By early 2025, renewable energy is expected to overtake coal to become the largest source of electricity worldwide. It’s a milestone we’re expected to reach faster than earlier predictions, thanks in part to the global energy crisis, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) says has turbocharged countries’ efforts to transition to renewables in place of imported fossil fuels.
Over the next five years, the world is set to add as much renewable power as it did in the previous 20 years. Wind and solar energy will account for the majority of this new energy capacity and it’s leading to growth in the offshore wind market like never seen before.
Helping to meet this rising demand is Danish consulting and engineering firm ISC, which specializes in the development of offshore wind farms. The company was behind the design of the first ever offshore wind substation and more recently was involved in Hornsea Two, the world’s largest installed windfarm so far. Located off the UK’s Yorkshire coast, the 1.3 gigawatt offshore wind farm powers over 1.4 million homes with clean, renewable energy. ISC says that larger wind farms are to come.
However, developing the substations needed to support farms of such scope and scale – and bringing down their associated costs – requires ISC to work faster and smarter. This involves factoring in all elements, including transportation and installation, into the design, and exploring the potential of virtual twin experiences to help improve the operation and maintenance of every asset at sea. Moving to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has made this possible.
“With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we continue to enrich the dataset we have as the industry wants to go from scheduled maintenance to more predictable maintenance,” said Christian Barlach, R&D manager at ISC. “We want to be sure that the digital twin is as close to the physical version that is going to be built.”
With solid data management, concurrent engineering capabilities and rich design features at their fingertips, the multidisciplinary teams within ISC are able to solve complex engineering puzzles in new ways and develop even more innovative substation designs.
Read the full story to see how ISC uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to handle design challenges with agility and deliver support at every stage of the offshore windfarm development process.
Rebecca Lambert is a skilled content creator and journalist based in the UK. Since she was a young girl, Rebecca has been captivating readers with her words, covering virtually any and every subject matter.