6 December 2012 | IET Birmingham: Austin Court, UK

Registration and refreshments

Seminar Chair’s welcome and introduction

Phil de Villiers, Head of Offshore Wind, The Carbon Trust

Offshore wind cost reduction – opportunities and challenges

• Policy context: cost reduction imperative
• Bringing the overall cost down
• An action plan for cost reduction

Richard Howard, Chief Economist and co-author or Offshore Wind Cost Reduction Pathways Study, The Crown Estate

Questions and discussion

Offshore wind – the story so far, and towards maturity

• Policy, funding and ownership hurdles
• The cost of finance for long term risky projects
• Round 2 case studies
• What will it take to get Round 3 off the ground?

Len Taylor, Head of Engineering UK Wind, DONG Energy

Questions and discussion

Turbines 1 - innovations to increase yield and reliability

• Blyth offshore demonstrator - from concept to now
• NOAH platform design, deployment and initial operation
• Challenges, opportunities and learning experiences

Steve McDonald, Head of Innovation, National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec)

Questions and discussion

Refreshments and networking opportunity

Turbines 2 - innovations to increase yield and reliability

• Effects of design and configurations on reliability
• Monitoring and maintenance of turbines
• Through-life costs for offshore turbines

Peter Tavner, Emeritus Professor, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, Durham University

Questions and discussion

Foundations for round 3 – deeper and further

• Selecting an appropriate foundation type
• Aligning the supply chain
• Learning from the experience of relevant industries

Andy Thompson, Director, Energy, ATKINS

• Floating foundations for deeper water
• Benefits of floating foundations
• ETI offshore wind floating system demonstrator; aims, timescales and technologies

Andrew Scott, Programme Manager Offshore Wind, Energy Technologies Inst.

Questions and discussion

Lunch and networking

Electrical systems – DC collection and transmission

• HVDC connections for transmission - current status and challenges
• How to link up HVDC connections to form a multi-terminal system
• Possibilities for DC collection arrays and associated equipment

Colin Davidson, R&D Director – HVDC, Alstom Grid

Questions and discussion

Regulation to enable timely and efficient investment in offshore transmission

• OFTO model: competitive tender regulatory regime
• Success to date in the transitional tender rounds
• Developing an enduring regime to address new challenges: integration, anticipatory investment, Europe

Min Zhu, Associate Director Offshore Transmission, Ofgem

Questions and discussion

A European super-grid

• The rationale, economics and feasibility of a supergrid
• Is there still a role for AC as well as DC?
• Wind farm interconnectivity - meeting the technical, commercial and regulatory challenges
• The challenges with operating a multi-regional grid

Colin Green, Head of Regulatory Affairs & Technology ABB

Questions and discussion

Refreshments and networking opportunity

Cables – increasing efficiency and reliability

• Designing cable protection and cable burial depths
• Balancing the benefits of cable standardisation with engineering for site specific conditions
• Maintenance challenges and solutions

Mark Leggett, CEO, Global Marine Energy Limited

Questions and discussion

Where will the savings be made? Panel discussion

• Research, development and design
• Manufacturing – location and standardisation
• Operating and servicing
• Supply chain efficiencies

Rob Saunders, Lead Technologist, Offshore Renewables, Technology Strategy Board
Further panellists to be confirmed

Conference Chair's final remarks