Lowestoft-based OrbisEnergy will on 3 May host the first in a series of workshops tackling subsea engineering issues, ranging from corrosion and tidal scour at turbine towers, to keeping seals away from piling work.
The workshops are being run by the Supply Chain Innovation for Offshore Renewable Energy (SCORE), which offers grants and business support to develop ideas, and are supported by the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network and ORE Catapult.
The day is the first of a series of workshops over the next two years which will cover a range of engineering challenges facing offshore wind, including operations and maintenance, materials and electrical infrastructure.
“The challenges have been identified by people in the offshore industry – so there is a proven need and demand for solutions which helps with taking ideas to market,” OrbisEnergy’s business development lead Johnathan Reynolds said.
“The offshore wind energy sector has faced some of these problems in its early phases, but we are now moving from niche industry to major industrialisation with the latest wind farms – and while the turbines look similar the technology has changed tremendously. This region – and other areas – have strong histories and experience in oil and gas subsea engineering over 50 years, which can help wind energy tackle these issues as it moves forward.”