DeMiR: Decommissioning – Minimization of Risks

At a glance

• The first European offshore wind farms are set to reach the end of their service life as of 2028, but there is still a lack of risk assessment methods for their decommissioning.
• In the DeMiR research project, the project partners are developing a model for the identification and quantification of cost-efficient decommissioning strategies that integrates process, weather, economic, and environmental risks and renders them assessable.
• In a subproject, Fraunhofer IWES is developing simulation-based methods for the assessment and minimization of weather and process risks of different decommissioning scenarios and integrating them into a software demonstrator. In addition, the objectives is also to integrate a cost model developed by Bremen University of Applied Sciences, allowing various risk factors to be taken into consideration.

The challenge

Offshore wind turbines are generally designed to be operated for 20-25 years. From 2028, hundreds of offshore wind turbines in Europe will be reaching the end of their service life each year. In Germany, Alpha Ventus will be the first offshore wind farm to complete 20 years of operation in 2030.

The subsequent decommissioning of the wind farms poses challenges for the operators. In addition to unanswered questions regarding legal and technical regulations, scarce resources for special purpose vessels and service providers, limited weather windows for the construction work, and the use of new technical procedures bring with them risks that are difficult to calculate.

The solution

This is where the DeMiR research project comes in. The aim is to develop a model for the identification and quantification of cost-efficient decommissioning strategies and to leverage potential for improvement while doing so. To this end, the scientists will determine and assess the technical, procedural, economic, and ecological risks as well as the risks associated with future use during the decommissioning on the basis of specific questions. DeMiR will build upon the results of the preceding project, SeeOff, and also incorporate modeling and simulation procedures for the assessment and minimization of risks of different decommissioning scenarios.

Fraunhofer IWES will be responsible in a subproject for the development of these simulation-based methods and will integrate them into a software demonstrator along with a cost model developed by Bremen University of Applied Sciences.

The added value

DeMiR will enable operators of offshore wind farms to estimate the potential for cost-effective decommissioning on the basis of a variety of decommissioning scenarios while taking the associated economic and ecological impacts into consideration. In doing so, the project will create an important prerequisite for the repowering of first-generation offshore wind farms and thus for the achievement of the expansion goals.

The implementation of the project work for the consideration of risk factors in the process flow and the holistic cost model integration can be utilized to validate the operators’ technical and economic decommissioning concepts.