermal power station These berths would be suitable to receive monopiles,
would potentially make offshore areas suitable for grid transition pieces or jacket pin-piles for marshalling,
connection. delivered by similar vessels, but great care would be
needed in planning the haul route to any monopile and
3.9.3.2.2 Suitability of Adani terminal to support transition piece storage areas, as only a central corridor
offshore wind development in Gujarat of the northern quayside is heavily reinforced for project
As identified in the FOWIND Gujarat Pre-feasibility study cargo transportation using SPMTs. Bringing barges
report444, Adani’s geographic location means that it is alongside with any of the above components aboard
well positioned to support the offshore wind would require careful consideration of fendering and
development zones D and F on the northern and eastern where necessary, loading & unloading arrangements,
areas of the Gulf of Kumbat. And will also be worthy of as the freeboard of the quay is far higher than the
consideration as an O&M base for these two zones. deck-level of even large barges.
15
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port of Magdalla#Tidal information
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 91
Figure 107 - Adani container berths with cranes Figure 109 - Larsen & Toubro port and fabrication facility Hazira
3.9.3.3 Port at Hazira The site consists of a modular fabrication facility (MFF),
When considering ports for offshore wind farms it is heavy engineering & shipbuilding and power equipment
always necessary to consider the location of potential manufacturing facilities. The factory buildings cover over
fabrication facilities, especially when located at sites 34,500 m2 and the site has a heavy-duty load-out quay
which may negate the need for a marshalling facility. on the banks of the river Tapi, approximately 16 km from
Surat, Gujarat. High and heavy haul routes to suitable
Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) are an extremely large privately storage areas are available for any foundation
owned construction group in India and they have a components, should they be fabricated here.
fabrication facility at Hazira. The facilities consist of a Overall their site extends to over two million square
boiler and pressure-vessel manufacturer, with high-quality metres. The layout and aerial view of the port can be
fabrication facilities for oil and gas, power and the seen in Figure 108 and Figure 109 respectively.
nuclear industries. Development zones D and F are
approximately 20 km away from the port.
92 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
n heavy thick rolling machines of 3,050 Mt capacity A major issue regarding access is the tidal streams, which
(maximum plate dimensions for hot rolling 4,500 mm have a north–south direction but can be 5 to 6 knots
width X 225 mm thick, which are much thicker than according to the IHS guide. However, this high tidal
even the heaviest-walled monopiles) range allows larger vessels to be brought in at high tide
n CNC flame/plasma cutting machines (up to 450 mm and bottomed out on the soft-silty riverbed alongside
thick alloy steel plates) the heavy duty ‘V’ shaped load-out quay. There is also
n floor mounted horizontal boring machines (12.5 m RoRo capacity to allow the transport of several thousand
horizontal and 5 m vertical traverse horizontal/vertical tonne modules using self-propelled modular transporters
deep hole drilling machine with maximum drill depth (SPMTs). This may not prove overly restrictive if
up to 1,200 mm) transportation of bunged-monopiles is considered, as
these do not require a high draft, and could be loaded
16
L&T Hazira out and towed for a high proportion of most tidal cycles.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 93
Source: L&T
Being boiler and pressure vessel manufacturers they have given consideration as a base for O&M activities.
the capacity to roll tubular heavy walled structures from Likewise even if manufacturing of components were to
steel plate. This ability to roll thick plates is similar to take place at the site, whilst it may be appropriate to
the requirements for the fabrication of offshore wind locate the construction offices at the site, any Marine
monopiles. In the past the facility has fabricated tubulars Coordination and crew transfer and storage facilities
of up to 1,000 tonne and 100 m in length. would most likely be located at a port facility directly on
The facility has capacity to deliver extremely high quality the coast of the Gulf of Khumbat.
tubular structures.
3.9.3.4 Bhavnagar
Whilst current order books cannot be taken as an Bhavnagar port is situated in Saurashtra region of
indication of future activity, it is noteworthy that the Gujarat. Bhavnagar is managed by the Gujarat maritime
facility is engaged in the fabrication of naval vessels, board. It is an all-weather direct berthing port for smaller
therefore there is very low utilisation of their heavy rolling vessels. It is located in the Gulf of Khumbat.
and welding capacity. The facility clearly has a policy to Development zone F as identified in the FOWIND
accommodate fluctuating order books by having a Pre-feasibility study report4 is approximately 35 km away
diverse portfolio of capabilities, which bodes well for from the port. The layout and aerial view of the port can
their capacity and interest in accommodating the be seen in Figure 112 and Figure 113 respectively.
requirements of new industries like offshore wind energy.
Bhavnagar Port
3.9.3.3.2 Suitability of L&T terminal to support (key parameters)
offshore wind development in Gujarat Draft
Parameter
4 m (lock gate)
L&T’s facility has great potential as a monopile or jacket Mean high water springs (MHWS) 12 m
foundation and offshore substation topside fabrication, Mean low water springs (MLWS) 8.3 m
and storage facility. The closest development zones to Mean sea level (MSL) 3m
the site is zone D and F as identified in the FOWIND Concrete jetty Length 270 m, width 12.8 m
Pre-feasibility report, but the savings associated with the Vessel restrictions Length 144 m, width 20 m
possibility of avoiding the need for a marshalling port
may well mean that it is competitive for a wide range of - rock phosphate
the proposed Gujarat development zones. - coal
Commodities handled - fertiliser
It is unsuitable for marshalling turbines, as the water - iron scrap
depths are too low for conventional heavy lift cargo - sulphur
vessels and in general, all cargo handling must best be - wood and timber
accommodated by barges.
Table 30 - Bhavnagar port key parameters
The port is further upstream than Hazira, and with the Source: IHS Fairplay Ports and Terminals Guide and GMB ports
strong currents in this area, it is therefore unlikely to be
4
http://www.fowind.in/publications/report
94 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Container facilities x Passenger facilities x Bhavnagar’s current major cargo is crushed limestone for
use in the salt-producing areas in the hinterland of the
Dry bulk facilities √ Multipurpose facilities x port.
Dry-dock facilities √ ISPS compliant x The port has a dry dock for repair of tugs, launches and
barges. The port has two workshops. The general
Liquid facilities x CSI compliant x workshop is used to carry out repairs on flotilla units and
mechanical instruments. The running workshop is used
LPG facilities x LNG facilities x for the day-to-day repairs and maintenance
requirements. Recently, the port has been connected
Table 31 - Port facilities available at Bhavnagar with a broad gauge railway line.
Source: IHS Fairplay Ports and Terminals Guide
3.9.3.5 Pipavav
Pipavav Port
Pipavav is privately owned by APM terminals and is the (key parameters)
largest port on the west side of the Gulf of Khumbat. Parameter
The port is an all-weather port. The port’s location in Draft 14.5 m
the state of Gujarat provides immediate access to key Mean high water springs (MHWS) 3.92 m
markets in northwest India. With a total land area of Low low water springs (LLWS) -0.01 m
631 hectares, there is plenty of land available for Mean sea level (MSL) 1.76 m
expansion of port-related services and businesses. Currents Between 2.5-3 knots (peak tidal)
Development zones A, B and C as identified in the Quay length 735 m
FOWIND Gujarat Pre-feasibility report are approximately
23 km, 27 km and 13 km respectively from the port. - container facilities (850k TUEs)
- storage facilities (container
The port is along the major trade routes and is close to freight station 7600 m2)
the major Indian port of Nhava Sheva (300 km away). Cargo facilities - bulk cargo (quay length 690 m,
It has been dredged to 14.5 m draft. There are eight 3 berth)
quay cranes for containers and two mobile harbour - storage facilities (coal yard
cranes for handling bulk cargo. The layout and aerial 100k m2)
view of the port can be seen in Figure 116 and Figure - liquid cargo (2 million Mt)
117 respectively. Table 32 - Pipavav port key parameters
Source: IHS Fairplay Ports & Terminals Guide 2015 & APM terminals
Available facilities
Parameter
Break bulk facilities √ RoRo facilities x
Also the deck strength may not currently have the full
capacity to allow SPMT transportation of project cargos.
So an investigation would be required to cost whether
the usage of additional axles, to reduce the ground
bearing strength requirement, or additional deck
strengthening work would be the most economic
remedial method.
Source: Google Earth
Figure 118 - Pipavav port facilities The port handles deep water bulk carriers, and has
adequate water depth at all of its main quays for all
types of vessels currently in use within the offshore wind
In the north eastern areas of the port estate there is a industry. To the south-west of the main port facility is an
tank-farm for bulk liquid storage. Along the north oil and gas industry repair and fabrication yard (Pipavav
eastern edge of the facility there are pipes which are defence and Offshore engineering company limited).
used to transport liquid cargos from the northern quay Several oil rigs were seen undergoing modification and
to the tank farm. This effectively forms a barrier along repairs.
the other edge of the port facility to offshore wind farm
activities, in the same way as the coal conveyor system
forms a barrier along the other side of the port estate.
The water depths are deep enough for conventional or Length 180 m
heavy-lift cargo vessels to bring in WTGs for marshalling. Width 20.5 m
If cabling were supplied pre-cut and transported upon Sayaji pier Approach 114 m
individual cable reels, the port could easily cater for the 2 vessels at a time
cargo vessels which would most likely transport these, Draft 8 m
and their loading, off-loading and storage, as well as any
offshore supply vessels which might be used to install Length 146 m
them. Width 13.7 m
Dry cargo berth Approach 216 m
The berths are all open to the Gulf of Khumbat, and 2 vessels at a time
there is no sheltered water to act as safe haven in Draft 4 m
inclement weather, but there are large areas protected
by a breakwater at the adjacent oil & gas facility which it MHWS 3.5 m
may be possible to use. MLWN 0.4 m
MHWN 3m
Its geographic location means that the project offices, MSL 2m
marine operations management and PPE & general MLWS 1.2 m
storage facilities could be accommodated within the Commodities handled Coke, coal, wheat, sulphur and fertiliser
security fenced facility. It will also be worthy of
consideration that this port could later be used as a base Table 34 - Okha port key parameters
for O&M activities for development zones A, B and C.
Source: IHS Fairplay Ports & Terminals Guide 2015 & GMB ports
17
http://pipavadoc.com/index.php/oil-gas
98 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Available facilities
Parameter
Break bulk facilities √ RoRo facilities x
3.9.3.6.2 Suitability of Port Okha to support If the port is to the LEFT of the vessel, the port is not
offshore wind development in Gujarat wide enough to allow the vessel access.
In general, this port does not have the capability to
operate as an ideal or conventional offshore wind If the vessel is ABOVE the lower limit of the line but
marshalling facility. BELOW the upper limit, the vessel can only operate at
that port partially laden or tidally restricted.
Whether a mother & daughter barge lightering system
would be suitable in these relatively sheltered waters is It can be seen that there are no vessel type restrictions
worthy of consideration, as is the possibility of simply identified for offshore wind operations at Chennai,
mooring a barge alongside the piers and operating the Kattupalli and Tuticorn.
whole operation from floating storage. This system was
successfully used for the construction of Gunfleet Sands 3.9.4.2 Kattupalli
offshore wind farm, where little more than a small river Kattupalli is 4 km north of Ennore in Tamil Nadu. The
mouth was used with lesser facilities than exist at Okha. port was privately owned by L&T but it is understood that
the facility in the northern part of the site has recently
The waters around Port Okha would be useful as a safe been purchased by Adani Ports Group. The port
haven for vessels constructing within zones G and H, as comprises of a 1.5 km northern breakwater, and a 3 km
they form a well sheltered natural harbour. southern breakwater, forming a sheltered harbour area.
Development zone H, as identified in the FOWIND Tamil
Due to its location at some distance from the proposed Nadu Pre-feasibility study report4 is approximately 310 km
development zones, it is unlikely to be considered as a away from the port.
location for an O&M base, and locations around other
facilities like Porbandar may well prove to be preferable Container berths exist along the in-board side of the
locations for these activities. northern breakwater, but due to its geographic location
at very significant distance from any of the development
3.9.4 Port readiness assessment - Tamil Nadu zones, these are of little interest and will not be
This section develops the screening process further into a considered further in this study. The layout and aerial
more detailed construction port readiness assessment for view of the port can be seen in Figure 125.
Tamil Nadu. The assessment includes:
There could however be possibilities to fabricate
n considerations of vessel access requirements foundations at Kattupalli and in particular GBSs. There is
(Section 3.9.4.1) known to be a coral–rock layer at the surface of the
n an appraisal of the suitability of specific ports for seabed along some of the Tamil Nadu coastline.
offshore wind (Sections 3.9.4.2 to 3.9.4.4) Following discussions with local authorities, it might
n reports key findings from the port estate visits in Tamil be suggested that the region lends itself to GBS type
Nadu (Sections 3.9.4.2 to 3.9.4.4) foundations in some areas. Where coral rock is present,
it may well prove unsuitable for pile driving, without the
3.9.4.1 Installation vessel port access requirement significant additional complexity of either rock-socketing
chart - Tamil Nadu or “drive-drill-drive” installation methodologies.
The vessel port access requirements which represent the
most common ones used in offshore wind installation On the site there are two other facilities that are still
were described in Section 3.6.11. owned and operated by Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T).
One of these is a heavy-duty ship lift and further to
The minimum width of vessel which can access each port the south of the site there is L&T’s O&G fabrication
and the depth at high and low tides are plotted versus facility with an area 1,200 m long by 400 m wide with
the three major ports in Tamil Nadu, see Figure 124. 30 tonne/m2 ground bearing strength.
If the vessel is to the LEFT and BELOW the entire line L&T’s heavy duty ship lift is 200 m long and 46 m
associated with a particular port then it is both: breadth, and has capacity to launch and recover
n narrow enough to fit into the port’s tightest marine 18,000 tonne ships, and is ideally suited for the
access requirement, and launching of GBSs.
n its fully laden draft is less than the water depth at any
No beam limit
Figure 124 - Vessel port access requirement chart for vessels accessing ports in Tamil Nadu
There is 16.5 m of water alongside at the launch-end of Whilst it is generally possible to manufacture floating
the ship-lift which is deep enough for the vast majority foundations, and tow them to site, a distance of this
of vessels to be floated on and off the ship-lift. Further, magnitude in deep sea conditions is not viable in the
inshore of the ship-lift it is equipped with a heavy-duty circumstances. If however foundations were either
rail system, which allows ships to be rolled to a series of rolled directly from the ship lift onto the aft of a heavy
six repair stations. Clearly this facility has a primary role transport vessel, or barge, such a craft could undertake
in ship repair, however it would require little, or no the voyage.
adaptation, to allow for several GBSs to be cast in the
repair stations, rolled to the ship-lift and either launched Conceivably, an ideal solution could be to manufacture
there or rolled onto a vessel for transportation to the buoyant GBS structures, launch then via the ship lift, and
offshore windfarm. then arrange them on the back of a semisubmersible
heavy transport vessel. In this way they could be
The waters between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu are transported around the island of Sri Lanka, and discharge
extremely shallow. This does not allow the passage of from the vessel by simply submerging the craft, and
any but the shallowest draft vessels. Therefore in order to towing the GBS structures to site for storage or
transport any foundations manufactured at Kattupalli, it installation.
will be necessary to circumnavigate Sri Lanka, a journey
of circa 900 NM.
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 101
Available facilities
Parameter
Break bulk facilities √ RoRo facilities x
Fabrication of other foundations or substation structures Source: IHS Fairplay Ports & Terminals Guide
Kattupalli port
(key parameters) Source: Kattupalli
Parameter
Draft 14 m Figure 126 - Port facilities available at Kattupalli
Berth 1 - CB1 Length: 350 m
Berth 1 - CB2 Length: 360 m
Tidal range Approximately 1 m
Outer channel length 2 km
Inner channel length 1.2 km
Channel width 165 m
Turning basin diameter 570 m
Source: IHS Fairplay Ports & Terminals Guide & L&T Kattupalli
102 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
Available facilities
Parameter
Break bulk facilities √ RoRo facilities √
Nadu effectively block the passage of ships through West Quay 1 & 2 are designated for vehicles. Centre
this region and mean that access to the southern Berth has a draft of 12 m and is for general cargo
development regions from Chennai would require and West Quays 1 & 2 are 12 m and 11 m draft
circumnavigating Sri Lanka which renders the site highly respectively, but warehousing immediately inboard
unattractive. of the berths will mean that it would be necessary to
transport components to a storage area.
In some respects it is the very fact that Chennai is such a
well-appointed and therefore busy port which is its least 3. Jawahar Dock has three main dedicated berths;
attractive feature. It has 60 Mt of cargo passing through JD 2 & JD 6 are for bulk liquids and are unsuitable
it per year, on over 2,000 vessels. due to the physical requirements for offshore wind
components as the liquid facilities impose restricted
Offshore wind operations regularly involve towing access due to the pipework (limited headroom
barges, with long bridle arrangements, and loading and passage if pipes above ground or limited axle load if
offloading heavy project cargos to quaysides is an buried beneath ground) see Section 3.8.2.5.
operation which can be sensitive to disturbances from JD 4 is a general cargo berth with 11 m draft which
the wash of any large vessel passing the berth. Ideally, could be usable. Just inboard of this berth is an
ports which are to be selected as a major marshalling area described as the “Coal Yard”, and there appears
facility are less heavily trafficked, but clearly if a port is to be warehouse buildings covering the rest of the
well used because it is so capable, these capabilities may potential storage areas, so it would be necessary to
outweigh the congestion. transport components to a storage area.
Figure 129 - Chennai port estate 3.9.4.3.2 Suitability of Chennai to support offshore
wind development in Tamil Nadu
The major areas which appear most suitable for initial
3.9.4.3.1 Specific berths of interest in Chennai offshore wind development in Tamil Nadu are at such a
The port areas are divided into 5 terminals: vast distance from Chennai that it is unlikely that the port
will find a role. It is however well appointed and would
1. Dr Ambedkar Dock is ringed by berths, which are be technically suitable were local areas to be identified
described above as the cleaner berths. closer to the port.
2. Bharathi Dock consists of two liquid facilities, BD 1 & The major areas which appear most suitable for initial
BD 3 and a bulk ore berth BD 2. The liquid berths are offshore wind development in Tamil Nadu are at such a
unsuitable for offshore wind use. vast distance from Chennai that it is unlikely that the port
will find a role. It is however well appointed and would
The bulk ore berth BD2 has a draft alongside of be technically suitable were local areas to be identified
16.5 m at high water (which is the value quoted in closer to the port.
the IHS Directory), but it is necessary to remember
that the tidal range is 1.3 m.
Figure 131 - Tuticorin port Figure 132 - Tuticorin port development plans
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 105
Berths 5 & 6 (apparently also designated AB 1 & 2, Dry-dock facilities x ISPS compliant √
according to IHS), in Figure 130 are designated as
multi-purpose berths, although 5 is also described as for Liquid facilities √ CSI compliant x
passengers. Berth 5 has a draft of 8.6 m and Berth 6 has
a draft of 9.3 m, and they have lengths for LOA 183 m LPG facilities x LNG facilities x
and LOA 245 m respectively. They are immediately
adjacent to the Container Terminal areas. Within these Table 41 - Port facilities available at Tuticorin
areas, inside the security fence, there is 553,000 m2 of Source: IHS Fairplay Ports & Terminals Guide
open “high and heavy” storage.
3.9.4.4.2 Suitability of Tuticorin to support offshore
wind development in Tamil Nadu
The port of Tuticorin is ideally situated to facilitate the
construction of several windfarm development zones
identified in Tamil Nadu.
As discussed in Section 3.2.5, the requirements for O&M This should be investigated in future studies, where the
ports are much less stringent than those for construction, feasibility and cost vs benefit of port development works
hence most ports with the capability to accommodate are identified.
even the smallest cargo vessels will likely have the
capability to accommodate wind farm support vessels. The full screening matrices and conclusions for both
In general it is important that the O&M port can be Gujarat and Tamil Nadu O&M ports are provided in the
accessed close to 100% of the time under all weather following Sections 3.9.5.1 and 3.9.5.2.
conditions and is not significantly restricted by tidal
constraints or lock gate limitations. O&M support vessels
typically have a maximum draft of 2 m and a 10 m Gujarat summary
maximum beam; hence these values have been
considered when assessing O&M port constraints.
n The selection of O&M ports will pose no
The criteria for assessing O&M ports are given in significant barriers for offshore wind farm
Table 42. Essentially a port which has adequate water development in Gujarat
depth, is less than 25 NM from the identified n One or more ports for each identified
development zones and with 24 hour accessibility is development zone meet the criteria for good
potentially suitable for an O&M base. While some ports O&M bases
in close proximity to the zones have been de-rated to n The extremely high currents which are known
“somewhat suitable” due to noted tidal restrictions18, to exist in the Gulf of Khumbhat will either
these should not be strictly excluded on the basis of this increase or decrease the transit times of
high-level assessment. In some cases it may be possible windfarm vessels
to develop these currently restricted ports with minimal n When planning O&M strategies, it will be
marine/civil works, for example dredging and the necessary to appropriately model the site
addition of strategically placed pontoons. conditions
18
http://www.navionics.com/en, www.worldportsource.com/,
https://www.nga.mil/Pages/Defaut.aspx
ZONE
GUJARAT
A B C D E F G H
Parameter
Pipavav Pipavav Navabandar Vansi Borsi Nargol Hazira Dwarka Porbandar
Top 3 ports Jafrabad Mahuba Pipavav Hazira Jafrabad Dahej Bhogat Mangrol
13 13 5 5 22 4 5 8
Distance to
zones (NM) 14 13 5 7 38 6 9 17
16 18 5 11 38 6 12 26
3.9.5.1 Gujarat
Ennore Minor 330 369 271 349 379 210 405 162 N
Kattupalli Minor 333 372 274 352 382 213 408 165 N
ZONE
TAMIL
NADU A B C D E F G H
Parameter
Manappad Kanyakumari Valinokkam Manappad Kanyakumari Pamban Kanyakumari Thirukkuvalai
Top 3 ports Punnakayal Koodankulam Tuticorin Punnakayal Koodankulam Rameswaram Muttom Nagappattinam
8 6 12 6 16 6 6 5
Distance to
8 7 13 19 20 11 7 13
zones (NM)
10 8 15 22 24 49 11 19
In Tamil Nadu three facilities were investigated: n Tuticorin - The port of Tuticorin is provided with an
oil & coal handling jetty and 24 hour 7 day operations,
n Kattupalli - This deep water port is provided with a general, break-bulk, container and bulk cargo handling
dedicated terminal for handling coal, general and liquid facilities, dry and liquid cargo storage facilities and
cargo and a vast hinterland. Closest development zone a passenger terminal. Closest development zone is A,
is H, which is approximately 310 km. It has potential which is approximately 20 km. The port is ideally
as a manufacturing site, most notably for GBS situated and has potential to be used as a wind turbine
structures, jacket foundations and offshore substation and foundation marshalling facility during construction
topsides (see Sub-Section 3.9.4.2). (see Sub-Section 3.9.4.4).
n Chennai - The deep water port of Chennai is
Bhavnagar x Zone F - 35 km n Scour protection marshalling during the construction and O&M phases
Table 47 and Table 48 summarise the capability of the An alternative would be to develop regional offshore
ports considered most suitable to generally facilitate wind construction hubs where the scope and range of
offshore wind construction in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. possible projects are well defined at a national level
This was based on physical site visits and review of their and port facilities are upgraded to meet these needs.
state of readiness during late 2015. This would only be logical if there is perceived to be
a firm enough commitment to the development of
As regards to the level of specific adaptation that may multiple offshore wind projects in the region and that
be required, and what form this might take, it would be such a port infrastructure investment will make a
un-economic to upgrade specific ports to allow them to tangible return in the near future. This approach would
accommodate each and every vessel, foundation, and have the advantage that it would reduce the level of
turbine type currently available to the market. development risks for owners and developers and
For example, this would have a significant influence decrease the perceived risk in their Financial Investment
on the requirements for high and heavy storage areas. Decision.
It would be recommended that site-specific assessments
should be made on a project-by-project basis, at the
earliest, when the Front End Engineering Design (FEED)
studies have narrowed the range of turbine and
foundation types under consideration, and most
importantly when a clear view on the specific
development areas and overall capacity of the offshore
wind farms are known. At this stage, without these
details, it is considered too early to provide reliable
guidance on the specific port infrastructure upgrades
that may be required.
112 Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study
4 DECOMMISSIONING
This section provides a high-level introduction to the considered for re-use/re-sale depending on their
processes and operations likely to be implemented when operational condition. All lifting operations will need to
decommissioning an offshore wind farm at the end of its be engineered and the relevant structural integrity checks
20 to 25 year design life. Given the embryonic nature of carried out.
the offshore wind industry limited decommissioning has
taken place to date other than a handful of metrological It is likely that the site work in India might need to be
masts, see Figure 134. carried out over a period of two seasons, with vessels
moving off site over the intervening monsoon months.
The base case assumption is that the wind farm will be In the year prior to the first season on site, there will be
decommissioned using similar procedures to those used significant engineering and project management
in construction, only in reverse order. This will involve the including: site surveying, EIA updates and stakeholder
use of: consultations, development of bespoke water jet cutting
rigs, tooling, lifting and handling equipment and sea
n two large WTIVs, one to dismantle the turbines and fastenings, and also setting up the operational site and
towers, and the other to cut and remove the the scrapping site.
foundation (for example TP and Monopile or Jacket)
n a DP cable vessel to remove the array cables If the site had an OSS it would be assumed that it would
be available to continue to supply power to the turbines
In addition, a DP Construction Support Vessel (CSV) as needed throughout decommissioning of the turbines
will be used to prepare the foundations for cutting, for and foundations. If there was no OSS or no available
example cutting the array cables, removing internal power source, then it would be necessary to fit a large
seabed material in the pile down to at least the required number of turbines with temporary power supplies for
cutting level, and removal of any secondary steelwork things such as navigational aids, control and yaw
and electrical equipment within the TPs that would systems, braking, periodic rotor jacking and rotation,
obstruct the installation of the main tracked water jet nacelle temperature & humidity control, lighting, lifting
cutting tool. gear and power tools for the early preparation stages of
turbine decommissioning.
Some of the lift sequences may be different from those
during construction, because decommissioning In summary decommissioning an offshore windfarm is no
tolerances and sensitivity are generally less critical in small task and might cost anything between 60 and 80%
terms of damage to components; care will be needed of the installation CapEx. In Europe almost all offshore
however to ensure safe operations at all times, and also projects require a detailed decommissioning study during
to protect any equipment such as turbines which may be the early project development.
Figure 134 - DBB Jack-up decommissioning operations, removal of offshore masts (left) and associated monopiles (right)
on Horns Rev 1 and Horns Rev 2 in Denmark
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 113
The Consortium would recommend the following activities to support the feasibility and development of offshore
wind in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. It is highlighted were these recommendations will in part be undertaken through
the ongoing FOWIND project work scope:
n On-site wind measurement campaign – later stages of the FOWIND project an offshore LiDAR wind
measurement campaign is scheduled to help mitigate this risk; limited area coverage.
n Full Feasibility Study – Pilot Project Site Selection, Preliminary Engineering and cost modelling; to be included
within the FOWIND full-feasibility study.
n Extreme wind speed studies considering typhoon risk – to be conducted to some extent in the FOWIND
full-feasibility study.
Gathering further constraint data, metocean data and ground related data (Geophysical and
n
n Logistics and Infrastructure Study – an updated and more detailed investigation should be completed after
the area for the pilot project site has been selected.
n Grid Connection and Transmission Study – to be included within the FOWIND Grid Connection Study.
PROJECT PARTNERS
Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (Bangalore, India) is one of
the largest think tanks in South Asia; its vision is to enrich the nation with
technology-enabled policy options for equitable growth.
www.cstep.in
Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (Gandhinagar, India) has been playing the
role of developer and catalyser in the energy sector in the state of Gujarat.
GPCL is increasing its involvement in power projects in the renewables sector,
as the State of Gujarat is concerned about the issues of pollution and global
warming.
www.gpclindia.com
KNOWLEDGE PARTNER
National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) will support FOWIND efforts towards
preliminary feasibility assessments for potential offshore wind project development
in the states of Gujarat & Tamil Nadu - with a special focus on wind resource
validation. NIWE is an autonomous R&D institution under the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, Government of India, established to serve as a technical focal
point for orderly development of Wind Power deployment in India.
www.niwe.res.in
Supply chain, port infrastructure and logistics study 121
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 European countries.
In 1957, the signature of the Treaties of Rome marked the will of the six funding countries to create a common
economic space. Since then, first the Community and then the European Union has continued to enlarge and
welcome new countries as members. The Union has developed into a huge single market with the euro as its
common currency.
What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation spanning all areas, from development
aid to environmental policy. Thanks to the abolition of border controls between EU countries, it is now possible
for people to travel freely within most of the EU. It has also become much easier to live and work in another EU
country.
The five main institutions of the European Union are the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the
European Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors. The European Union is a major player in
international cooperation and development aid. It is also the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor. The primary
aim of the EU’s own development policy, agreed in November 2000, is the eradication of poverty.
http://europa.eu/
DISCLAIMER
This report is provided for illustrative purposes only without any representations, warranties or undertakings from GWEC, DNV GL, WISE, CSTEP or
the European Union as to the content or any part of this report and the data contained therein, including without limitation in respect of quality,
accuracy, completeness, or reliability. The information contained in the report does not represent endorsement by GWEC, DNV GL, WISE, CSTEP or
the European Union of any particular project, product or service provider.
By accessing the report either in a hard copy or electronically, users accept that neither GWEC, DNV GL, WISE, CSTEP nor the Authors are responsible
for any kind of loss or damage resulting from the use of the information contained in the report or for any reliance placed thereon and the users
further acknowledge that the content of the report and data therein are subject to change.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DNV GL co-authors listed alphabetically: Chris Garrett, Jack Giles, Pranab Kumar, Ruben Menezes, Birjukumar Mistri
Reviewed by: Steve Sawyer (GWEC), Shruti Shukla (GWEC), Alok Kumar (DNV GL), Anand Wagh (WISE), Ashish Nigam (CSTEP)
Graphic design: Chris Vleeming (DNV GL)
CONTACT
For further information, please contact FOWIND Secretariat at [email protected]
This report is available for download from www.fowind.in and the websites of the FOWIND project partners.