The Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) is pleased to announce it will fund six proposals for research to improve the safety and environmental sustainability of Wind Energy development. The OESI received 45 project proposals for four distinct research pathways in response to the Wind Energy Request for Proposals (RFP). Total funding for the six research projects selected will reach $2,689,928 pending successful contract negotiations.
Organized under an agreement between the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Department of Energy (DOE), and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the OESI is a consortium of industry, national labs, NGOs, and academia created to support the development of critical safety and environmental improvements for all offshore energy activities, including renewable and traditional energy. In June this year, the OESI announced ten awards in the Oil and Gas application area, with a project start date of October 1 and a total value of $3,885,057. Four awards in the Marine Energy application area were announced in September, which are currently in the contracting phase and have a total value of $1,099,672.
Funding will be awarded to the following project titles and lead research organizations:
Project Title | Lead Organization | Requested Amount |
---|---|---|
W-T1-P1.1 Enhanced site condition understanding, resulting in proper design basis (metocean, geotechnical and seismic) and safe operational windows | ||
Pacific Region Seismic Soil Investigation and Dynamic Soil-Structure Behavior Modeling | Triton Anchor | $500,000 |
Hindcasting and forecasting geotechnical operational windows of seabed mobility and scour based on a global windfarm GIS, CFD modelling and ML/AI | University of Florida | $500,000 |
W-T1-P1.4 Modeling of dynamic loading (ice, wind, wave, current, seismic and rain) on turbine systems and components | ||
Development of variable-fidelity FOWT (floating offshore wind turbine) digital twins for system/component safety in extreme sea environments | Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station | $355,931 |
W-T2-P2.1 Reducing human exposure to hazardous conditions | ||
Remote Smart Monitoring of Offshore Wind Plant Components | The University of Texas at Dallas | $499,649 |
Metahuman Models for Reducing Human Exposure to Hazardous Conditions During Offshore Wind Turbine Operations and Maintenance | Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station | $499,356 |
W-T2-P2.3 Improved understanding and risk analysis to reduce personnel transport and transfer risk | ||
Risk assessment of human transfer from service vessels to wind turbines, and development of an optimal transfer system using two-body simulation tools | University of Massachusetts Amherst | $334,992 |
TOTAL | $2,689,928 |