Offshore wind decommissioning: an assessment of the risk of operations

Abstract

Despite the need to ensure that operations at the end of the infrastructure life cycle are carried out in a safe and efficient manner, there is no systematic risk analysis study tailored specifically for renewable energy decommissioning. This paper aims to propose qualitative and quantitative approaches for identifying and prioritising different hazards associated with decommissioning of offshore wind farms. The potential hazards are identified through well-established techniques such as hazard identification (HAZID), fault tree analysis (FTA), event tree analysis (ETA) and risk matrix. Four levels of consequence are considered in the risk analysis process. The results reveal that the lifting and loading are the most safety-critical operations during the decommissioning; hence, they will require specific attention for safety management improvement.

Keywords

• offshore wind
• decommissioning
• risk analysis
• safety
• as low as reasonably practicable (alarp)