By Jagannadha Prasad Neeli, Naval Architecture Services Lead and Thomas Solberg, Principal Naval Architect and Software Engineer
As the floating offshore wind industry grows, so to does demand for innovative technology that enhances efficiency and supports cost-effective solutions. Global Maritime’s work on offshore projects in the oil & gas and shipping industries has enabled us to take our experience and understanding of offshore environments and utilise and adapt it for fixed and floating offshore wind projects.
Our industry-leading software is a prime example of this. GM OPSIM and, in development GMoor wind, in particular are playing a crucial role in the life-cycle of floating offshore wind projects.
OPSIM, whilst originally developed for offshore oil and gas, is being utilised for early-stage cost estimations and scheduling at transport and installation stage, as well as for ongoing operations and maintenance programmes in floating offshore wind – an area which Global Maritime is actively developing to provide even more capability to the market.
GM OPSIM is a strategic planning tool that enables tailored analysis for every project. Its unique advantage is its ability to create operation models by inputting limits, tasks, site-specific metocean data and other variables, and running multiple simulations of operations. Once complete, OPSIM outputs data that determines the most effective method, whether it be the most streamlined or most cost-effective.
Developers are already using the software for transport and installation strategies and to review installation schedules, with each function providing essential information and outputs to inform their projects. An increasingly popular option for developers is the option to purchase the OPSIM software, allowing for unlimited in-house use over the life cycle of multiple projects, for example, BlueFloat Energy, which recently selected OPSIM to simulate all their offshore wind projects and operations.
Our GMoor software is a mooring analysis program originally developed for spread moored drilling vessels and other subsea support vessels but is now being adapted to support floating offshore wind. The program can produce various iterations of mooring design in a quick time frame, saving hours of complex calculations by considering many variables and delivering trusted results, and as with OPSIM, GMoor can be fully adapted to suit project needs.
At Global Maritime we’ve seen an increase in demand for our software as offshore wind developers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of maximising efficiency. Not only can we use the programs to inform the projects we’re working on, but developers can purchase software licenses to run their own simulations.
As the floating offshore wind industry grows and becomes a more viable option for harnessing renewable energy, Global Maritime are continuing to adapt our software to ensure we’re at the forefront of supporting its growth. Our ability to modify and improve the functionality of our software based on what our clients and the industry need, sets us apart from our competitors and makes us the floating offshore wind partner of choice.
For more information on Global Maritime software visit https://www.globalmaritime.com/software
