Fast, accurate Geo-data to inform offshore wind foundation design

Industry challenges

The offshore wind industry has been hugely successful in reducing its levelised cost of energy (LCOE) to the point where it can compete with other electricity sources. According to the Global Wind Energy Council the annual number of new offshore wind installations needs to increase five-fold to deliver on the 1.5-degree Celsius climate goal set in the Paris Agreement. To achieve this, many governments are now incentivising the accelerated development of offshore wind farms, to encourage developers to reduce their project timescales from seven years to five, or less.

The early acquisition and analysis of high-quality Geo-data is essential to offshore wind farm developments because it informs reliable, cost-effective foundation designs and robust installation methods. Developers typically follow an iterative process, which includes assessing and bidding for new project sites followed by conceptual and then detailed design studies. Each consecutive phase requires a deeper understanding of the site’s conditions, which necessitates more detailed data-acquisition and analysis. This complex process has become more challenging in recent years due to the increasing size of wind farms and the heterogeneity of sites they occupy. As the size and generating capacity of new sites continue to grow, so does the need for data acquisition. This leads to increasing demand for vessels, vehicles, equipment, and expertise to deliver what developers need safely, efficiently and to the required specification. It’s a delicate balancing act which requires skill to get right.

Consultancy-led scoping

Once a site is won, developers aim to start acquiring data as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this often leads to the scoping of their site investigations being hastily compiled, which introduces additional risk to the project. The acquired data may prove to be incomplete, inadequate or irrelevant, resulting in incorrect engineering decisions and expensive delays as remedial measures are implemented. The challenge is compounded when additional factors are considered, including:

• The rise of floating wind – the offshore wind industry is still learning about floating wind, which is being developed in different site conditions to fixed-bottom wind farms and relies upon different technology types, meaning that different approaches to site investigation and ground modelling are needed.

• The globalisation of offshore wind – developers are venturing further offshore, exploring new geographies with unfamiliar soil conditions, and limited local expertise to help understand them. Fugro is one of only a few companies who have a proven track record in many of these emerging markets, and we can apply our operational experience and local knowledge to help developers optimise the scope of their projects to achieve project objectives.

• The rapid development of new technologies – the rate of technological change continues to increase, with new ideas constantly emerging. For example, using our in-house innovation capability, cutting-edge equipment and enduring curiosity, we provide clients with sound advice and practical support.

• The scarcity of expertise – many developers struggle to find sufficient expertise to support their projects, which can hinder decision-making and result in substandard execution, particularly site investigations which are an expensive and time-consuming activity.  Fortunately, we’ve supported the evolution of 70% of all wind farms developed around the world to date and continue to build our expertise and understanding of client needs as we explore new sites and new frontiers.

Our consultants can provide invaluable scoping support across the data acquisition phase to accelerate wind farm development and design timelines. They can help clients overcome their project constraints by defining tailored work scopes and deliverables whilst recommending suitable strategies and methods.