Last month was a momentous one for those of us who work alongside the renewables industry. The world’s first floating offshore wind farm began delivering electricity to the grid.
Located about 25 kilometres off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland, the Hywind Scotland project is not particularly far from shore. But floating turbine designers aim to go much, much further.
The whole point about floating foundations is they can be towed out to places where the water is too deep for existing bottom-attached structures. That extra distance means far more energy can now be harvested from the wind above the waves.
But it also means construction and operations teams must travel further to get on site, and there is greater distance to travel in the event of an incident.
So while the advent of floating offshore wind is great news for the industry, it also means project owners will need to revisit safety protocols and procedures.
As part of this, it will be vital to make sure all personal protective equipment (PPE) is properly maintained and checked.
Many offshore wind operators are already switching from manual inspection tracking methods to smart PPE management systems such as Papertrail.
It’s a move that not only improves safety, but also boosts efficiency and reduces costs, both of which are important considerations in the ongoing struggle to cut the levelised cost of energy for offshore wind.
Recent developments might mean it is a good idea to float the idea at your company, too.
Find out how one offshore wind contractor is maintaining an unblemished safety record with help from Papertrail.