Floating Foundation Control System
The critical element
The floating foundation control system is the critical element in ensuring the foundation is in a position which enables a turbine to maximise available wind resources. Equally, there are multiple designs of floating foundation which require reliable control, automation and monitoring systems.
A floating foundation control system must provide an ability to manage real-time operations from core processes such as ballast control, buoyancy stabilisation and assessing inclination and heave, through to accurate, live decision-making regarding addressing turbulent or excessive loads.
Avoiding inefficient siloed systems
Today, foundation and turbine parameters are not integrated within a connected, holistic wider system. Essentially, this means that the control systems of the turbine and floating foundations are operating in their own silos, with no closed loop system to feed back and optimise performance and the loads on the turbines.
With no live visibility of performance between systems and across the asset, impending issues and problems are harder to identify and when operations are conducted in deeper waters and more remote environments, essential maintenance or repair is expensive, time-consuming and challenging. Unplanned downtime can cost tens of thousands of pounds per day, while siloed systems mean that scrutinising the condition and integrity of the foundations, and critical infrastructure, is not possible, meaning wear and tear and degradation are harder to assess.
A holistic control system to optimise performance
Proserv’s solution harnesses the power of real-time optimisation (RTO) within a connected, holistic control system incorporating the foundation and turbine control elements, supplying greater insights and visibility, and alleviating the risks around components and infrastructure operating in separate siloes.
By engaging our RTO capabilities, we can enable dynamic operational decisions to reflect an owner or operator’s strategic objectives. Our optimisation solution is a self-learning application which, using live data, autonomously calculates optimum set points to achieve maximum power yield while minimising structural stress and fatigue. Our control system not only offers broad, essential functionality and reliability for remote operations, but uniquely can help to maximise ROI while protecting and extending life.
Powered by data
Our solution reflects Proserv’s decades-long reputation in smooth, reliable control system integration and our methodology around utilising the power of live data and intelligence to steer dynamic operational strategy.
Floating wind farm operators require holistic asset-wide, closed loop control systems, deploying extensive multiple sensors, to deliver the level of visibility and insights demanded to drive effective decision-making.
This connected, integrated approach, freed from the severe limitations and inefficiencies of siloed systems, represents the way forward for floating wind to become a fundamental and reliable driver in the generation of clean power for decades to come.
