The U.S. Department of Energy’s Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy

Jim Green National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

October 2013 NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Chesapeake Light Tower Background • Light house installed by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1965 Initially staffed full time o Automated operations in 1980 o Tower unoccupied since o

• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) obtained custody in September 2012 • 10 mi (22 km) from land • Water depth ~ 47 ft (14 m) Photo by Rick Driscoll, NREL

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Chesapeake Light Tower Location Chesapeake Bay Washington D.C.

Virginia

Tower is in proximity to offshore wind demonstration and development sites 3

Chesapeake Light Tower Overview Lantern tower 112 ft (34 m) Helicopter deck 85 ft (26 m)

Machinery and quarters deck 73 ft (22 m)

Maintenance deck 55 ft (17 m)

Boat landing 11 ft (3 m) Photo by Rick Driscoll, NREL 4

Structural Detail and Demolition Plan Tower Components

Demolition Plan

Remove

Reuse

Illustration by the U.S. Coast Guard

Illustration by Casbarian Engineering Associates, LLC 5

Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy (RFORE) Concept for reconfigured platform: • • • • •

Remove machinery, quarters deck, and lantern tower Add meteorological (met) tower, to 120 m above sea level Add dry space for power system, data system, computers, storage, and so on Replace the boat landing Add new helicopter pad

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Current Tower Users • U.S. Coast Guard – aids to navigation • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – CERES Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – wind speed for the National Buoy Data Center • Stantec – Bat detection system

NASA COVE instruments on the lantern tower, Photo by NASA

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RFORE Project Organization DOE Wind and Water Power Program Jose Zayas

Test Facilities/Infrastructure Jim Ahlgrimm

Infrastructure and Operations National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)/National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) Jim Green, Lead

Wind Resource Characterization Joel Cline

Research Agenda and Data Management System Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Will Shaw, Lead

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RFORE Project Roles • DOE/EERE Wind and Water Power Technologies Office Establish renewable energy programmatic priorities o Project control o

• NREL Assess, redesign, and upgrade Chesapeake Light Tower, including the installation of a 100-m met mast o Ensure safe operation and maintenance of completed facility, including coordination of visitor access o

• PNNL Develop research agenda, including establishment of an interagency steering committee to represent stakeholder interests o Develop and operate the data management facility, including monitoring of data quality, quality assurance, archive maintenance, and distribution of data to users o

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Assessment of the Existing Tower • Preliminary assessment, March 2013 o

Continued use of the jacket structure appears feasible

• Metocean design criteria, April 2013 o

Data sets obtained for 10-, 25-, 50-, and 100-year storms

• Engineering and environmental assessment, AugustNovember 2013 Quantitative survey and assessment of the structure o Scheduled final briefing for December 3 o

• Final design and construction Contingent on structural feasibility and funding availability o Decision gate #1: proceed to engineering design o Decision gate #2: proceed to construction o

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Structural Survey Preliminary Results • Overall o

No indication of fatigue-induced damage was found (cracking in the joints)

• Below water No flooded members below the water line o No corrosion damage found below the water line o Cathodic protection anodes are fully functional o

• Above water Severe corrosion found in the splash zone horizontal and angle braces o Tower legs (vertical members) are in better condition in the splash zone o Structure above splash zone has modest surface corrosion o

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Other Project Activities in 2013 • Safety o

Assessed and mitigated hazards on the tower – Deteriorating structure, fire hazards, compressed gases, hazardous materials

o

Tower access managed with “safe work permit” program

• Developed concepts for tower reconfiguration into RFORE o

o o

o o o

Energy budget and power system design Met tower concept with service lift Modular enclosures/shelters Options for communications to shore Video cameras for security and monitoring research equipment Visit to the FINO3 tower

• Project management Subcontracts with offshore engineering firms to conduct assessments o Defined regulatory agency jurisdictions o Planning, tracking, and reporting o

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Questions?

Initial assessment team, February 2013. Photo by Rick Driscoll, NREL 13