Artificial intelligence will reduce costs in offshore renewable energy projects

Fundación Iberdrola has awarded one of its Grants for Research in Energy and the Environment to Vincenzo Nava, a researcher at BCAM and TECNALIA. His project focuses on the development of an artificial intelligence algorithm to reduce the operating costs of offshore wind structures and was one of the 20 projects selected by the foundation in the 2020 call for proposals.

It is estimated that more than 50% of the budget of an offshore wind project is associated with the installation, maintenance and dismantling of the turbines. Foundation and mooring systems for floating structures represent a significant part of the installation and operation cost.

The VIVIR initiative, Validación de un método de reducción de Incertidumbre de la VIda Remanente de sistemas de fondeo para turbinas eólicas offshore flotantes (Validation of a method to reduce the uncertainty of the remaining life of anchoring systems for floating offshore wind turbines), was created with the objective of developing, verifying and validating an artificial intelligence algorithm to reduce these costs through data processing and numerical modelling.

Presented by Dr. Vincenzo Nava, the project will use numerical modelling to minimise uncertainty in the estimation of failures and the remaining useful life of the mooring system for floating offshore wind turbines. In this way, it will help to identify in advance any potential or critical damage to the assembly, and plan operations accordingly.

Iberdrola Offshore Wind Business Managing Director, Jonathan Cole, has stressed the importance of initiatives such as this in reducing costs in renewable energy projects, enabling them to become key players in the floating offshore wind energy sector.

Further information

• BCAM News: Vincenzo Nava receives one of Fundación Iberdrola's Grants for Research in Energy and the Environment
• About Vincenzo Nava.