Standards and Practices - Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines - page 50

Enforcement (BOEMRE) project application and approval process. These
areas include structural reliability; manufacturing, qualification testing,
installation, and construction; safety of equipment; operation and inspec-
tion; and decommissioning.
The AWEA initiative has enlisted expert stakeholders from the offshore
industry community to develop a consensus set of good practices in the
use of standards for planning, designing, constructing, and operating off-
shore wind energy projects in U.S. waters. The group plans to prioritize its
recommendations by using international standards whenever possible,
followed by national standards, classification society standards, and com-
mercial standards and guidelines.
The AWEA recommended practices will apply to all bottom-fixed
structures installed on the outer continental shelf (OCS) or in near-shore
locations (e.g., state waters) but will not necessarily be sufficient to ensure
the structural integrity of floating offshore wind turbines.
The AWEA offshore group was divided into three subgroups. Each of
the groups is working independently, but all are expected to deliver a final
guideline by the end of 2011. The three subgroups are discussed below.
Group 1, Structural Reliability, is addressing design issues relating to
structural reliability of offshore wind turbines. Because many wind
turbines targeted for installation in the United States may have
already been designed and type-certified to IEC design classes (see
Chapter 3), one focus of the work is establishing the appropriate
interfaces between the existing IEC standards and other standards
governing the structural reliability of the integrated turbine system.
The group will recommend standards and practices that provide a
methodology for establishing turbines at specific U.S. sites, taking
into account the unique metocean and subsurface conditions.
Group 2, Fabrication, Construction, Installation, and Qualification Test-
ing, is developing recommended practices for the safe and orderly
deployment of offshore wind turbines during the construction and
installation phases. Any manufacturing issues unique to offshore
wind turbines will be addressed, as will issues relating to the establish-
ment of adequate infrastructure. IEC's TC 88 is not addressing much
of this phase of deployment, so this group will probably not need to
mix and match existing standards as will Group 1. However, it will