Ørsted joins UK offshore wind sea state forecasting project

Ørsted has joined a GBP 400,000 sea state forecasting project, launched by UK’s national Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Centre of Excellence, a collaboration between the University of Hull and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.

The project’s goal is to deliver a significant reduction in missed working days by developing an innovative approach to sea state forecasting.

Downward-facing radars have been installed on wind turbines turbines at Ørsted’s 258 MW Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm. The radars will record wave height, direction and period, together with combined met-ocean data and existing forecasts.

“This big-marine-data approach, along with bathymetry and site configuration data, is enabling researchers to produce an artificial intelligence-based method that will be used to make a step-change in the resolution and accuracy of fine-scale at offshore windfarm sites”, ORE Catapult said.

By improving wave forecast modelling, the project team aims to contribute to increasing the accuracy of sea state forecasting at the level of an individual offshore wind turbine.

This should drive efficiency gains in operations and maintenance, increase safety, and contribute to further reductions in the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) for offshore wind, according to ORE Catapult.

“With total O&M costs contributing around 25% to the lifetime costs of a typical offshore wind farm, the positive impact on planning by owners/operators is clear, with ORE Catapult analysis suggesting that innovations in forecasting techniques could help to reduce missed working days by a quarter”, ORE Catapult states.