How long does it take to construct a new port suitable for offshore wind construction?

Question

I'm thinking about the whole period: the design and planning, construction, and commissioning?

I'd value real-world examples, to back up any numbers.

Here's the proposed new Able Humber port, an example of a not-yet-built offshore wind port, which has just received planning approval:

enter image description here

I suspect the main variable is approval time. The gas hub at James Price Point in Western Australia is ten years in to an approval process that seems likely to be abandoned. But in China, say, I suspect the whole thing could be done in a couple of years. — Móż, Dec 28 '13 at 22:00
I suspect the reality is that nobody has yet built a single-purpose port of this scale from scratch, and so all that we have to go on is the claims and plans of sites such as the one you link. — Flyto, Jan 09 '14 at 10:29
@EnergyNumbers Why this question? And why for a new port specifically? As Flyto also suggests, I suspect that in most countries the facilities of existing ports are used to build an offshore windfarm. — THelper, Jan 09 '14 at 11:10
@THelper good question: I'm looking at how quickly the entire supply chain could expand, in one country, and globally. Port capacity seems to be the part of the supply chain with the slowest response time. — 410 gone, Jan 09 '14 at 12:43
@Flyto - since there's apparently nothing unusual about this type of port, any large construction firm in the area will be able to make a good estimation of how long it will take -- otherwise, they'd never be able to put together a bid for the construction. — Johnny, Jan 09 '14 at 21:57
Why does it need special facilities? Any port with a set up for large industrial material handling would be able to handle windmill parts. Indeed for off shore parts, I would expect that the manufacturer would load or even build in place on special purpose barges that would take the fabricated turbine directly to it's foundation/anchors. — Sherwood Botsford, Feb 15 '14 at 20:26
It also depends on where such a facility is to be build & what regulatory approvals need to adhered to, such a environmental impact statements, project management plans, consultations with government authorities and the public. — Fred, Jul 08 '15 at 03:12

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 07 '15 at 19:12

I don't think that ports are a limiting factor here. Unless you are planning on making millions of turbines all made from one port near a manufacturing facility.

Let's suppose that you are building 100 meter turbines. That is 100 meter diameter air flow, on a 100 meter tower, plus foundation. You've got a large tube 100+ meters long, and 3 blades 50 meters long. This is a large but common size ocean barge. Indeed, it would likely carry several.

Let's suppose that you do the final assembly in a factory with a straight line to a single dock. Now your loading facility is much like any facility for handling large components. (How do companies load pre-formed refinery towers.) While it would not be as quick as loading containers, I bet with practice you would be able to load one component every 30 minutes. 4 major components = 2 hours per turbine. This would mean that one dock can handle 12 turbines per day, or about 4000 per year.

Overall, your bigger problem is going to be getting them TO the dock, which is why a purpose build dock next to the factory makes sense. The dock facility can be build in tandem with the factory. Typical factory construction times are 1-3 years, depending on whether it's standard off the shelf tools, or high tech engineering.

How long does it take to construct a new port suitable for offshore wind construction?

1 Answers1