JET Engineering System Solutions has won a contract to explore the potential deployment of a 5G mobile network at sea for the construction of Scottish Power Renewables’ East Anglia 3 offshore wind farm.
The feasibility study is a first step towards bringing fast, reliable connectivity and real-time environmental data to ScottishPower’s wind farms, JET said.
JET’s in-house developed 5G systems provide fast connectivity, which also supports the live-streaming of data from the ocean across its secure networks instantly to analysts on shore.
This means mobile connectivity – as well as weather, sea state, environmental, and video feeds – are available in real time with the only trip out needed to deploy the network of buoys hosting the systems, saving time and money, stated JET.
The feasibility study with ScottishPower Renewables will focus on the construction of East Anglia 3, with the findings also being considered for the operational phase.
JET’s previous work has included deploying the world’s first floating 700MHz offshore standalone 5G connection in 2020, followed by raw 4K subsurface video streaming over 5G and the launch of a floating 5G base station earlier this year.
It has also won the Defence Team Information Innovation Award 2022 and been awarded Offshore Wind Growth Partnership funding, as well as places on the Net Zero Technology Centre’s TechX Clean Energy Accelerator programme and ORE Catapult’s Launch Academy.
James Thomas, CEO at JET, said: “We are incredibly excited to be formally working with ScottishPower Renewables to bring our solution to the offshore wind market.
“We met the team in 2021 and they have been instrumental in our market research so far.
“This partnership is our next step towards our network deployment goals and we are looking forward to seeing our systems bring some real benefit to those working offshore.
“In addition, not only are we able to provide connectivity that is currently unobtainable, but by providing accurate wind and rain maps surrounding the wind farm we will be able to inform decisions on the best time to activate turbines to increase asset life and maximise utilisation.”
Andrew Blair, Lead Telecoms Engineer at ScottishPower Renewables, said: “Having quick and easy access to data and a reliable communications network will help ensure we can progress the construction of our biggest offshore wind farm at pace and get our turbines turning as quickly as possible to produce enough green electricity to power more than one million homes.”