The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult is spearheading the sector’s digital transformation with the launch of its Wind Digital Innovations Forum (WDIF).
The forum is a joint initiative with the Digital Catapult that brings together wind owner/operators and asset managers including BayWa, Vattenfall, Innogy, Natural Power and Wood, together with academia and small innovators, such as Cognitive Business and Cyberscape, to drive forward the sector’s digital transformation.
It is chaired by Mike Anderson, co-founder and ex-chief technical officer for RES, and current chair of ETIPWind.
WDIF will build on the ORE Catapults’ experience and existing portfolio of wind related digital and data initiatives such as SPARTA, WEBS and POD and will focus on four strategic work programmes.
They are cyber security, data maturity, data integration and digital supply chain engagement.
The cyber security component will investigate the importance and ease with which security could be breached.
Data maturity will look at how data owners use data within their businesses and the proliferation of data analytics to improve performance and reduce operational costs.
Data integration, in conjunction with the data landscape programme developed by ORE Catapult and Accenture, will investigate systems and operational data ‘touch points’ within data owners.
Digital supply chain engagement will work with Digital Catapult to translate wind industry challenges and market opportunities into the technical language of the digital supply chain, whilst mapping the best-in-class game changers in IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
The outcomes from the work programmes will be available exclusively to WDIF members.
Vattenfall head of offshore wind and chair of WindEurope Gunnar Groebler said: “Digitalisation is at the top of our agenda. It will offer us a large potential for further cost improvement, for example via the development of data-driven models and operations for the maintenance of our wind farms.
“Our company is focussed on continuous automation, especially with regard to the operation of our assets optimised for the electricity markets.”
ORE Catapult data and digital business lead Steve Ross said: “The WDIF is a unique collaboration of data owners and solution providers, working together to overcome some of the key data issues facing the wind industry and offering their own perspectives on how we might tackle them.
“The forum will also develop disruptive strategies to help progress the digitalisation of the sector as well as potentially starting to develop standards and protocols for data management that do not currently exist.
“In order for the forum to be a success, we need as wide a representation from across the industry as possible, bringing together different perspectives, viewpoints and ideas.
“Data management and cybersecurity are beginning to impact on all areas of the offshore wind industry, and so I’d encourage as many companies as possible to consider the benefits of being a member of the WDIF.”
Innogy’s George Garforth said: “The WDIF is an exciting collaborative approach to developing digital solutions to the problems faced in wind farm operations.
“The forum facilitates collaboration between operators and technology firms on key digital topics such as data integration, cyber security and artificial intelligence.
“This feels like an opportunity to make genuine progress in an area which desperately needs it.”