De-risking Innovation: Technology Qualification in Offshore Wind

Presentation Description: Developing and implementing new technologies in offshore wind is a challenge with competing objectives. On the one hand, the potential benefits of novel or innovative solutions can be significant. On the other hand, the imperative to manage risk on projects at the scale of an offshore wind farm is a major barrier. Given the ever-increasing pace of innovation and the trend towards ever-larger projects, this balancing act between performance and risk is a major factor in the continued success of offshore wind. Despite the challenges, innovation remains a core function of our industry.

Certification is fundamental to a project's risk management strategy. But for new technologies without a long track record of performance in a particular application, certification on a project-by-project basis can be a significant burden. In these cases, Technology Qualification provides a systematic approach to define the performance targets, operating conditions, applied standards, and reliability of novel technologies, processes, or applications. The TQ process follows alongside the innovation process to identify potential failure modes and quantify uncertainties, informing the technology development in a way that reduces technical risk and increases the likelihood of its commercialization.

In this talk, we present an overview of the TQ process, how it can reduce project risk, and how it adds value by both facilitating the development of technology and by underpinning its business case.