ECOWindS Project Publishes its Joint
Action Plan and Call for Stakeholder
Feedback
ECOWindS (European Clusters for Offshore Wind Servicing) project has published the first
iteration of its Joint Action Plan outlining key research and innovation activities for the cost
effective progression of the offshore wind servicing industry.
ECOWindS is a collaborative project involving partners from Denmark, Germany, Norway and the
UK that will contribute to cost reduction of offshore wind servicing through encouraging research
and innovation.
The Joint Action Plan; a roadmap for research and
development activities, presents 8 recommended
actions designed to further the development of the
offshore wind industry and contribute to the overall
objective of cost reduction through innovation and
strengthening the innovative capacities of European
maritime regions.
The ECOWindS project and the proposed actions in
the Joint Action Plan focus on Offshore Wind
Servicing (OWS), a sub-sector of the Offshore Wind
value chain consisting of Assembly and Installation
(including onshore logistics) through to wind farm
Operations and Maintenance activities. Innovations
in this area represent significant opportunities for
Seajacks Zaratan and Leviathan – Image © WindMW
cost reduction with Operation and Maintenance
costs alone accounting for up to 25% of the Levelised Cost of Energy from an offshore wind asset.
The Joint Action Plan elaborates on recommendations including establishing international OWSspecific standards, establishing experimental sites and research infrastructures for improving OWS
and developing OWS-specific skills and training programs across Europe to ensure supply of
relevant skills and competences. It has been developed via ongoing consultation with key
stakeholders representing industry, government bodies and education and research institutes. The
full plan can be downloaded from the ECOWindS website
In order to continue stakeholder involvement in the Joint Action Plan, ECOWindS partners are
currently inviting interested parties to peer review and comment on the Joint Actions Plan actions.
The feedback received will be used to update and refine the actions in preparation for a revised
version of the document to be published later in 2015.
Johnathan Reynolds, ECOWindS project director and Business Development Manager at the UK
partner organisation OrbisEnergy commented “Stakeholder engagement is vital to the project to
ensure that the ECOWindS Joint Action Plan proposals meet the demands of the sector and are in
touch with the required innovation needs of offshore wind servicing.”
To take part in the stakeholder survey please go to click here
The survey closes on April 24th.
The project has been funded by the European 7th Framework
Programme for Research and Innovation. Please see the website
www.ecowinds.eu for the complete Joint Action Plan.