SSE Challenge 5

What's the open innovation challenge?

To find a way to deliver spare parts that are only identified as being needed once offshore so that SSE can facilitate a single visit same day repair. 

Challenge details

When faults are identified on a turbine the most likely parts that will be needed to fix the problem are identified and included as part of the preparation/mobilisation process.  

Once on the turbine, unplanned new issues are often identified which require additional parts. The issue is that the time taken to get additional required parts to the turbine extends the time taken to complete jobs, increases the length of an outage and increases the costs to not only resolve the issue but also leads to a loss of revenue.

Facilitating solutions that minimise the costs, health and safety risks and turbine downtime associated with operations and maintenance (O&M) tasks is a major industry priority.

SSE plc is a leading off-shore wind farm operator in the UK and Ireland. Offshore wind farm operations are largely dependent on the use of technicians, vessels and equipment to monitor, inspect and maintain major assets and components. And SSE is seeking a provider to develop and run a pilot project with the capability of rolling it out at scale. The solution must be cost efficient.

Anticipated timelines

The project would be run in two phases to cover feasibility that would determine the following:

• Reliability
• Ability to handle adverse weather
• Average turnaround time
• Max weight that can be carried
• Range
• Cost comparison versus traditional transportation cost

Depending on the success of phase 1, phase 2 would see the roll out of the solution across the SSE windfarm estate. Phase 1 is expected to take 3-6 months and phase 2 between 12 and 24 months.

Proposal tips

The deadline for proposals is 31 July 2019 and SSE is looking for concise, non-confidential proposals that will:

• Describe the technical approach
• Ideally include information on the technological readiness of the proposal
• Include proof of concept data, reference to any publications/previous applications and potential route to commercialisation