Research on process safety of offshore wind turbines installation: A theoretical model and empirical evidence

Abstract

As the world energy problem becomes more and more prominent, offshore wind farms have made remarkable progress in the last few years. With the advent of the rush to install offshore wind turbines around the world, offshore wind turbine (OWT) installation accidents have gradually increased. The process safety associated with offshore wind turbine installations has been a growing concern in offshore wind industry. To address this issue, this study aims to identify the factors affecting offshore wind turbine installation process safety, and to evaluate the correlations among these factors. The study involved an investigation into the causes and procedures of accidents that occurred during offshore wind turbine installation, leading to the development of customized safety factors. A questionnaire survey was developed and administered by a team of offshore wind industry professionals, including scholars, managers, and workers, and the data collected was analyzed using a theoretical model based on structural equation modeling. The results show that environment and weather condition, organization and management, and OWT installation technology have a significant impact on OWT installation technology. Furthermore, OWT installation technology has the largest total effect on the process safety of OWT installation.