Offshore windfarm installation logistics optimisation

The development of an offshore wind farm involves a relatively complex sequence of activities in order to install electrical cabling, offshore electrical systems, turbine foundations, masts and turbines. A range of different vessel types can be used for these operations. Within each vessel type, there's a choice of available vessels with different functional capability and different cost.

Strathclyde Technology Innovation Centre low carbon power & energy project

This project is entitled “Analysis and Optimisation of Offshore Wind Farm Installation Logistics” and is funded by our industrial partners Scottish Power Renewables (SPR), Scottish Southern Energy (SSE) and Technip.

Dr Kerem Akartunali and postdoctoral researcher Dr Diclehan Tezcaner Öztürk, along with colleagues from department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, investigated how to optimise logistics operations involved in the installation process.

These problems have big complexities due to the immense size of the problem. A typical offshore windfarm consists of 50 to 150 wind turbines to be installed over a period of one to three years, with project costs reaching £1 billion and above.

We've built a sophisticated rolling horizon optimisation model in the first stage of the project, giving an opportunity to the planners to update their plans after some period of the project is realised.  In addition, we've also developed robust optimisation models to address many significant uncertainties, in particular weather. Practical models as well as interesting theoretical properties for this stage of the project are currently under investigation.