WITHIN weeks of its launch, the offshore wind industry’s first in-turbine toilet has secured an order from Swedish energy group Vattenfall.
Every turbine on its Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm will be fitted with a “gamechanger” cubicle developed and manufactured by Pegasus Welfare Solutions (PWS) with patented technology in a £60,000 deal.
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Mike Herdman, Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm O&M project manager, said: “This is a gamechanger for the industry.
“PWS came up with a solution and, as our wind farm is a test and demonstration centre of innovation, we are proud to take the lead and be the first to install them on all our Aberdeen turbines to be an exemplar in a global industry.”
The unit’s design was finalised at the end of last year in collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, which also plans to trial it at its 7MW Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine in Fife.
In a £1.5 million collaboration between ORE Catapult and Vattenfall, promising technologies from the UK supply chain are demonstrated in real-world conditions at the Aberdeen site.
Dan Greeves, PWS inventor and managing director, said his solution to the long industry “elephant in the room” issue should be the start of basic hygiene offshore being industry standard.
He said: “No one would accept going to a building site where houses were being built and find no welfare facilities on site, so why should a there be none on a working site offshore?
“Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm is renowned for innovation and Vattenfall is a company always looking for solutions and new technologies, so to have an order for a unit for every turbine on the wind farm illustrates we have filled a clear gap in the market.”
