An important point of attention - and currently a major bottleneck - is the availability of sufficient generic Operation & Maintenance (O&M) test facilities. That is why OWIC ensures the availability of facilities where research by industry and education can take place. This for different levels of education, post-initial education and research.
The first activities focus on the direct need of the business community to create research facilities for cable & bolt testing and handling applications. Together with the Fieldlab Zephyros, a project is being developed that will make use of these facilities. There is also a need for a High Voltage Lab. The Subsea Cable activities will eventually have to be tested under high voltage.
Measurement facilities focused on O&M where new ways of maintenance and repair are tested with the help of robotics, automation, Artificial Intelligence and drone techniques. A wind turbine and a workshop with wind turbine blades will be made available for this purpose. There is also a great need for knowledge about decommissioning. A demonstration workshop for the recycling of rotor blades will be created in a Rotor Blade Recycle Lab.
Research into innovative solutions for interactive training in working at height in preparation for work offshore and other safety training based on the GWO training standard BST. An actual wind turbine gives an even more realistic picture of reality.
All data for Remote Operations & (Predictive) Maintenance from sensors, drones and underwater drones (possibly combined with Artificial Intelligence) will have to be collected, analysed and interpreted in the Data and Simulation Lab. This Data and Simulation Lab can possibly be further expanded into a fully integrated Data Tower in which issues such as Zero Downtime and Zero on-site Maintenance are important themes. The Data Tower will be realised together with Fieldlab Zephyros.
In the Open Innovation Centre, related themes concerning energy generation, storage and balancing are being researched. It is a kind of on-site workshop for testing new applications in and around offshore wind farms, for example installing measuring facilities at a location in the water for energy storage and wave energy.
OWIC is an information, training and innovation centre for companies and institutions involved in generating offshore wind energy. A total of 19 parties - businesses, knowledge institutions and government bodies - have joined forces in OWIC to ensure that companies can innovate and develop in offshore wind energy more easily and quickly.
