Select a research theme below to highlight current research challenges on the virtual landscape, then select a number to discover more information about current research challenges within each theme.
Themes
- A Resource and Environment Characterisation
- B Fluid-structure Seabed Interaction
- C Materials and Manufacturing
- D Sensing, Control and Electromechanics
- E Survivability, Reliability and Design
- F Operations, Management, Maintenance and Safety
- G Environmental And Ecosystem Aspects
- H Marine Planning and Governance
The Supergen ORE Hub is part of the wider Supergen Programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Reducing uncertainty of both technology and social costs of ORE
Challenges/Opportunities
There is no agreed process to evaluate the whole-system benefits of offshore renewable energy, including technology and social costs and benefits. Nor is it established how to identify and qualify/quantify the well-being from employment, identity and cultural aspects of future ORE industries
Solution
Analysis through the development of a whole-systems model to facilitate both economic and socioeconomic benefits of ORE. Development of methods to assess and communicate the range of social benefits and well-being from future large scale ORE developments
Summary
The lack of a standardised and validated approach to marine planning for ORE developments is holding back the development of the ORE sector and establishing such an approach is necessary to allow policymakers and investors to make informed decisions on the funding of the ORE sector.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Development of market mechanisms for ORE
Challenges/Opportunities
Fit-for-purpose market mechanisms do not as yet exist for the UK domestic ORE market, particularly for marine renewable energy
Solution
Development and analysis of potential policy frameworks to support ORE technology commercialisation.
Summary
Fit-for-purpose market mechanisms are needed for the UK domestic ORE market, with appropriate measures reflecting requirements for technology sectors at different stages of development, particularly for marine renewable energy. Development and analysis of potential policy frameworks to support ORE technology commercialisation will allow rational mechanisms to be established.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Interaction with other marine users
Challenges/Opportunities
Need to reduce potential for conflict with other marine sectors.
Solution
Use of Marine Spatial Planning framework
Summary
ORE operates in the marine environment alongside other users and there is potentially a conflict for resource, marine space and infrastructure. Better understanding of the requirements, and of complementary and competing users will be necessary for rational spatial planning.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Communication: Ocean literacy and public perception of ORE
Challenges/Opportunities
The wider public is not well informed about offshore energy and in particular the concept of whole-systems approaches.
Solution
Supergen communication and engagement strategy; creation of material, events, blogs, Supergen ORE website; alignment of wider research base for promotion through Supergen.
Summary
The Supergen ORE Hub leadership role includes connecting those active in the sector and communicating ORE issues to a range of user groups, including politicians and public, education and to improve understanding via use of public engagement. Better public understanding of ORE and whole-systems approaches, ocean literacy and ecological interactions, will impact on public perception and the granting of Social License.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Ecosystem Modelling
Challenges/Opportunities
In order to understand the long term impact of Offshore Renewable Energy developments in the marine environment, we need to be able to make predictions of the cumulative effects of very large scale and multiple ORE developments throughout marine ecosystems.
Solution
An ecosystem modelling framework is needed to assess the ecological limits (carrying capacity) of marine systems, which can be used within a Marine Spatial Planning framework.
Summary
The prediction of cumulative and interaction of multiple effects is needed in order to understand the long term impact of ORE developments on the marine environment and to inform marine planning. It will allow better future prediction or range of environmental impacts from physical changes up through food chain, including far-field and cumulative effects, and their impact on ecological limits and ecological carrying capacity, and put into context of climate change. Improved ecosystem modelling tools will enable environmental change prediction to be expressed as different ???currencies??? (i.e. Carbon, economic via natural capital/ecosystem services, social capital).
Context And Need
Impact Potential
UK capacity to benefit
Research Status
Development of population level environmental impact models
Challenges/Opportunities
There are currently no standard analytical methods to predict population level environmental impacts and deal with priority issues of marine animal and bird collision risk, displacement and disturbance.
Solution
Development of data collection, analysis and modelling techniques that include uncertainty estimates for marine animals and birds from individual up to population level. This will enable scientist to resolve environmental impact uncertainties, such as collision risk, displacement and disturbance for individual to population levels.
Summary
ORE projects may be prevented or held back by the lack of confidence of their effect on the marine environment. The current models do not predict the impact on individuals and on population levels with good certainty and so development of these models and the data collection and analysis methods behind them would enable more confident prediction of the impact on marine animals and birds.
This would enable the impact of ORE projects to be better understood and potentially lead to cost reduction in environmental monitoring and faster project consenting.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Fit-for-purpose approaches to environmental monitoring
Challenges/Opportunities
ORE Industries have recognised that current environmental impact assessment EIA/HRA/Post-consent guidelines for environmental monitoring are not fit for purpose and may be costing more than necessary or not providing information needed with confidence.
Solution
Better framework for collection of data and an assessment approach for environmental impacts.
Summary
Environmental monitoring is a high cost aspect of ORE project development and is needed during both environmental impact assessment and post consent. However, there is generally low confidence in the predictions of cumulative and population level environmental impacts. Better understanding of the models and the data needed for use in them will enable the development of a framework for monitoring data collection with environmental impact assessment and post consent guidelines.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Increased use of automation to reduce risk in installation and operation (O&M)
Challenges/Opportunities
Human activity is a governing hazard in the offshore environment, need for reduced human risk exposure in offshore operations.
Solution
Increased use of automation to reduce human risk exposure in ORE installation and in operation and maintenance (O&M).
Summary
In order to reduce the risk to human life in servicing O&M requirements of ORE structures, redundant systems to reduce time off for maintenance and human intervention may be considered. This may be achieved through increasing system reliabilities by increasing component redundancies, however this is a design trade-off with cost. Evaluating and specifying the ideal trade-off point between system reliability and lifecycle cost is needed, as well as better understanding of O&M uncertainties and the adoption of risk-based approaches to minimise risk in ORE O&M.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Data and digital cyber security
Challenges/Opportunities
ORE assets provide an Increasing amount of data and heightened sensitivity, causing challenges regarding data security. ORE farms are critical assets that if compromised would disrupt the energy supply.
Solution
Better understanding of the risks and mitigation measures leading to established and applied best practice and processes for data and cyber security in ORE assets.
Summary
ORE farms are critical assets that provide an Increasing amount of data and heightened sensitivity that require consideration of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is an established area, but requires implementation for ORE.
Opportunity for the UK to lead the development on data and cyber security protocols for ORE usage.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Use of autonomous systems for inspection
Challenges/Opportunities
The use of autonomous systems for remote sensing and condition monitoring, together with AI and machine learning with remote resets and repairs present opportunities for advanced asset monitoring and management for ORE. This could potentially lower OPEX cost, whilst increasing availabilities of ORE farms and individual energy converters. Regulations and legislation of UAV systems are not yet developed, but are needed as autonomous systems are expected to be increasingly used for inspection and maintenance.
Solution
Clear regulation and legislation for UAV operations within offshore assets
Summary
Remote sensing and the use of autonomous vessels and robotics for inspection of ORE machines, e.g. turbine and structure, and for environmental monitoring is expected to become increasingly commonplace. There are technical challenges in developing systems and there is also the need to develop clear regulation and legislation for UAV operations within offshore assets.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Analysis of remote sensing and condition monitoring data
Challenges/Opportunities
As the use of remote sensing and remote condition monitoring through digital twin technology becomes more commonplace, improved techniques for analysis of the data using AI and machine learning will be needed.
Solution
New analysis tools are needed to be developed, demonstrated and benchmarked for analysis of the data generated from remote sensing and remote monitoring using autonomous systems.
Summary
To minimise offshore operations and inform O&M strategies, remote sensing and remote condition monitoring through digital twin technology are important developments that have the potential to enable remote resets and repairs and significantly reduce the cost of O&M offshore. Improved analysis tools and treatment of big data generated by remote sensing, proven by smarter benchmarking will be needed to unlock the potential for use of AI and machine learning and present opportunities for advanced asset monitoring and management, potentially lowering OPEX cost, whilst increasing availabilities.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Whole systems approaches to operate large scale ORE
Challenges/Opportunities
As offshore wind becomes a larger fraction of the grid supply, without better integration of supply, storage and the grid, the supply will be vulnerable to the availability of wind.
Solution
A systems level approach between farms and integration with storage is needed to maintain grid supply. Better integration of wind farms, storage and the grid is needed, and the grid integration of ORE farms focusing on system stability and the impact of distributed energy storage is needed.
Summary
Targets are moving towards being defined in terms of energy - also very large scale envisaged (50MV) A systems level approach to supply, storage and grid integration is needed for optimal utilisation of offshore assets. The Government are starting to set energy targets and reducing the economic viability opens the potential for device deployment in UK, South America etc. The limit of Economic Viability of Devices should be investigated to enable design to lower (for instance) the velocity of flow whilst achieving economic viability.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Design tools for arrays
Challenges/Opportunities
There is insufficient confidence in prediction of energy yield from arrays of new technologies to underpin investment Current models cannot efficiently achieve array optimisation of ORE systems.
Solution
Computationally tractable techniques for system or component design accounting for flow-modification by other devices and arrays Models need to be developed for effective analysis and optimisation of ORE arrays.
Summary
Efficient numerical models need to developed for array optimisation or ORE systems, which include: optimal control; understanding device conditions; hydrodynamic interaction; uncertainty quantification, yield optimisation; blocking and efficient arrays in real channels; mooring or power take off sharing. Better understanding of the hydrodynamics of array interaction, layout performance and design, including moorings and anchors is needed through physical wave tank tests and numerical modelling.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Sustainable whole-life design methods
Challenges/Opportunities
Offshore renewable energy systems are designed without a planned use when life expired, which reduces sustainability.
Solution
Develop new concepts, components, design and processes, that unlock whole life designs which extend new and existing facilities into recycling, reuse, repair, decommissioning and/or repowering.
Summary
Develop new component technologies, system design concepts and processes, that unlock whole life design improvements that extend into recycling, reuse, repair, decommissioning and/or repower.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Innovative sub-systems to provide higher and more consistent reliability and better performance.
Challenges/Opportunities
Offshore renewable energy systems require maintenance and repair which is challenging in the ocean environment.
Solution
Innovative improvements in sub-systems that raise reliability and performance will reduce maintenance and repair requirements.
Summary
Develop new component solutions with innovative, materials, designs, operating principles to plug gaps in system reliability and to extend or expand device performance.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Extending limits to operation or performance by mitigating extreme actions
Challenges/Opportunities
High loads can occur due to dynamic response and interaction of response modes that limit system design.
Solution
Identification *and mitigation* of extreme loads and aggregated actions at system and component level.
Summary
Establish and extend operational limits or performance by better identifying and mitigating extreme loads and aggregated actions vs. operation behaviour at system and component level. Including interaction between environment and system control parameters and to extend operational limits of devices extending turbine size limits and fatigue life, understanding localised environment conditions to inform aggregated effects (e.g. on fatigue); modelling/prediction of extreme environmental loads.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Higher and more consistent reliability through risk-based design
Challenges/Opportunities
Existing design methods can limit scope for innovation and cost reduction, particularly for arrays of devices.
Solution
Rational, whole-life models coupling resource to device/structure loading and response accounting for control and interaction with station-keeping infrastructure.
Summary
Establish risk-based and/or probabilistic design approaches that span resource, device, control strategy and array. Develop rational, coupled whole-life models for resource - device/structure (and control) - foundation interaction to allow consistent target reliability. Unpack existing practices inherited from oil and gas, to remove conservatism, and counter current issues of low survivability of some trial systems
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Power Electronic Conversion
Challenges/Opportunities
Power electronics converters are key for all ORE technology and a major challenge for all converters is to improve their reliability.
Solution
Improved control systems and analysis of the power electronic converter will improve reliability and the performance of the drivetrain and grid interface.
Summary
Power electronics conversion is important for all types of ORE technology and the power electronics needs to have better reliability and improved control systems in order to enhance performance and grid integration. The impact of improved power electronic control reliability will be to reduce operating costs and improve utilisation of ORE.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Drive train design
Challenges/Opportunities
Improved drive trains are required to accommodate a large dynamic range, with increased lifetime and reduced CAPEX and OPEX.
Solution
Conception, design and validation of novel drive trains for ORE devices including hydraulic drives and direct drive generators.
Summary
Conception, design and validation of novel drive trains for ORE devices including hydraulic drives, direct drive generators and devices to couple multiple prime movers into single generators. Designs should aim to provide a large dynamic range, with increased lifetime and reduced CAPEX and OPEX.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Smart sensor system use
Challenges/Opportunities
Improved control and operations requires better use of sensor systems to measure of behaviour of individual ORE devices and arrays and the environments in which they operate.
Solution
Identify, evaluate and validate sensor technologies, data transmission, integration and interpretation systems to support improved control and management.
Summary
Smart sensors may be embedded within structures and ORE machines, or may be developed as part of autonomous monitoring systems. In order to develop sensors fit for purpose in the offshore ORE environment, there is a need to identify, evaluate and validate sensor technology, data transmission, integration and interpretation systems to support control and planning of operations and maintenance. This includes both sensing applied to individual ORE devices, arrays of devices and the environments in which they operate.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Control of ORE farms
Challenges/Opportunities
It is difficult to simultaneously maximize power generation, reduce fatigue load and minimize environment impact in complex ORE systems.
Solution
Develop and validate control technology for ORE farms to balance competing requirements.
Summary
There are research challenges in the development of control technologies in order to optimise the performance of ORE systems under varying operating and survivability conditions, both for individual devices and for arrays. There is a need to develop and validate control technology to control the individual ORE device and the whole ORE farm to maximize the power capture, reduce the fatigue load and minimize the environment impact.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Recycling/reuse of composites
Challenges/Opportunities
Composites, glass fibre in particular are currently not easily recycled. Very large amounts of composites will come out of service posing an environmentally unacceptable situation ??? current practice is to land-fill decommissioned blades.
Solution
With a number of offshore wind turbines approaching their end of service life, investigation of appropriate end of life scenarios becomes a timely priority.
Summary
A large number of first-generation wind turbines are entering the second half of their service life. Service life extension and repowering can reduce LCoE, however materials used in decommissioned blades in particular need to be reused/recycled. New research is needed to investigate methods to repurpose and/or recycle composites for offshore wind and marine renewables.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
New materials and coatings
Challenges/Opportunities
Corrosion and Fatigue degrade structural integrity and new materials need to be developed and applied for offshore wind and marine renewable energy applications. New materials, fatigue/corrosion/abrasion resistant Innovative materials with special properties can result to life time extension (beyond nominal 25 years) and reduce inspection/maintenance requirements
Solution
Fatigue/corrosion/abrasion resistant Innovative materials (including coatings) with special properties should be developed for life-time extension (beyond nominal 25 years) and reduce inspection/maintenance requirements.
Summary
The development of innovative materials and their application for the ORE sector will enable improvements in structural integrity, corrosion resistance and fatigue life.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Design for safe and cost-effective installation methods.
Challenges/Opportunities
Marine renewables and deep water offshore wind require reduction of installation costs through innovative methods while maintaining safety levels. Currently, installation approaches involve putting people into a hazardous working environment and this situation needs to be addressed.
Solution
To develop designs of ORE facility that require less offshore human activity during the installation process.
Summary
Marine renewables and deep water offshore wind turbines require reduction of installation costs through innovative methods while maintaining safety levels.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
UK capacity to benefit
Research Status
Long-term sediment transport measurement and modelling
Challenges/Opportunities
Ocean sediments can be mobile, affecting offshore structures, cables and habitat. The motion of sands and other sediments and the possibility of scour must be predicted, as well as environmental harm minimised.
Solution
Reliable multiscale methods - which work at region and farm scale, as well as local to structures - are needed to predict changes in bathymetry, sediments and habitat, validated by field surveys.
Summary
Morphological change in tidal races, tidal estuaries and the open ocean is not well understood, hampering exploitation resources. If the changes to water flow, sediment and habitat can be predicted, confidence in design and social acceptability will be raised.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Serial (volume) manufacturing of complex structural systems
Challenges/Opportunities
The cost of ORE structures for deeper water sites and further offshore is expensive. Although fixed offshore wind has seen significant price reduction, floating offshore wind, tidal stream and wave energy remain too expensive to attract significant investment.
Solution
Structural Design needs to integrate with advanced and emerging volume manufacture technologies.
Summary
For ORE structures to be economically viable, economies of scale need to be realised. The design of next generation structural systems needs to transition from one-off laboratory scale models to volume fabrication to support wind/marine deployments in deep waters.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Structural Integrity in the Marine Environment (corrosion, fatigue, coatings etc.)
Challenges/Opportunities
Corrosion and Fatigue degrade structural integrity and need to be better understood.
Solution
Experimental, Numerical and analytical damage models need to be developed, validated and verified for offshore structural integrity.
Summary
Offshore wind components/assets need to withstand the harsh marine environment hence understanding of degradation mechanisms should warrant operability and safety of personnel.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Design of reliable cabling systems
Challenges/Opportunities
Degradation and failure of cables due to processes such as cable-seabed interactions affects ORE reliability and will be increasingly important for floating wind.
Solution
Better understanding of cable failure mechanisms including cable-seabed interaction is needed to support ORE expansion.
Summary
Better understanding is needed of the cable mechanics, hydrodynamics, fluid-structure interaction and interaction with a moveable sea bed, thermal and electrical effects; revisit fundamentals of exposure and support to unlock more cost-effective designs.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Multi-purpose hybrid systems for ORE and ocean resources
Challenges/Opportunities
Under-utilisation of the available ORE and ocean resources, and high cost of trialling new applications in isolation.
Solution
Hybrid systems exploiting more than one ORE or ocean resource, raising utilisation of ocean infrastructure including floating platforms and export cables.
Summary
Multi-use platforms may be platforms supporting both wave and offshore wind, offshore wind and tidal stream devices or integration of wave energy devices within sea walls and defences. Also includes the sharing of sea space and infrastructure with oil and gas structures or aquaculture.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Moorings, anchors and foundations
Challenges/Opportunities
Foundation and station-keeping systems are a major fraction of ORE system costs and critical to system response.
Solution
Novel and higher performance mooring arrangements, lines, foundations and anchor systems will reduce the costs of support and station keeping, and optimise the dynamic response of wave devices
Summary
New concepts and materials for moorings; design of coupled mooring and foundation systems and coupling mooring analysis and hydrodynamics for floating offshore wind and wave devices. Mooring systems for arrays including shared moorings and systems with multiple devices per foundation
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Realistic fluid-structure-seabed design tools that work together, not in isolation
Challenges/Opportunities
Many design tools and processes neglect non-linear effects and cover a single discipline in isolation, leading to poor design outcomes
Solution
Existing models need to be improved and coupled to provide integrated whole system design tools
Summary
Design tools are used to predict how structures interact with the sea and the seabed, to test and improve designs. The current generation of simulation tools generally focus on one aspect ??? aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, structural dynamics or geotechnics ??? with simplified exchanges of data between them, meaning conservative simplifications must be made. Improving and coupling existing models will lead to better designs.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Novel device concepts - rethinking the mechanism of energy extraction
Challenges/Opportunities
Established devices are already optimised so have minimal opportunity to produce a performance step change; Limit of Economic Viability of Devices
Solution
Novel concepts, e.g. alternative turbine forms or wave harvesting devices, offer a disruptive step forward; To design to lower (for instance) the velocity of flow whilst achieving economic viability
Summary
Reducing the economic viability opens the potential for device deployment in UK; South America etc.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Improved modelling tools for resource and loading assessment
Challenges/Opportunities
Existing models for predicting ORE resources and extreme loading on ORE facilities can be unreliable, particularly when extrapolating to extreme conditions, new regions, or when modelling new types of device or system.
Solution
Existing models need to be improved or further developed to become suitable tools for designing ORE systems under the full range of conditions, particularly frontier developments and new devices.
Summary
Improved modelling tools are needed for wave, wind and tidal power resource and extreme loading assessment and for farm planning and project design. Models are also needed that include multi-scale farm-resource interaction and allow the effect of the environment on the ORE structures to be modelled as well as the effect of the ORE farm on the environment.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Better measurement techniques for forecasting and resource characterisation
Challenges/Opportunities
Predictions of the environmental conditions often rely on data from a single point, or sparse locations. This causes uncertainty in the potential energy resource, the loading on devices and the weather windows for offshore operations.
Solution
Develop more reliable and rich measurement systems, to quantify the offshore environment, including combinations of wind, wave and current.
Summary
Measurement of MetOcean data, i.e. wind, wave and current data, including velocity, wave elevation, turbulence data, is necessary to understand the offshore energy resource. Techniques are needed to measure all forms of physical environment data and to take into account the influence of land, accessibility, the need to extrapolate to extreme events, resource variations in time and space, bathymetry and other factors. This data is an essential part of resource assessment, farm planning and prediction of performance.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status
Resource and environmental characterisation in physical modelling facilities
Challenges/Opportunities
Real ocean behaviour, such as the turbulence in combined waves and current, is poorly understood and difficult to simulate in the laboratory.
Solution
New physical modelling technologies can be developed to produce more representative ocean conditions in controlled setting.
Summary
Laboratory facilities are increasing the realism of their simulations. New techniques allow complex aspects of the ocean environment to be modelled in the lab, such as combined wave and current characteristics, turbulence parameters, and combinations of wind, wave and current.
Context And Need
Impact Potential
Research Status