As part of the WP5 in the INF4INiTY project, Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (MGEP) has developed a dynamic tool for the characterisation of the geographic (i.e. bathymetry, distance-to-shore and distance-to-port, etc.), geotechnic (i.e. seabed soil characteristics) and metocean conditions (i.e. wind, wave, currents, sea level, sea-ice, etc.) of the three areas of interest selected in the project: (1) The Scottish Sea, (2) the Baltic Sea and (3) the Adriatic Sea. This tool is based upon an extensive historical database between 1990-2020 generated via the combination of re-analysis datasets, climate models and in-situ observations.
1. The Scottish Sea
2. The Baltic Sea
3. The Adriatic Sea
As a next step to the overall characterisation of the selected areas, the potential locations for the deployment of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) are identified based on the pre-defined technological requirements of the FOWTs, such as minimum average wind speed, soil conditions, water depth, distance-to-port and sea-ice coverage.
For the locations that fulfil all the mentioned requirements, the tool automatically generates: (i) a report with a comprehensive statistical analysis, including operational and extreme conditions, and (ii) site-specific Design Load Cases (DLCs), including the main DLCs recommended for the design and evaluation of different offshore technologies and their most critical components.
Finally, the next steps in WP5 of the INF4INiTY project will focus on the prediction of future metocean conditions under the impact of climate change considering short-, medium- and long-term horizons (i.e. 2030, 2050, 2100) and global warming scenarios based on different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. This will lead to the definition of future site-specific DLCs, enabling the analysis of the suitability of current designs for future environmental conditions.
