Energia complete offshore wind farm study in 3 weeks, with Optioneer™
Energia needed to quickly decide on the best options for two offshore wind farms. Optioneer helped them find the best export cable routes and grid connections faster and more thoroughly.
Different criteria assessed for each scenario
Connection points studied for two offshore wind sites
Landfall locations studied in detail
Introduction
Energia is an energy company and renewables developer that’s helping the Irish Government to reach its target of generating 5GW of energy from offshore wind projects by 2030.
The company contracted Xodus to undertake cable optioneering on two large offshore wind projects, with Optioneer implemented to support the process.
Optioneer provided Energia and Xodus with the opportunity to assess more connection options, both onshore and offshore, in greater detail, and save significant time in the process compared to conventional approaches.
The challenge of comprehensively assessing all wind farm connections options, before using Optioneer
Xodus was contracted by Energia to compare and rank grid connection options and export cable route(s) based on a desktop study, and to make final recommendations on preferred grid connection points for each project.
However the project was complex with multiple grid connection options as well as unknown wind farm, substation and landfall locations, meaning there were a near infinite number of potential offshore / onshore routing options for the export cable.
This presented a serious challenge to undertake a robust analysis of grid connection points and routing options for export cables with limited resources available and tight deadlines to hit.
Why Energia selected Optioneer
With ambitious government targets to support, Energia needed to progress projects without the danger of major delays or setbacks. These could come from local stakeholder objections, insufficient analysis on route options and a lack of evidence for regulator approval.
Xodus, the partner contracted to run the optioneering process, saw how Optioneer’s AI-powered platform could allow them to analyse more connections options in greater detail whilst also saving time.
This would allow Xodus and Energia to have more confidence in the decisions made at earlier stages, and better support later development and construction stages of each project.
"With the help of AI software Optioneer, a significant number of routes were evaluated in greater detail than would be possible with traditional engineering approaches, particularly in the offshore domain"
How Energia used Optioneer
Xodus used Optioneer to explore millions of potential route options for export cables, which were assessed against environmental, social, engineering and cost criteria simultaneously. With the first options generated in hours, this helped Energia to engage key stakeholders much earlier in the process.
The platform was used to evaluate environmental impacts and public acceptance issues which Energia could explore with local communities, NGOs, and other key stakeholders at earlier stages.
This provided valuable feedback which could be easily incorporated by updating existing options with instant route updates and changes possible.
Optioneer’s AI engine was also used to study all possible options for grid connection points to offshore and onshore substations, and assess all possible landfall locations to ensure a comprehensive selection process prior to more detailed design on shortlisted options.
The result
Energia, with its optioneering partner Xodus, succeeded in completing a robust selection process for grid connections and cable routes.
The projects saw 7 onshore substations and 9 offshore substation locations shortlisted in a final study which was completed in 3 weeks, helping Energia to accelerate progress on its two wind farms projects.
“Combined with expert technical review and specialist input across multiple technical criteria, the study allowed a comprehensive relative comparison of the large number of routing options. At the start of the study, Optioneer allowed us to simply and efficiently narrow down the very long list of route options to a manageable shortlist and form a robust basis for further detailed interrogation”
Different criteria assessed for each scenario
Connection points studied for two offshore wind sites
Landfall locations studied in detail
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