Offshore Wind, Aerospace Industries Enter Collaboration

IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA and ELECNOR DEIMOS, by way of their respective UK subsidiaries, have launched project SUMO (Support of Maritime Operations in Offshore Windfarms), an initiative aimed at creating a benchmark system for offshore wind farm management.

This cutting-edge initiative is to be undertaken with the support of the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the European Space Agency (ESA), whose involvement falls within the framework of the ARTES 20 demonstration programme promoting the use of technologies and products originally developed for the aerospace industry in other sectors.

This partnership will be key for the project’s success given that ESA, which encompasses 20 EU member states, is Europe’s leading aerospace organisation and has become an international benchmark within the industry.

The project will also involve the UK’s Satellite Applications Catapult, which will provide expert know-how on creating a maritime cloud for the country.

The SUMO system is expected to address the entire offshore wind farm development process as it will be possible to use the system while facilities are being constructed as well as in their subsequent operation and maintenance.

It will be the first project to integrate state-of-the-art diagnostic and ocean weather forecasting tools, using products and services developed within the aerospace industry. These applications include the use of high-resolution satellite imagery and methods for geo-locating people and objects.

All information that is obtained thanks to this new system arising from project SUMO will be displayed for users by way of a visual interface, providing easy access to key information in the planning and control of such offshore electricity generation facilities.

To undertake this project, IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA and ELECNOR DEIMOS will be pooling their experience in the wind power industry. To that end, they will integrate the technology and knowledge obtained from both EnvirOffshore, a wind farm-related ocean weather forecasting project undertaken by the IBERDROLA subsidiary, and the Kyros platform undertaken by ELECNOR DEIMOS, which allows the locating and tracking of people and objects.

In addition, IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA is to develop a new ocean weather forecasting module comprising tools for high-resolution, numerical atmosphere, ocean and wave simulation. This will be executed using a supercomputing software platform and provide the key variables in offshore operations (wind speed, wave height, ocean current speed and temperature).

The ultimate goal of the project is to allow IBERDROLA to use this new system at one of the offshore wind farms commissioned by the company in the next few years. In this regard, the company launches its first such facility, West of Duddon Sands (WODS), in the UK, which will have a 389 MW capacity. The project has been developed in conjunction with DONG Energy.

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Press release, September 05, 2014; Image: Iberdrola