The Carbon Trust-led Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) in the UK has announced its research focus areas for the next 12 months.
A total of 15 common research and development projects have been identified as part of the second year of the fourth stage of the programme.
They span logistics and operations and maintenance (O&M), cables, electrical systems, foundations, plus yield and performance.
The logistics and O&M projects will focus on low emission vessels and offshore charging standardisation plus improved O&M and logistics strategies.
Cables projects will focus on mechanical limitations of submarine cables, cable protection systems, as well as lifetime extension of installed cables.
Electrical systems will address high voltage direct current (HVDC), condition-based monitoring, fault detection, plus grid stability studies.
Foundations projects will look at design guidance for pile installation in weak rocks, wave run-up forces on secondary structures as well as impact of more relaxed flange fabrication.
Yield and performance projects will comprise continuation of work in mesoscale wake modelling, as well as floating lidar for increasing hub heights.
This comes at a time of expansion for the OWA, with Total having joined this year alongside existing members EnBW, Equinor, Orsted, RWE Renewables, ScottishPower Renewables, Shell, SSE Renewables and Vattenfall.
Total Offshore Wind vice president Olivier Terneaud said: “Total is delighted to join the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator.
“The UK has become one of the most important offshore wind markets in the world and that makes it an ideal place to test new technologies that will increase efficiency and drive down costs.
“Total has great ambition for renewable energy and we are now involved in important offshore wind projects off the coasts of England, Wales and Scotland.
“As part of our ambition, we also look forward to collaborating with the OWA to drive forward technical excellence in offshore wind and renewable power.”
The core programme receives all of its funding from the industry partners.
For larger joint industry R&D projects public funding is often used from a range of governments, depending on the location of the project.
For example, the VERBATIM project, which analyses pile tip buckling behaviour during foundation installation and develops design procedures to enable materials and cost savings, is receiving German government funding.