Make a Date to Visit Us in Aberdeen on 4/5th October 2023
The Floating Offshore Wind event returns on October 4th and 5th 2023, and promises to be another record-breaking event. The Institute of Corrosion are pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting this year.
In this article, you’ll learn why you should attend Floating Offshore Wind 2023 (FOW23), and why you should make ICorr one of your primary targets in the exhibition hall.
What Is FOW23?
Hosted by RenewableUK and Scottish Renewables, FOW23 is a must-attend event for those in the renewables sector. Especially if you are involved in the design, production, installation, and maintenance of offshore wind facilities.
The event will be attended by more than 2,000 industry professionals. It’s an incredible networking opportunity, with many key players to meet and discuss potential solutions to the technical challenges presented in the industrialisation and commercialisation of floating wind installations.
In addition to thousands of attendees, there will also be 100 speakers from 30 countries as well as 140 exhibitors.
Where Is FOW23 and How Do You Get There?
FOW23 is being held at P&J Live, Aberdeen.
This state-of-the-art events venue is around six miles north-west of Aberdeen’s city centre. If you are travelling by car, it’s easily accessed from the A96 Aberdeen-to-Inverness link road.
For those travelling by public transport, Dyce Train Station is only 1.5 miles away with regular trains both north and south.
If you are planning to fly to Aberdeen, Logan Air are offering discounted flights for event attendees – you’ll need to use the promo code ‘RUFOW30’ when booking.
Corrosion – A Significant Challenge for Floating Offshore Wind
Corrosion is a crucial issue in marine environments, and can occur in several parts of offshore wind turbines. This includes:
- Structural damage to the foundation or device including by corrosion fatigue
- Reduction in fatigue life due to quite limited corrosion damage
- Corrosion related damage to parts including electrical equipment, control units, cooling and ventilation systems, boat-landings, turbine main shaft bearings, and gear boxes
- Foundations and floating devices are susceptible to many types of corrosion, including microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), internally and externally.
You don’t need to dig too deep to find examples of failures in corrosion protection strategies or failed corrosion protection systems in offshore wind, with protective coatings failures after only a couple of years of service resulting in corrosion damage and very high offshore coating repair requirements.
Early monopile foundations were assumed not to require internal corrosion protection because they would be sealed; they were not, and they did. Cathodic protection (CP) systems on monopiles suffered from poor designs, not taking account of attenuation of CP current from anodes at the top of the monopile to the critical seabed level, from ignoring effects due to anodes clustered too close together and inadequately addressing effects of water velocity and temperature.
Considering major repairs and remedial work were required within 5-10 years of construction, compared to the expected durability of 15 and now increasing to 35 years, you begin to realise the critical nature of adopting suitable corrosion protection practices in this industry.
When we consider corrosion in fixed bottom, FOW, and tidal stream generators, we must address a host of factors including:
- A highly corrosive environment caused by factors such as high tidal ranges and water velocities in coastal locations, wet and dry cycles, saltwater spray and high wind born chlorides to all levels
- Mechanical loads, in particular fatigue and the reduction in fatigue life by even limited corrosion
- Underwater biological stresses, impacts and opportunities
- Variations in temperature, salinity and water velocities
- Reduced accessibility to unmanned assets anticipating long inspection intervals, with high costs of access
- High maintenance and repair costs of corrosion protection failures
FOW is a relatively new industry, and we are learning more about these challenges daily. The Institute of Corrosion sits at the forefront of the latest research and practical experience in the battle against corrosion in offshore wind projects.
Raising the Standard in Offshore Wind Corrosion Protection
With so much at stake, and given the significant failures of surface coating and cathodic protection (CP) in past offshore renewable projects, it is not surprising that the industry is becoming increasingly regulated to combat corrosion. For example:
- The new ISO 24656 CP for Offshore Wind covers FOW
- ISO 24656, DNV-RP-B401 and DNV-RP-0416 all require CP designs by expert CP designers of certificated competence
- ISO 15257 is the only competence certification standard for offshore CP
- Both ISO and DNV standards and codes require independent, competent Coating Inspectors to ensure optimum performance of coatings
In short, if the expertise of your project teams does not include awareness and competence in corrosion matters, you’re failing the standards expected and required of your FOW project.
Training to Meet Your Corrosion Protection Needs in FOW
At the Institute of Corrosion, we have the expertise to assist the FOW industry in corrosion protection and to train your personnel in this sector:
- We deliver training and certification in all relevant levels in the offshore CP sector to ISO 15257, as is required in the relevant ISO and DNV codes.
- In addition, we also provide training and certification solutions for Coating Inspectors (at Levels 1, 2 and 3), so that you can expect optimum performance from your selected coating systems.
- We also train and certify Coating Applicators via the ICATS scheme.
Our training is structured, comprehensive, and delivered in a variety of learning strategies.
Where to Find ICorr at FOW23
The ICorr exhibit stand is where you’ll be able to discuss all things FOW and corrosion. You’ll get to meet Adesiji Anjorin, current Chair of our Aberdeen branch, and learn about how ICorr is helping to advance and share experience and expertise in protection against and prevention of corrosion in the renewables sector, as well as discover more about all our training and certification solutions for corrosion professionals.
We couldn’t be easier to find in the exhibit hall at FOW23:
- Enter via the Visitors Entrance
- Turn immediately to your right
- Walk a few yards to the line of exhibitors against the far wall
- We are the second stand in – stand L20 – right around the corner from the RenewableUK and Scottish renewables stands
How to Register for FOW23
To register to attend FOW23, visit the Registration Page at the RenewableUK site. Here you’ll find information about the different types and costs of registration, and a clickable button to register.
If you’d like to know more about any of ICorr’s training schemes, please contact us by email or click on the following links: