VARD partner in project to deliver next-generation SOV for floating offshore wind
VARD has taken a key role in this collaboration that represents a significant step toward revolutionizing floating offshore wind operations, aiming to support the industry’s growth and contribute to a more sustainable energy landscape.
09. October 2024
North Star, a leader in the UK's renewable energy sector, has initiated a major industry partnership to address the unique challenges of floating offshore wind operations. The collaboration includes VARD, MO4, Principle Power, SMST, and Voith Group, aiming to address the operational challenges of floating offshore wind projects, which are increasingly located in deeper waters, far from shore.
The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a dedicated working group focused on developing a high-performance SOV concept tailored to commercial-scale floating wind projects like the 17GW awarded in the ScotWind leasing round. This new vessel design aims to set a new industry benchmark for safety, performance, and efficiency, addressing the logistical complexities of deeper water wind farms.
Andrew Duncan, North Star's Renewables & Innovations Director, emphasized the potential of the partnership to innovate and create a best-in-class solution for floating wind projects, ensuring the future SOVs deliver superior operational flexibility and sustainability.
“We look forward to leveraging our collective expertise to drive this floating wind innovation forward. The detailed ship design will be put to the test through rigorous workability assessments, ensuring that it meets the highest standards of performance, safety, and efficiency before being implemented in future floating wind projects.
– Andrew Duncan, North Star's Renewable and Innovation Director
The partnership’s key contributions include:
- North Star with its extensive market intelligence and operational experience, will lead the vessel design process, ensuring that logistics and service needs are fully integrated to meet real-world demands in the field.
- Digital twin and AI decision support software firm MO4, will be responsible for assessing the workability of the proposed SOV concept, focusing on vessel motions, gangway performance, and the movement range of the floating wind turbine foundations.
- Principle Power will contribute its 15 years of experience designing, deploying, and operating floating wind platforms to provide critical data on the range of motions expected from WindFloat® platforms and to define operational use cases for inspection, maintenance, and repair, ensuring that the SOV is optimised for the next generation of floating wind projects.
- International offshore equipment design and build specialist SMST, will bring its expertise in gangway technology, providing essential data on different walk-to-work options, workability parameters, and solutions for landing height adjustments to ensure safe and efficient personnel transfers.
- As key integrator, VARD, a major global designer and specialised vessel shipbuilder, will combine inputs from all partners to develop a cohesive floating offshore wind ship design, ensuring that every aspect is optimised for performance and workability.
- Global technology company Voith Group, will contribute propulsion options, selecting the most suitable DP systems to maintain stability and performance in the challenging environment of floating offshore wind.
