A new partnership has been announced between the National Decommissioning Centre (NDC) and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult for research into developing new floating offshore wind technologies.
It will initially consist 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 project is valued at £84,000 and co-funded by ORE Catapult, the NDC and the School of Engineering at the University of Aberdeen.
Andrew Macdonald, Director of Offshore Wind Development and Operations at ORE Catapult added: “We welcome this innovative collaboration between ORE Catapult, the NDC and the School of Engineering that will support technology development of floating offshore wind.
“At ORE Catapult we have developed the National Floating Offshore Wind Innovation Centre in Aberdeen to accelerate the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology. These PhD projects will look at the design, installation and maintenance of floating offshore wind systems, and how they interact with the marine environment, and this will further drive economic growth and our net zero future.”
One of the projects will use the NDA’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 other two projects include developing 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; and investigating 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 from the university, who will be co-ordinating the projects added: “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.”
