The offshore wind industry is facing increasing pressure to cut costs, particularly when it comes to installation. To address this pressing issue, RES Offshore has developed its market-leading service offering, CORE, which allows project developers to minimize the impact of weather on project installation costs.
CORE allows RES to analyse the weather conditions at a specific site in precise detail. Analysts gather years’ worth of historic wave, current and wind data to specifically characterize each wind farm site. CORE then models step-by-step exactly how the weather would impact a planned installation, showing the disparity between costs accrued in different adverse weather conditions. CORE allows RES to identify potential bottlenecks in the installation and to minimize the impact of weather on installation. RES estimates the tool has saved over £10m on one project alone.
Laure Grignon, Metocean/Technical Analyst at RES Offshore, commented;
“It’s fantastic to be able to solve a real problem for the industry. The pressure is always on to cut the cost of projects, and CORE allows us to make huge savings when it comes to installation. Most similar offerings are not as detailed or as explicit about the complexity of conditions that can occur on site.”
The first version of CORE was developed in 2011 and it was packaged in its current form in early 2013, as industry’s need to predict site conditions became more pressing. Since developing the service offering, RES has seen a definite rise in demand and now uses CORE regularly, including on projects such as the Saint-Brieuc wind farm off the Brittany coast, and the Rhiannon wind farm off the coast of North Wales.
Chris Morgan, CEO RES Offshore said:
“Our software is market-leading as it combines an advanced numerical tool with the practical knowledge of a construction manager. Each time it is used we have a construction expert present, to bring together two complementary sets of information and ensure the best result.”
