ORE Catapult-Led Project to Study Biofouling

A new project has been launched to take a close up look at attaching organisms living on renewable energy devices below the waves, with an aim of better informing the operation and maintenance of subsea equipment.

The project is being led by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, in conjunction with researchers from SAMS Research Services Ltd (SRSL), PML Applications Ltd and paint manufacturer AkzoNobel.

The overall aim of the project is to map for the first time how communities of these attaching, or ‘sessile’ creatures vary around the UK’s coast and to develop a sensor to measure their growth rates, with the purpose of better advising offshore installations and developing preventative methods, since growth of such organisms can have a detrimental effect on electricity production, maintenance operations, repairs and ultimately costs.

Leading the project is Vicky Coy, ORE Catapult project manager. She said: “Biofouling is a huge issue both in the UK and across the world. We work closely with offshore renewable energy technology developers and biofouling is repeatedly highlighted to us as a potential challenge for the renewables industry and related sectors.

“These organisms often attach in large numbers, creating particular problems for offshore renewable energy structures and the associated operational activities, adding weight, clogging machinery and accelerating deterioration.

“While much is known about these communities, this is the first time they have been looked at in this way, including the way growth patterns vary around the UK’s waters, and the impact they could have on renewables installations such as offshore wind and subsea tidal turbines, wave energy devices and their connected infrastructure.

“The project outcomes will also support greater understanding of the evolving bio-diversity of our seas.”

Dense marine growth on structures such as marine buoys or turbines can weigh in excess of 22kg per square metre, causing large increases in structural load and accelerating damage, particularly on moving components, ORE Catapult said in a press release.

The project will look at the potential for developing sensors to monitor the type of biofouling occurring on subsea surfaces, measuring the type of growth, depth of growth and speed of fouling.