Consultation on Manufacturer Requirements for Offshore Wind Demonstration Site (USA)

Narec has released further details of its proposed offshore demonstration site to turbine manufacturers, as part of plans to secure financial commitment from tenants in the form of deposits payable in March 2011.

Eighteen prospective tenants, all global turbine manufacturers who have been involved in industry consultation for the development of the facility thus far, have received requests for further information on their likely requirements for the demonstration of pre commercial turbines on the site.

Nathalie Stevenson, Project Manager, for the proposed site commented:“Narec recognises that bringing together differing tenant requirements represents one of the greatest challenges for this project.

Our aim is to enable us to gain an even better understanding of the plans of wind turbine manufacturers. This will include clarifying which services they would like to undertake directly and which could be carried out by Narec if they were to demonstrate on our site.

“Narec is looking at the options to minimise site development, construction and operation and maintenance costs, by offering site-wide services which could be most cost effectively administered by Narec or its chosen contractors.

It is important that early consideration is given to key pre-construction design stages, such as front end engineering and design (FEED) information.“In order to assist prospective tenants, some of whom are new entrants to the offshore turbine market and some new to the UK market as a whole, we have framed a number of questions relating to site met-ocean, wind conditions and ground conditions.” This project has generated huge interest from other parts of the supply chain, such as foundation designers and fabricators.

Narec plans to facilitate introductions between turbine manufacturers and other parts of the supply chain later this year.

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Source: narec, October 22, 2010;