25th March 2024

To help the wind industry excel in the current energy market, we need to provide the proper protection to these vital systems, ensuring they have the longevity to make renewable energy truly sustainable. We can use new materials, build taller turbines, increase blade lengths and enhance the generators for greater outputs, but longevity of assets still remains a challenge.

There must be a focus for manufacturers on developing products and applications to meet both current and future demands, all while seeking feedback, expertise and industry insight along the way. Adding to the requirements of these renewable energy systems are considerations around waste management and its impact on the environment.

EasyQote has been working with an industry expert on the development of applications, an intermediary who is working with end users experiencing first hand the issues they face. With this knowledge EasyQote has been recommended for use and approval by some of the major operators. 

Dinko Cudic, Business Line Director for Stopaq/EasyQote sat down with Jan van Bokhorst, Subject Matter Expert, to discuss the development of new applications for the brand. 

Read snippets below, or click here for the full discussion.

Dinko Cudic: Let’s start with your take on how EasyQote is used now.

Jan van Bokhorst: EasyQote has been used in the offshore wind industry as a repair coating system for almost 10 years. The main purpose is to repair coating damage of the original coating systems although it is also used for sealing of irregular shaped structures like stabbing pins, sensors, voids, flange gaps at transition pieces (TPs), etc.

DC: What makes it so useful for these purposes?

JvB: The technology was once limited to small applications, but thanks to new developments now has lots of advantages for use on large steel structures during new build of offshore wind foundations structures too. These include no abrasive blasting; no surface profile required; minimised surface preparation; non-curing corrosion prevention layer as first layer; optional fast-curing polyurethane coating as a mechanical protection layer; and a reduction in CO2 emissions and drastic reduction in waste. 

DC: Tell us about the current approach to coating large structures.

JvB: In the case of monopiles and other large steel structures, the conventional coatings used for the foundations are a liquid hydrocarbon coating based on epoxy as the corrosion protection layer, and if required, a polyurethane for additional UV protection of the epoxy layer. These coating systems have been used for decades as the corrosion protection of steel structures in offshore conditions. It requires a thorough abrasive blast cleaning process and application of several layers with curing requirements for each layer.

DC: What benefits does this technology offer?

JvB: If we look beyond the corrosion protection, other advantages of this coating system are the limited waste production due to no blasting material and usage of 100% solids, solvent and VOC-free materials. This has the potential to make these renewable energy systems even more environmentally friendly. A study was carried out to define the ‘Cradle-to-Grave’ sustainability for EasyQote vs conventional liquid coating systems using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The study was based on a case of coating of 100 m2 of an offshore structure in Europe.