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The Offshore WIND Installation and Maintenance Conference takes place on 29 October in Amsterdam. This educational day provides an overview of wind farm developments, innovations in wind farm installation and maintenance and discusses the challenges of grid integration. The conference addresses the technical, operational, commercial and managerial challenges associated with future industry growth.

Setting the scene
In almost 10 years a complete new industry arose in The Netherlands; offshore wind. We have seen the upcoming of windfarms plus all the related issues that come with developing a new industry. Policy, subsidy, political commitment and goals to be achieved by this new source of energy had to be set up. Frans van der Loo of Loo e-Consult describes the brief history of offshore Windpower and Andy Bardwise, representing the Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Committee will talk about the new Guidance notes for planning and execution of geophysical and geotechnical ground investigations for offshore renewable energy developments.

Developing an offshore grid
What is driving the cost development of the offshore electrical infrastructure and how does it impact the roll-out strategy for an offshore grid? What is the impact of a shared responsibility of grid operator and developer on timely realisation, financeability, standardisation and innovation? Answers to question like these and more will be discussed by experts from TenneT, Ecofys and the European Commission. They will share their visions on opportunities and risks for a coordinated realisation of an offshore grid on the North Sea.

Innovations in wind farm installation
In the second session of this morning, multiple speakers will present their new developments that may change the future in wind farm installations. Boskalis will take delegates through the Pile-reconditioning Cofferdam system developed for the maintenance and repair of jetties, piles, risers and other offshore structures. Also Fistuca presents a new technology; BLUE Piling to drive large piles offshore in an untraditional way. Furthermore OWLC introduces the Gravity Tripod; a hybrid offshore wind sub-structure. And Cranfield University talks about their H2OCEAN project aimed at developing an innovative design for an economically and environmentally sustainable multi-use open-sea platform. The focus is on the combined wind and wave renewable energy device in this presentation.

Networking opportunities
During the morning there are plenty of opportunities to catch up with familiar faces from the industry in breaks and during lunch. The Offshore WIND Installation and Maintenance Conference is co-located with Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference. Conference badges give free access to the Offshore Energy exhibition featuring more than 600 offshore industry supply chain companies. It is possible to join the conference in the morning, afternoon of whole day. More information can be found on the conference website.