Harnessing winds and data for a clean energy future
Metocean specialist and member of IMarEST's Operational Oceanography and Offshore Renewables Special Interest Groups (SIGs), Rob Mawdsley contextualises this year’s World Meteorological Day.
March 23 has become a celebration for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since it was inaugurated in 1950. This year, as the WMO marks its 150th birthday, celebrations for World Meteorological Day centre around the theme of 'The Future of Weather, Climate and Water across Generations.' If there are two industries where weather, climate, and water are essential, it's offshore wind energy and metocean.
Driving offshore wind energy with metocean knowledge
Metocean – an abbreviation of meteorology and physical oceanography - plays a role throughout the entirety of an offshore wind project. Key metocean parameters include wind, wave, current, and water level.
Wind patterns play an obvious role in offshore wind (no wind, no revenue). Beyond that, metocean data supports wind farm planning, construction, and operations. "You need to understand the ocean conditions to understand what kind of technologies can be used," Mawdsley explains.
More recently, those discussions have included floating offshore wind. "The importance of different metocean parameters subtly shifts from fixed bottom to floating platforms," Mawdsley says, highlighting how floating structures will respond to waves and currents quite differently than fixed structures.
Then there is the consideration of safety for the people who construct, maintain, and decommission the farm. "You need to make sure that you've got high-quality measurements and forecasts to ensure that the conditions on site are safe to operate in," says Mawdsley.
Different technologies and designs can influence varied environmental impacts. "All of this infrastructure does change the environment," explains Mawdsley. Metocean data can provide an essential baseline for determining what those impacts may be and support decisions to mitigate these impacts.
Mawdsley has little doubt that technological improvements will continue to bolster metocean work and the creation and development of offshore renewables. Alongside those improvements, "I'd like to see a really strong collaboration between everyone that uses metocean data," says Mawdsley.
"If we as an industry collaborate to make sure that data is available, then I think that would have a huge impact on so many different industries." However, Mawdsley cautions that "data on its own is pretty useless, it’s what we do with it that is valuable. There are all sorts of data out there, and we can do clever things with it. We need to make sure that we've got experienced people working the data in the best way to extract the best insights."
Rob Mawdsley: "You need to understand the ocean conditions to understand what kind of technologies can be used" (Credit: Shutterstock)
Combined strength
Mawdsley highlights the importance of the IMarEST’s Operational Oceanography and Offshore Renewables Special Interest Groups to keep in touch with the wider metocean community. "It comes back to collaboration. There's all this knowledge out there, and we need to work together to share lessons learned and make sure that we share knowledge so we can push offshore renewables forward together."
Operational Oceanography (OOSIG) and Offshore Renewables (ORSIG) are regular collaborators. In 2018, the two groups worked together on the Metocean Procedures Guide for Offshore Renewables, which outlines the metocean activities needed to support an offshore renewable energy project. An updated version is currently in the works. Last month, the two SIGs came together for a workshop on the role of metocean in floating offshore wind.
Collaborations, Mawdsley adds, are also crucial for addressing the climate crisis. "It's a worry that we're already seeing the changes brought by climate change…droughts in Europe and the intensity of storms, wildfires…the list goes on and on," Mawdsley says. "We can all contribute to tackling climate change in various ways to make sure that we've got a safe environment to live in 50 or 100 years. Renewable energy plays a significant part in that."
To become a member of the IMarEST’s Operational Oceanography and Offshore Renewables Special Interest Groups (SIGs) log in to My IMarEST, click on My Special Interest Groups and then tick the boxes of the SIGs you'd like to join. You can also join the group(s) on Nexus, our networking platform.
Dr Sam Andrews is a marine ecologist and science writer