A Risk-Informed Approach to Performance Assurance - Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines - page 64

technology and to reduce specific market barriers to its deployment”
(USDOE 2011).
SEEKING THE RIGHT REGULATORY BALANCE
The federal government has embraced offshore wind energy as an integral
component of its overarching policy of developing clean, renewable energy
sources. Thus, the government has a fundamental interest not only in the
safety and environmental performance of offshore wind farms but also in
their reliability and cost-effectiveness. At the same time, the risks of struc-
tural failure to human safety and the environment are low.
The committee's view thus is that minimal regulation will allow market
forces to guide offshore wind energy to an efficient solution. Such an
approach has policy risk, since lack of a regulatory framework could lead
to early project failures that negatively affect public perception and
jeopardize future offshore wind development. Other countries have had
this experience, with serial component failures leading to repercussions
across the global offshore wind industry. For example, in Europe the
Horns Rev 1 (see Box 4-2) failures and similar problems encountered by
other offshore wind farm projects led to the introduction of site-specific
project certification and an expanded scope for verification that extended
beyond the generic type certification scheme. As discussed later in this
report, it is important that a feedback mechanism be established to ensure
that lessons learned are incorporated into the regulatory requirements,
standards, and recommended practices.
The committee recommends that U.S. regulation be sufficient to ensure
a consistent minimum standard for the design and construction of off-
shore wind turbines to mitigate the risk of catastrophic failure, such as the
failure of a single turbine or of multiple turbines that renders repair and
recovery extremely difficult or impossible.
REGULATORY EVOLUTION IN THE OIL AND GAS,
MARINE, AND CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRIES
As noted in Chapter 3, standards, guidelines, and regulation of offshore
wind turbines in Europe are primarily prescriptive in nature.