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Dr Jared Charles and Professor Susan Gourvenec represent IROE at the 84th European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers conference in Oslo, Norway
IROE researcher Dr Jared Charles presented key findings as an invited speaker at the EAGE pre-conference workshop “The future of quantitative ground models for offshore renewables”. The workshop was organised by a consortium of industry experts, Mark E Vardy (SAND Geophysics), Maarten Vanneste (NGI), Gareth Wood (BP), Eric Cauquil (Total Energies), Andy Barwise (RWE), and Neil Dyer (Cathie Associates). The event was attended by geoscience experts from industry and academia, and provided an invaluable forum to disseminate the cutting-edge results of IROE research to practitioners while contributing to discussions on challenges and opportunities faced by the offshore sector at the exciting intersection between geotechnical engineering and geophysics.
Jared shared the outputs of an integrated geoscience collaborative project “Using time series analysis to support offshore site investigation planning and the adoption of synthetic CPTs”, demonstrating that time series methods, not commonly used in geotechnical engineering, can be readily applied to depth series ground data. By quantitatively comparing similarity between different locations in an offshore wind farm, Jared showed how site-wide variograms can be constructed. The technique will enable practitioners to automatically identify areas of a site that, due to differences from the rest of the site, potentially require a higher density of ground testing. This promises to reduce the cost of expensive site investigation campaigns by ensuring tests are located where they are most beneficial, and improving the efficiency (reducing the cost) of design by having data where it is needed. Co-Investigators of the multi-disciplinary project include IROE Chair Professor Susan Gourvenec, Professor Tim Henstock from the Department of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of 网络彩票APP下载_澳客彩票网-官方游戏,, and industrial partner Dr Mark Vardy, Director and Head of R&D SAND Geophysics. The project is supported by 网络彩票APP下载_澳客彩票网-官方游戏, Marine and Maritime Institute’s (SMMI) Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).
The workshop culminated with a panel discussion, in which IROE Chair Susan Gourvenec was a panellist, joined by Vicky Catterall, Lead Expert Geophysics and Hydrography with RWE and James Faroppa, Director Geoconsultancy of Fugro, chaired by Eric Cauquil, Offshore Site Investigation & Geohazard expert at TotalEnergies. The panel discussion considered challenges and solutions for ground modelling for offshore wind, how these challenges can be addressed by improving data acquisition and data processing/interpretation/analysis methods, and how quantitative information can be best captured within a ground model for optimal communication forward to the design and installation phases. Panel and audience contributions highlighted that good progress is being made with technical advances in integrated ground modelling while equally there is still much to do technically, and improving processes and communication beyond the technical that affect acquisition, processing and integration is vital to ensure integrated ground models can be as effective as possible. A clear call for action was for sustained, and in places improved, communication, collaboration and R&D between industry, government and academia, particularly to develop the evidence base to underpin international standards and support certification.