Social acceptance and environmental effects
The exploitation of offshore wind has several societal implications which, if not handled correctly in the planning processes, can lead to conflicts.
At NORCE, we research how different interest groups are involved, and how the public reacts to offshore wind. We research the social aspects of the operation of offshore wind installations, we examine the participation of local and regional subcontractors, and we look at the establishment of value chains.
Many interests want to exploit the resource in the sea. An important part of spatial planning is therefore to facilitate flexible interaction with other industries that operate in the same area, e.g. fisheries, aquaculture and sea transport.
- NORCE contributes to the mapping and analysis of various interests linked to specific sea areas.
- For the licensing process to go as quickly as possible, we collect all the necessary data and studies that are required in the documentation of those applying for a license to develop offshore wind.
Local challenges and environmental consequences of offshore wind must also be carefully assessed. In NORCE, we conduct research to be able to evaluate how life in the sea and on land is affected.
- We use our marine and biological expertise to carry out robust environmental risk assessments relating to technical installations.
- We contribute knowledge in the transition to large-scale use of renewable energy so that the marine ecosystem is kept intact.
- We contribute knowledge and recommendations to countries that want to develop marine renewable energy while at the same time taking care of natural diversity and facilitating good marine spatial planning.
Location and design of offshore wind farms
At NORCE, we use our expertise in oil and gas to optimize the planning and installation of offshore wind facilities.
The research covers several aspects of offshore wind, such as the evaluation of geology, safe foundations for cables and turbines, grid connections and integration with other energy systems.
Accurate knowledge of the wind field in and around wind farms, in addition to the stability of the atmosphere, is important for wind farms to be operated efficiently. NORCE has decades of experience in offshore wind.
Optimization, operation and maintenance
Our researchers have high expertise in atmospheric turbulence simulation for dynamic turbine load calculations, CFD wind modelling as well as mesoscale wind farm modelling in the "Weather Research and Forecast" (WRF) model. Our researchers invented and developed the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) for weather forecasting, which is now in use all over the world.
NORCE has previously contributed to WRF's open-source code with an offshore wind module.
NORCE has expertise in applied machine learning, e.g. for real-time prediction of the wind field around an offshore wind farm, and we have expertise in interactive data visualization and uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
We also offer weather window predictions, operational analyses, optimization of location and management of wind farms and data assimilation for updating models.
The margins in offshore wind are small, significantly smaller than what we are used to from oil and gas.
At NORCE, we use our expertise in design, data collection and analysis, modelling and simulation, optimization, visualization, maintenance support and decision support to develop cost-effective solutions for the operation of offshore wind farms.
At NORCE, we use our expertise within technology to develop and improve solutions for the design of floating wind turbines and structural design.
Offshore wind as part of the energy system
In addition to working with wind, NORCE also works with energy system solutions in their entirety, with solutions linked to specific energy sources such as geothermal, solar and hydrogen.
