PACE NONCREDIT COURSE:
Offshore Wind Economics for Complete Beginners
Areas of Study
Course Type
Overview
When does an offshore wind (OSW) farm create economic value for its developers? How would you measure and model such value anyway? What do you need for a good site? Why are people building or investigating development opportunities in some places but not others? If you’re curious about such things but new to offshore wind energy, or to project equity cash flow modeling. or both, this detailed but accessible first pathway course explores these very questions. And other questions, like how can we use the credible estimates of site-specific wind data to feed a cash flow model? How much do today’s big utility scale offshore wind farms cost to build, operate and remove? How can you assess competing development options when there are uncertainties and lots of moving parts?
These and more are covered in what PACE at UNO is proud to present as “Offshore Wind Economics for Complete Beginners”, a course developed and offered by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Ken Kasriel. PACE at UNO is amongst the first in the country to offer training for the future-of-energy workforce in a convenient online format. This one-of-a-kind course exemplifies PACE’s innovative new offerings designed to give our learners a leg up in emerging and in-demand careers.
It is an online, self-contained and self-paced hands-on course for those thinking about a future in the commercial side of offshore wind. So, if you’re thinking about a career in offshore wind energy, or if you’re an employer looking to help get new, and/or offshore wind energy-aware but not yet specialized staff to a good start, or are just curious, this is the course for you!
Key Concepts
What you will get from this course:
- Overview of what makes for offshore wind hot-spots (and not-so-hot-spots) around the globe, with a downloadable, customized global offshore wind / water depth map
- Combine site-specific wind speed simulation with turbine data, to estimate annual electricity production from first principles
- Get to grips with discounted cash flow modelling concepts and coding, with calculations broken down into clear steps by a Wiley Finance author.
- Detailed, accessible walk-through of offshore wind costs and their drivers, from an author of International Energy Agency studies.
- Tie the strands together with an in-depth, engaging and topical multi-option case study and full model.
- Learning reinforced with quizzes and exercises, including unsolved and solved versions of Excel files.
- Certificate of completion
- A mix of lectures and more conversational learning styles
Curriculum
The course’s first unit introduces many OSW/broader renewable power issues, some within, and some beyond, the context of the multi-option site selection case study and exercises which come in in the fifth and final unit. The remaining, mainly hands-on units swap Unit I’s macro lens for a micro one, to prepare us in careful stages for Unit V’s modelling and analysis, where we have to pick the best of several competing wind farm development options. To learn more about the course, visit Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.
Course Outline:
Unit I: Where’s Good for Offshore Wind?
Unit II: Wind-to-Watts: Resource Estimation
Unit III: Cashflow-based Valuation Basics in Excel
Unit IV: Case Study: Outlining Options and Their Costs
Unit V: Multi-option Case Study: Full Model and Analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
I am new to offshore wind, is this course suitable for me?
Yes, absolutely! This course has been specifically designed for learners who are new to offshore wind or economic modelling or both. Though be sure you are comfortable with the “Requirements” section, above.
Is this course interactive?
No. It is self-contained; more of a talking textbook with solved examples for self-checking, than a classroom.
Will I get a certificate for completing this course?
Yes. All students who complete the course will automatically receive an electronic certificate upon course completion. Certificates are issued regardless of score received in end of unit tests and how you perform in the various downloadable exercises.
Is there a time limit for completing the course?
Purchasing the course gives you access to all course materials for 6 months from time of ordering.
How long will the course take to complete?
The course consists of almost 12 hours of video and includes a number of downloadable Excel exercises for students to tackle at their own pace. These could easily add another 10 hours.
Moodle & Zoom
Before enrolling, please review the following links and ensure that your computer meets these requirements.
Course Requirements
In the words of Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, “Broadband for the streaming videos; some lectures can be viewed comfortably on a small internet-enabled device like a phone, although we’d suggest something larger like a laptop or desktop PC for the detailed how-to modelling videos. You’ll also need Microsoft Excel® to access and complete the exercise files. We’ve only tested the Excel files on a Windows PC. While the course shows you all the steps taken/formulas used in Excel – the whys and the hows — you will need a basic comfort with both Excel (for example, how to use dollar signs when copying formulas) and with basic math (mainly arithmetic) and logic (for example, “If A is true, do B; otherwise, do C”). If guided math makes you uncomfortable, this might not be the course for you. The chief aim of the course is to get you able to think about OSW in numerical terms using Excel.”
Course Prerequisites
Instructor(s):
Gavin Smart
Gavin Smart has 10 years of wide-ranging experience in financial analysis and economic modelling of offshore renewables, spanning project appraisal, business planning, budgeting and financial management. A qualified management accountant (ACMA, CGMA). Gavin moved into offshore renewables in 2010 as a senior valuation modeler with ScottishPower Renewables where he was part of cross-disciplinary teams working on UK and European offshore wind and marine energy projects.
In addition to conducting and documenting detailed and complex analysis, Gavin regularly presents project findings and industry thought leadership at various offshore renewables conferences, including Global Offshore Wind, Wind Energy Hamburg, Reuters Offshore & Floating Wind Europe.
Ken KasrielKen Kasriel is an independent petroleum economist and Associate Principal Economist with ERCE Energy in London. His 25-year career in petroleum finance also includes working in oil and gas equities research (including at Robert Flemings, now part of JP Morgan), as Senior Analyst with PwC’s global petroleum practice, and Senior Petroleum Economist with RPS Energy. He has built upstream economic models in 27 fiscal regimes in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Former Soviet Union, the Middle East and the Americas, for the purposes of valuation, fiscal/legal due diligence, investment screening, portfolio optimization, negotiation, commercial arbitration and regulatory reporting. Mid-case resources involved have ranged from a few million to over a billion barrels of oil equivalent, from pre-drill exploration scoping through to brownfield development option valuation.