NDC and ORE Catapult join forces for floating wind research
By:
Tom Russell
26/05/2022
NDC
The National Decommissioning
Centre (NDC) and Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult have established
a research partnership aimed at developing new offshore wind technologies.
The partnership initially consists of three PhD projects, each focusing
on a different aspect of offshore wind development, including the simulation
of floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) systems, design optimisation of
these systems, and environmental concerns. Each PhD project is valued at
£84,000 and co-funded by ORE Catapult, the NDC and the School of Engineering
at the University of Aberdeen.
The first project – Simulations of Floating Offshore Wind Marine Operations
– will utilise the National Decommissioning Centre’s £1.6 million immersive
simulation suite to trial virtual marine operations related to the installation
and maintenance of FOWT systems in a risk-free environment.
The partnership is also progressing the Multi-objective Design Optimisation
of Floating Offshore Wind Systems project, which aims to develop a
numerical tool to improve the design of combined floating platforms and
mooring and dynamic cable systems, allowing users to quickly identify the
best solutions based on project circumstance and cost.
The final project in the partnership – Study of Environmental Interactions
of FOW Technology – will investigate how key environmental stakeholders,
advisory bodies and research organisations can work together to identify
gaps in their knowledge of how offshore wind farms interact with the marine
environment, and better identify solutions.
Dr Marcin Kapitaniak and Professor Richard Neilson from the University
of Aberdeen are coordinating the projects at the NDC in Newburgh.
Dr Kapitaniak said: “We are delighted to be a part of this collaborative
research project partnership between the NDC and ORE Catapult, which addresses
a need for delivering innovation, impact and technical development in the
field of floating wind, which is vital for achieving net zero and energy
transition goals.
“Each project will run for a period of 3.5 years, and the results will
inform approaches to offshore wind development and maintenance that have
the potential to bring real improvements to current processes as well as
cost savings to industry.”
Professor Neilson, NDC Director, added: “The collaboration between
the partners was initiated when the NDC received support from EPSRC’s
Supergen ORE Hub for a project aimed at the development of cost-effective
methods of installation of floating wind farm anchors, which was co-funded
by ORE Catapult and Aubin Group.
“This opened discussions about utilising the NDC’s unique and state-of-the-art
simulations suite, which as well as being able to undertake detailed marine
technology and operational simulations, can also conduct complex data modelling
and visualisation.
“I am delighted that these discussions have come to fruition, and we look
forward to working with colleagues in the ORE Catapult and our PhD students
as part of this exciting initiative.”
