ForeCoast® Marine to Optimise Weather Strategies at ScottishPower Renewables Offshore Wind Sites

JBA Consulting has teamed up with ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) and the Met Office to apply its metocean forecasting and planning tool, ForeCoast® Marine, to two of SPRs’ offshore wind farms: Wikinger and East Anglia ONE. This work follows the application of ForeCoast® Marine to SPR’s tidal array in the Sound of Islay and other tidal energy demonstrations.

ForeCoast® Marine is the most comprehensive metocean risk management tool available. It enables weather downtime strategies to be optimised at every phase of a project, thereby reducing costs, improving efficiency and minimising H&S risks.

ForeCoast® Marine will be used at the Wikinger offshore windfarm to inform and help manage live metocean risks during the installation process. It will also be used to explore the impacts of different installation and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) strategies on project financials and health and safety considerations for East Anglia ONE.

Due to the tool’s flexible nature, it can be applied to any marine operation including those in the wave and tidal energy, oil and gas and marine construction sectors.

“We are delighted to be working with SPR and the Met Office on this exciting new project. The combination of ForeCoast® Marine’s functionality and holistic metocean risk management capabilities, means that it is unmatched in the current market. Application of the tool to the Wikinger and East Anglia projects will provide powerful insight to support decision making at each stage of these developments, allowing significant cost, efficiency and H&S benefits to be realised.” Dr Mark Lawless, Director, JBA Consulting.