Project Development Services
As more offshore wind markets emerge, understanding, evaluating and securing project sites are extremely important tasks for developers. New markets bring new risks but also new players, and as offshore wind grows, it becomes ever more competitive.
Through its OWC team, the ABL Group assists clients in understanding new markets, site screening and selection, project concept development, bid preparation and supporting early development stages. We seek to understand and align with client objectives and provide technical desktop studies with very thorough and auditable written deliverables bringing deep expertise, proven science, the best available data and software, and a full range of innovative solutions.
We work with your team in the way that makes the most sense – either as a technical advisor or embedding into your development team.
Understanding new markets
Choosing which market to target is a crucial business decision for any developer. We provide tailored studies or reports, either as a formal deliverable or in a workshop environment, to clients navigating this decision.
We bring our deep experience of successful project development and project realisation, ensuring this process is based on pragmatic analysis. We will look at a range of factors that determine the suitability of a specific market, with our experts providing expert insights to make sense of the ever-growing quantity of industry data in the rapidly expanding renewable energy sector.
Our robust process ensures our clients can trust the independence and quality of our expert analysis.
Site screening and selection
The first step in developing an offshore wind project is to find a suitable site and assess its feasibility for development. Where should you look? Is the site found the best one available? Are there any obstacles, challenges or risks that might affect its development?
For initial site prospecting, we use resource maps and databases in a GIS-based constraint analysis approach factoring in a preliminary analysis of the resource, grid connection options (availability, onshore substations, timing, landfall areas, offshore cable routing, competing projects, HVDC vs HVAC), environmental and permitting constraints (aviation, defence, O&G infrastructure), and other important siting factors and provide developers with rank-ordered development opportunities within a set geographical region.
If part of an auction process, we would also consider competitor assessment and project portfolio synergies. Additional reviews would be undertaken on the following:
- Metocean data (wind and wave)
- Seabed conditions & subsurface geology
- Suitable port/harbour facilities to support construction and operational phases
Our robust process ensures our clients can trust the independence and quality of our expert analysis.
Project concept development
Once a site is selected we will start to develop more fully the project concept. Our consultants cover all the disciplines and bring deep expertise of developing and realising projects to this process.
The following studies and activities will normally be performed as the site is better understood and evaluated:
- Identify the preliminary project boundaries
- Undertake desktop consenting studies including early risk register of all environmental constraints
- Desktop geotechnical studies
- Carry out a wind turbine selection study that will contain an outlook post-2025 at upcoming wind turbine platforms
- Early conceptual design, site screening and pre-feasibility assessments/heat mapping wind resource assessment
- Foundation screening to reduce the technical, cost uncertainties taking into consideration the site-specific physical conditions
- Propose the electrical architecture and related infrastructure including:
- The transmission technology (HVAC/HVDC)
- Sizing and siting of offshore substation(s)
- Export cable route optioneering
- Landfall and grid connection point identification
- Port & harbour/supply chain analysis
- Undertake high-level O&M Concept
Cost modelling
We can develop and produce refined DEVEX, CAPEX and OPEX models for early offshore wind sites. Our OWC team uses the design and layout information to derive from these cost estimates for the DEVEX, CAPEX and OPEX calculations, bringing our understanding of global offshore wind markets and value chains and our ability to understand local factors. Our models will present the capital expenditure of the chosen site(s), clearly showing the required inputs, assumptions and limitations.
Calculating the LCOE for the projects is important to assess the technical, financial and commercial feasibility. OWC is experienced with alternative approaches to calculating the LCOE and will advise clients of the most appropriate methodology, considering the stage of the project.
