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Part three: Commissioning and testing

The final element of the WTG floater package is the commissioning and testing of the WTG and floater at sea. This element includes both the creation of a vessel and the personnel with the requisite skills to staff the vessel.

Step 1: Add a commissioning port​

For the commissioning task, you need to add a crew transfer vessel and personnel based at Viana do Castelo (PT). If this base isn’t in your input library, add it there first and then add it to the case, including weather data.

Step 2: Add a crew transfer vessel​

Commissioning will require a personnel-carrying vessel to perform the tasks.

  1. Go to Logistics.
  2. Click the Crew transfer Vessel tab
  3. Add an instance.
  4. Set the port to Viana do Castelo (PT).
  5. Click Next.
  6. Enter these inputs for each of the tabs:
  • Capacity:
    • Technician capacity: 12 seats
  • Performance:
    • Cruising speed: 20 kn
  • Weather Criteria:
    • Significant wave height access limit: 1.75 m
  • Activity Durations:
    • Connection time: 10m
    • Disconnection time: 5m
    • Personnel transfer time per technician: 5m
    • Equipment transfer time: 10m
    • Mobilising time per port visit: 15m
    • Demobilising time per port visit: 15m

Step 3: Create a commissioning task​

Return to your WTG asset and go to the Tasks tab. Click Add task, select Commissioning as the Task type, and name it 10\. Commissioning

Add the following inputs:

  • Dependent task: 9\. Installation.
    • Individual is generally the most sensible dependency type here as it allows commissioning to begin as soon as the first WTG installation is complete.
  • Team size: 5 (4-5 technicians are usually adequate for a commissioning task)
  • Required skill: Commissioning, 5.
  • Duration: 250
  • Min. weather window: 2
  • Select the appropriate Crew transfer vessel.

Step 4: Create Personnel​

The next step is to add personnel to staff the vessel and perform the commissioning.

  1. Go to Personnel.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Add a technician group:
  4. Title: Commissioning techs.
  5. Group type: Subcontractors.
  6. Members: 5.
  7. Home base: VianaI do Castello (PT).
  8. Work hours: As required.
  9. Skills: Check Commissioning.
  10. Allowed transport: Only check Crew transfer vessel (CTV).
  11. Hourly salary: 70 (or as required).

Step 5: Simulate!​

Check everything was modelled correctly by running the simulation. It should now look something like this:

Step 6: Add a testing task​

Return to your WTG asset and add a Testing task called 11\. Reliability testing. Add a dependency on the commissioning task (e.g., Individual). A suggested time frame could be 500 hours, e.g., for a 500-hour service.

Step 7: Simulate!​

Check your testing task is correct by running another simulation. It should now look something like this:

Congratulations! You have successfully modelled a floating WTG case. Reach out to support if you experience any issues you cannot resolve.

Step 8: Run a full simulation​

Now that your case is complete and your test simulation shows your inputs are correct, you can run multiple simulations with realistic weather data.

  1. Go to the Simulate tab.
  2. Set Weather to Increment start year. This means each simulation you run will start with weather data from one year further into the future. For example:
  • Run 1: 1970
  • Run 2: 1971
  • Run 3: 1972
  • …
  • Run XX: 20XX
  1. Set the number of runs. It’s good practice to set the number of runs to the number of years in your weather data for the most comprehensive simulation outputs.

With the incremental start year and the relevant number of runs, your output data will be much more comprehensive than your test runs. You can switch between p-values to analyze more and less likely scenarios.